| Belfast Metropolitan Area | |
| Settlement Type: | Metropolitan area |
| Pushpin Map: | Northern Ireland |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Northern Ireland |
| Subdivision Type: | Sovereign State |
| Subdivision Name: | United Kingdom |
| Subdivision Type1: | Constituent Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Northern Ireland |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Type3: | County |
| Leader Title1: | UK Parliament |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 960 |
| Population As Of: | 2001 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | GMT |
| Utc Offset1: | +0 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | BST (WEST) |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | -1 |
| Coordinates: | 54.597°N -5.93°W |
| Area Code: | 028 |
| Blank Name: | Irish Grid Reference |
The Belfast metropolitan area, also known as Greater Belfast, is a grouping of council areas which include commuter towns and overspill from Belfast, Northern Ireland, with a population of 672,522 in 2011, combining the Belfast, Lisburn, Newtownabbey, North Down, Castlereagh and Carrickfergus districts. This equates to 37.1% of Northern Ireland's population.
The area was first officially classified as a metropolitan area in the late 1990s when the British government began to prepare for a cohesive plan that would include the Belfast Region. Six local government districts – Belfast, Castlereagh, Carrickfergus, Lisburn, Newtownabbey and North Down, were identified as the key areas within the metropolitan area. The continuous built-up area centred on Belfast, which is contained within these six districts, is defined as the Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area.[1] The Belfast metropolitan urban area had a population of 579,276 in 2001.[2]
The area is made up of established towns, their overspill and the general conjoining of settlements as Belfast expands. Established towns include Carrickfergus, Bangor, Lisburn and Holywood. Many of these towns were established and important long before Belfast rose to prominence; Carrickfergus, for example, was the Norman capital of the northern part of Ireland until Edward Bruce's defeat in 1318.[3] Bangor had been an important centre of Christianity and learning from its foundation in 555 AD.[4] [5] The recent reclassification of Lisburn as a city does not change its position within the metropolitan area.
| Rank | Urban Area | Population(2001 Census) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belfast urban area | 276,605 | |
| 2 | Lisburn urban area | 71,403 | |
| 3 | Newtownabbey urban area | 62,022 | |
| 4 | Bangor | 58,368 | |
| 5 | Castlereagh urban area | 54,636 | |
| 6 | Carrickfergus | 27,192 | |
| 7 | Holywood urban area | 12,027 | |
| 8 | Carryduff | 6,564 | |
| 9 | Greenisland | 5,067 | |
| 10 | Groomsport & Crawfordsburn | 1,401 | |
| 11 | Helen's Bay | 1,356 | |
| 12 | Milltown | 1,356 | |
| 13 | Seahill | 1,179 | |
| Total | Belfast metropolitan urban area | 579,276 |
At the 2001 census, the demographic characteristics of the people living in Belfast metropolitan urban area (BMUA) were as follows:[6]
In the 2011 UK Census, the distributions of population, religion, national identity and proportion of immigrants within the Belfast metropolitan area, were as follows.
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