Greater Belfast is an area surrounding and including Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.
It includes Belfast and parts of the North Down

North Down Borough Council

North Down Borough Council is a Local Council in County Down in Northern Ireland with an overall population of around 80,000. Its main town is Bangor, 20 km east of Belfast with a population of approximately 55,000. The Council is headquartered in Bangor. Its secondary centre is the former Urban...

, Lisburn

Lisburn City Council

Lisburn City Council is a district council covering an area partly in County Antrim and partly in County Down in Northern Ireland. The council is the second largest in the Belfast Metropolitan Area. Council headquarters are in the city of Lisburn, upon which was conferred city status in May 2002 as...

, Castlereagh and Newtownabbey

Newtownabbey Borough Council

Newtownabbey Borough Council is a Local Council in County Antrim in Northern Ireland. Newtownabbey has a population of over 80,000 and is on the north shore of Belfast Lough just immediately north of Belfast. The Borough was founded in 1958 as a result of an Act of Parliament passed in 1957 and...

 district council areas. Greater Belfast is the largest urban area in Northern Ireland, and second largest in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 (after Greater Dublin). In 2001, the Belfast urban area had a population of 483,418, which accounts for approximately one quarter of the population of Northern Ireland. The area is used for area planning: the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan was published in 2005.

See also

• Belfast Metropolitan Area
  Belfast Metropolitan Area
  The Belfast Metropolitan Area is a grouping of council areas which include commuter towns and overspill from Belfast, Northern Ireland with a population of 579,276. The area was first officially classified as a Metropolitan area in the late 1990s when the Government began to prepare for a cohesive...
  
  
• Districts of Belfast
  Districts of Belfast
  The subdivisions of Belfast are a series of divisions of Belfast, Northern Ireland that are used for a variety of cultural, electoral, planning and residential purposes....
  
  
• Belfast City Centre
  Belfast City Centre
  Belfast city centre is the central business district of Belfast, Northern Ireland.The city centre was originally centred around the Donegall Street area. Donegall Street is now mainly a business area, but with expanding residential and entertainment development as part of the Cathedral Quarter...
  
  
• Belfast City Council
  Belfast City Council
  Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...
  
  
• Belfast City Hall
  Belfast City Hall
  Belfast City Hall is the civic building of the Belfast City Council. Located in Donegall Square, Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, it faces north and effectively divides the commercial and business areas of the city centre.-History:...
  
  

Other

• Greater Dublin Area
  Greater Dublin Area
  Greater Dublin Area , or simply Greater Dublin, is a term which is used to describe the city of Dublin and various counties in the hinterland of the city in Ireland. The term has no basis in law and no local government, department of government or agency of the state is bound by the term...
  
  
• Derry Urban Area
  Derry Urban Area
  The Derry Urban Area is the urban area that includes and surrounds the city of Derry in Northern Ireland, and is part of the Derry City Council area. It had a population of 93,512 in the 2001 census...
  
  
• Dublin-Belfast corridor
  Dublin-Belfast corridor
  The Dublin-Belfast corridor is a term used to loosely describe a geographical area that encompasses the cities of Dublin and Belfast and the area between...
  
  population under 3 million