The "Liverpool Urban Area" is a term used by the Office for National Statistics

Office for National Statistics

The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...

 (ONS) to denote the urban area

Urban area

An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...

 around Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, to the east of the River Mersey

River Mersey

The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....

. The contiguous built-up area extends beyond the area administered by Liverpool City Council

Liverpool City Council

Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Joe Anderson.-Domain:...

 into adjoining local authority areas, particularly parts of Sefton and Knowsley

Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley

The Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It comprises the towns of Kirkby, Prescot, Huyton, Whiston, Halewood and Cronton; Kirkby, Huyton, and Prescot being the major commercial centres...

. As defined by ONS, the area extends as far east as Haydock

Haydock

Haydock is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. It contains all of the Haydock electoral ward and a section of the Blackbrook electoral ward. The village is located roughly mid-way between Liverpool and Manchester, close to the junction of the M6 motorway...

 and St. Helens

St Helens, Merseyside

St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...

.

The Liverpool Urban Area is not the same area as Merseyside

Merseyside

Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

 (or Greater Merseyside

Greater Merseyside

The Liverpool City Region is an area of England centred on Liverpool. It was one of eight city regions defined in the 2004 document Moving Forward: The Northern Way, as a collaboration between the three northern Regional Development Agencies. The Mersey Partnership is the voluntary partnership for...

) which includes areas of Wirral

Wirral Peninsula

Wirral or the Wirral is a peninsula in North West England. It is bounded by three bodies of water: to the west by the River Dee, forming a boundary with Wales, to the east by the River Mersey and to the north by the Irish Sea. Both terms "Wirral" and "the Wirral" are used locally , although the...

 on the west bank of the Mersey and Southport

Southport

Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...

.

Settlements

The Liverpool Urban Area defined by ONS covers Liverpool and its contiguous built-up areas, with a population of 816,216 in the 2001 census, which is down 2.6% from the 1991 figure of 837,998. The urban area facing Liverpool on the Wirral Peninsula

Wirral Peninsula

Wirral or the Wirral is a peninsula in North West England. It is bounded by three bodies of water: to the west by the River Dee, forming a boundary with Wales, to the east by the River Mersey and to the north by the Irish Sea. Both terms "Wirral" and "the Wirral" are used locally , although the...

 is a separate division known as the Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

 Urban Area.

The ONS definition is based purely on physical criteria with a focus on the presence or absence of significant gaps between built-up areas. It therefore extends as far as St Helens and Haydock, but excludes some areas much closer to Liverpool which are separated from it by open spaces. According to the ONS the subcomponents of the Liverpool Urban Area are:

Urban subvision	Population (2001)	Population (1991)
Liverpool Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...	469,017	481,786
Bootle Bootle Bootle is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England, and a 'Post town' in the L postcode area. Formally known as Bootle-cum-Linacre, the town is 4 miles  to the north of Liverpool city centre, and has a total resident population of 77,640.Historically part of...	59,123	65,454
Crosby Crosby, Merseyside Crosby is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, in Merseyside, England. Historically part of Lancashire it is situated north of Bootle, south of Southport, Formby and west of Netherton-History:...	51,789	52,869
Haydock Haydock Haydock is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. It contains all of the Haydock electoral ward and a section of the Blackbrook electoral ward. The village is located roughly mid-way between Liverpool and Manchester, close to the junction of the M6 motorway...	16,955	16,705
Huyton-with-Roby Huyton with Roby Urban District Huyton with Roby Urban District was a local government district in Lancashire, England from 1894 to 1974. It consisted of the civil parish of Huyton with Roby which comprised the settlements of Huyton and Roby...	54,766	56,500
Litherland Litherland Litherland is a suburban village in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. It was formerly an urban district, which included Seaforth and Ford...	22,242	20,905
Prescot Prescot Prescot is a town and civil parish, within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley in Merseyside, England. It is 8 miles to the east of Liverpool city centre and lies within the historic boundaries of Lancashire. At the 2001 Census, the population was 11,184 .Prescot marks the beginning of the...	39,695	37,486
St Helens St Helens, Merseyside St Helens is a large town in Merseyside, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens with a population of just over 100,000, part of an urban area with a total population of 176,843 at the time of the 2001 Census...	102,629	106,293
Total	816,216	837,998

Greater Liverpool

Greater Liverpool is an informal term used by the Rent Service as one of its Broad Rental Market Areas (BRMA). This area includes such areas outside the city boundaries as Crosby, Maghull, Prescot and St Helens.