Southampton Urban Area

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Clickable location map showing settlements and suburbs within Greater Southampton. O denotes settlements within Southampton city boundary; X represents settlements outside the boundary.

The Southampton Urban Area is the conurbation surrounding Southampton in Hampshire, England.

In the 2001 Census, the area had a population of 304,400. With 234,224 people, Southampton itself makes up over three-quarters of the population. Bishopstoke (17,282) and Eastleigh (52,894) provide the remainder.

The Southampton Urban Area forms part of a metropolitan area – the Portsmouth/Southampton Metropolitan Area – that also includes the Portsmouth Urban Area and stretches from Andover to Bognor Regis. With a population of 1,547,000 (2001 Census) this is the eighth most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom.

In the lead up to the Local Government Act 1972 there was an active proposal to make South Hampshire into a fully fledged metropolitan county but this plan was not adopted.^{[citation needed]} The various cities and boroughs of South Hampshire remained under control of Hampshire County Council based at Winchester. However, in 1997, the City of Southampton became a unitary authority.