Greater Southampton is an unofficial term for the conurbation surrounding Southampton in Hampshire, England. It has been variously defined as the Southampton Travel to Work Area, and the Office of National Statistics have referrred to it as the Southampton Urban Area with a population of around 442,969 (2001 census) which includes the following components: A conurbation is an urban area comprising a number of cities or towns which, through population growth and expansion, have physically merged to form one continuous built up area. ... Southampton is a city and major port situated on the south coast of England. ... Hampshire (abbr. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st... The Office for National Statistics is the UK government agency charged with the collection and publication of government statistics. ...

The City of Southampton which is a unitary authority itself makes up just over half the population A unitary authority is a type of local authority, which has a single-tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area. ...

• Southampton: 217445
• Eastleigh: 116169
• Test Valley (part of): 21248
• New Forest (part of): 66107
• Fareham (part of): 22000

The Southampton urban area can be looked at as part of a larger multi-centered conurbation also including Greater Portsmouth, in the general South Hampshire region. Greater Portsmouth is an unofficial term for the conurbation surrounding Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. ...

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 - the other candiates were Avon and Cleveland - none of these three were eventually adopted as such but Avon and Cleveland and also Humberside were created as administrative counties, NOT officially 'metropolitan' in nature. 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. The Local Government Act 1972 (1972 c. ... The six metropolitan counties shown within England The metropolitan counties are a type of county-level subnational entity in current use in England. ... Northavon Bristol Kingswood Woodspring Wansdyke Bath The County of Avon was a short-lived administrative county in the west of England, named after the River Avon which ran through it. ... Status: Non-metropolitan county Admin. ... Hampshire is a county on the south coast of England. ... Winchester is a city in southern England, with a population of around 40,000 within a 3 mile radius of its centre. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A unitary authority is a type of local authority, which has a single-tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area. ...