The largest cities of the Netherlands: urban units, municipalities and metro areas
The Netherlands counted three ways: by continuous built-up area, by municipality and by metro area. 25 urban units pass 100,000 people; the largest is Groot-Amsterdam, with 1,136,210. The city of Rotterdam has 868,135 people within its limits; its urban unit, 868,135; its metro area, 3,646,327.
How the Netherlands counts its cities
Statistics Netherlands (CBS) publishes bevolkingskernen, population cores, with "Groot-" units for the large cities and their continuous suburbs. The four largest, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, form the Randstad, a ring of cities around a green heart.
The 25 largest urban units
Source: CBS, bevolkingskernen 2021.
| # | Urban unit | People | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Groot-Amsterdam | 1,136,210 | 168 |
| 2 | Groot-Rotterdam | 868,135 | 140 |
| 3 | Groot-'s-Gravenhage | 851,010 | 123 |
| 4 | Groot-Utrecht | 396,315 | 69 |
| 5 | Groot-Eindhoven | 320,365 | 83 |
| 6 | Groot-Leiden | 273,720 | 48 |
| 7 | Groot-Dordrecht | 224,440 | 52 |
| 8 | Tilburg | 218,130 | 51 |
| 9 | Groot-Groningen | 218,105 | 47 |
| 10 | Groot-Haarlem | 208,270 | 36 |
| 11 | Almere-Stad/Almere-Buiten | 186,690 | 44 |
| 12 | Groot-Heerlen | 170,030 | 53 |
| 13 | Groot-'s-Hertogenbosch | 165,545 | 42 |
| 14 | Groot-Nijmegen | 160,960 | 37 |
| 15 | Amersfoort | 155,600 | 33 |
| 16 | Breda | 154,855 | 38 |
| 17 | Enschede | 149,315 | 36 |
| 18 | Apeldoorn | 144,260 | 39 |
| 19 | Zoetermeer | 128,360 | 26 |
| 20 | Zwolle | 125,820 | 31 |
| 21 | IJmond | 119,430 | 31 |
| 22 | Maastricht | 116,630 | 29 |
| 23 | Groot-Arnhem | 113,565 | 27 |
| 24 | Groot-Sittard-Geleen | 106,760 | 42 |
| 25 | Groot-Alkmaar | 103,470 | 23 |
The 10 largest municipalities and metro areas
| # | Municipality | People | Metro area | People |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rotterdam | 868,135 | Rotterdam | 3,646,327 |
| 2 | Amsterdam | 741,636 | Amsterdam | 2,071,710 |
| 3 | The Hague | 474,292 | Nijmegen | 1,013,286 |
| 4 | Utrecht | 376,435 | Utrecht | 984,501 |
| 5 | Groningen | 244,807 | Eindhoven | 853,872 |
| 6 | Eindhoven | 235,691 | Enschede | 615,305 |
| 7 | Tilburg | 221,947 | 's-Hertogenbosch | 500,909 |
| 8 | Breda | 184,126 | Amersfoort | 440,807 |
| 9 | Nijmegen | 177,359 | Tilburg | 422,058 |
| 10 | Almere Stad | 176,432 | Breda | 408,568 |
Municipalities: GeoNames, latest census or estimate. Metro areas: GHSL functional urban areas. Metro areas are named after their main municipality, which is not always the best-known name of the area.
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