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Metropolis facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

A metropolis is a word that means a very big city, that usually has over 500,000 people living in it. A metropolis often has many smaller towns and cities inside its area. The word is very old and began in Greece.

In a broader sense, it refers to the city or state of origin of a colony (as of ancient Greece), a city regarded as a center of a specified activity, or a large important city.

Old uses

In the past many large cities were called a metropolis due to their size or importance; such as: Alexandria, Angkor, Antioch, Athens, Babylon, Baghdad, Beirut, Benares, Byblos, Cahokia, Carthage, Constantinople, Corinth, Damascus, Dholavira, Ephesus, Great Zimbabwe, Harappa, Jerusalem, Leptis Magna, Nanjing, Nineveh, Macchu Picchu, Mohenjo-Daro, Rome, Sarai, Side, Siracuse, Tenochtitlan, Teotihuacan, Tikal, Tyre, Xian and Ur.

Modern Metropolises

Tokyo Landsat
Tokyo, the world's largest metropolis
São Paulo satellite image, Landsat-5 2010-04-18 (cropped)
São Paulo, the largest metropolis of the Southern Hemisphere
Lightmatter colosseum
The Colosseum at night
Nile-Cairo
Cairo Skyline
Dhaka Skyline at Night
Dhaka is the largest city in Bangladesh
Mumbai night water
Mumbai is India's largest city
WsaragihJakarta
Jakarta, the largest and busiest city in Indonesia
Karachi sky line
Karachi is Pakistan's largest city with about 23.5 million population
Ortigas Tonight
Metro Manila, the most populous metropolitan area in the Philippines
Oberbaumbruecke beim Berliner Osthafen cropped
Berlin is Germany's largest city
City of London skyline from London City Hall - Oct 2008
London is the largest city in the UK
Skyline of Toronto viewed from Harbour
Toronto is Canada's largest city
NYC wideangle south from Top of the Rock
New York City is the largest city in the U.S.
City of sydney from the balmain wharf dusk cropped2
Sydney is Australia's largest city and metropolis
Cidade de São Paulo
São Paulo is Brazil's largest city
Skyscrapers of Shinjuku 2009 January
Skyline of Tokyo, with Mount Fuji in the background
Istanbul IMG 7257 1725
Levent, Istanbul, Turkey
Buenos Aires - Monserrat - Avenida 9 de Julio
Aerial view of Buenos Aires

Africa

Americas

North America

Middle America

South America

Asia

Eastern Asia

Southern Asia

Southeastern Asia

Western/Central Asia

Europe

Central Europe

Eastern Europe

Northern Europe

Southern Europe

Western Europe

Oceania

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Metropolis Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.