One definition of the metropolitan area is the local labour market system, an official definition based on commuting patterns used by Istat consisting of 115 municipalities (It. comune) with a total population of 2,975,754 (2001).
Another definition is synonymous with the province of Milan, with 3,869,037 inhabitants distributed over an area of 1,982 km˛.
According to Eurostat Urban Audit program, the larger urban zone of Milan has a population of 3,076,643.
Finally, an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) territorial review of 2006 takes a more inclusive definition based on socioeconomic patterns. They define the Milan metropolitan area as the Lombard provinces of Milan, Bergamo, Como, Lecco, Lodi, Monza and Brianza, Pavia, Varese and the Piedmontese Province of Novara. The overall population under this definition is about 7,400,000 people dispersed over an area of about 12,000 km˛.
The urban agglomeration physically extends to, and may include, some Swiss territories in southern Canton Ticino,[citation needed] although this is not recognized by OECD.
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