The Milan metropolitan area is the urban agglomeration of the city of Milan in Lombardy, Italy (pop. 7.4 million), the biggest megalopolis in Italy and one of the largest in Europe.
The spatial spread of the metropolitan area has greatly accelerated over recent decades. The growth of the many settlements around the core of Milan since the 1960s have defined the extent and pattern of the metropolitan area, and commuting flows suggest that socioeconomic linkages have expanded beyond the boundaries of the Province of Milan A single, large and increasingly widespread conurbation with the city of Milan at its hub defines metropolitan Milan; however, the extent of the metropolitan area can vary greatly depending on the defining source.
The Milan metropolitan area is part of the so-called Blue Banana, the area of Europe with the highest population and industrial density.