For the NHS Health Board, see NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
Greater Glasgow is the conurbation that includes and surrounds the city of Glasgow in the west of Scotland. It has a population of 1,750,500 (August 2007)[2], making it the largest urban area in Scotland and the fourth largest in the United Kingdom.[3] The wider commuter area covers approximately 2.3 million people.[4] The City of Glasgow Council area and Greater Glasgow, together, are forecast to grow in the near future to around 2,300,000.[4] The City of Glasgow in the late 19th and early 20th centuries grew to having a population of over one million people and was the third city in Europe to reach one million, after London and Paris. [5] The official population stayed well over one million for more than 150 years.[6] However, in the 1960s large-scale relocation to new towns in the suburban area of the city and many boundary changes since then have reduced the population of the core City of Glasgow council area to 580,690 (August 2007);[2] and 1,750,000[7] in the Metropolitan area of the city. TransportThe Glasgow conurbation is served by the largest urban rail network in the UK outside of London,[8] with 186 rail stations in the Greater Glasgow area. The city is served by the only metro system in Scotland, the Glasgow Subway; and by two international airports, Glasgow Prestwick International Airport[9] and Glasgow International Airport.[10] Following the local government boundary changes in 1996 and the creation of unitary councils in Scotland, replacing the former regional and district councils, the Greater Glasgow Settlement Area or Urban Area was created for the 2001 Census from groups of neighboring urban postcodes grouped so that each group of postcode unit contains at least a given number of addresses per unit area, and the group contains at least 500 residents. Towns and villagesThe area includes the following localities: Airdrie, Bargeddie, Barrhead, Bearsden, Bellshill, Bishopbriggs, Bothwell, Busby, Calderbank, Cambuslang, Campsie, Carfin, Clarkston, Clydebank, Coatbridge,Cumbernauld, Duntocher and Hardgate, East Kilbride, Elderslie, Erskine, Faifley, Giffnock, Glasgow City, Hamilton, Holytown, Howwood, Johnstone, Kilbarchan, Kilsyth, Kirkintilloch, Linwood, Milngavie, Motherwell, New Stevenston, Newarthill, Newmains, Newton Mearns, Old Kilpatrick, Paisley, Renfrew, Rutherglen, Stepps, Tannochside,Thornliebank, Uddingston, Viewpark and Wishaw.[11] References
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