metropolitanos

Metropolitanos is the plural masculine form of the adjective metropolitan in Spanish and Portuguese, used to designate things related to a metropolis—its urban core as well as the surrounding suburban and peri-urban areas. In English, the corresponding term is metropolitan, and metropolitanos is rarely used outside Spanish- or Portuguese-speaking contexts.

Etymology and meaning: the term derives from the Greek metrópolis, “mother-city,” via Latin metropolitanus. It carries both geographical and cultural connotations, signaling urban scale, influence, and institutions tied to large, multi-m municipality regions.

Usage in geography and urban planning: metropolitanos appears in phrases such as área metropolitana, or metropolitan area, referring to the city proper plus nearby municipalities that are socioeconomically linked. It is used in planning, statistics, transportation, housing, and policy to describe the integrated functions of a large urban region.

Usage in demography and culture: as a noun, metropolitanos can describe residents of a metropolis; as an adjective, it describes characteristics, services, or institutions that serve large urban populations. In religious contexts, metropolitano is a rank for an archbishop in some Christian churches; metropolitanos would be the plural form in Spanish or Portuguese.

Examples and institutions: in contemporary usage, metropolitanos is also found as a proper name for organizations or teams, notably Metropolitanos F.C., a Venezuelan professional football club named after the concept of a metropolis.

See also: metropolitan, metropolis, área metropolitana.