métropoli

Métropoli is a term used in various Romance languages to denote a large, dominant city that serves as the major economic, political, and cultural hub of a country or region. The concept can refer to the city proper, its surrounding urban area, or both, depending on usage. In English the closest equivalent is metropolis; forms such as métropole, metrópoli, or метрополия appear in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and other languages. Etymologically, it derives from the Greek mētropolis, from mētēr, “mother,” and pólis, “city,” meaning the mother city or the principal city of a region.

In practice, a métropoli is characterized by high population, a diversified economy, major institutions, and extensive infrastructure. It typically concentrates finance, administration, education, media, and transportation networks that connect it with smaller towns and rural areas. The term is often descriptive, though some countries use it as an official designation for administrative or statistical purposes, such as metropolitan regions or metropolitan governance structures.

Boundaries of a métropoli are not fixed; they overlap with metropolitan areas or urban agglomerations and can change with urban growth and policy reforms. The concept helps distinguish a city that dominates surrounding settlements from smaller municipalities within the same region. It also reflects the functional role of these cities in coordinating services, markets, and transport across a wider urban system. See also: metropolis, metropolitan area, urbanization.