A suburb is an area within a metropolitan area which often contains most of the area's economic activity, which may include commercial and mixed-use. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate political entity. The name describes an area that is either more or less densely populated than an inner city. In many metropolitan areas suburbs rise in population during the day and are where most jobs are located; being major commercial and job hubs, many suburbs also exist as separate residential communities within commuting distance of a larger city. Suburbs can have their own political or legal jurisdiction, especially in the United States, but this is not always the case, especially in the United Kingdom, where most suburbs are located within the administrative boundaries of cities. In most English-speaking countries, suburban areas are defined in contrast to central city or inner city areas, but in Australian English and South African English, suburb has become largely synonymous with what is called a "neighborhood" in the U.S., but it is used in contrast with inner city areas.
Nassau County on Long Island, New York (above) is emblematic of the continuous sprawl making up the inner suburbs of New York City, in contrast with Monroe Township, New Jersey (below), characteristic of an outer suburb, or exurb, of New York City, with a lower population density.
Weilerswist, a suburb of Cologne, Germany
Männistö, a suburban neighborhood in Kuopio, Finland
Saaristokaupunki (Archipelago city), a new suburban area in Kuopio, Finland
A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metropolitan area usually comprises multiple principal cities, jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships, boroughs, cities, towns, exurbs, suburbs, counties, districts and even states and nations in areas like the eurodistricts. As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions.
Satellite image of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the United States and one of the largest in the world, with Long Island in the east and Manhattan at the center of the densest part of the image
Greater São Paulo in Brazil seen at night from the International Space Station
The Melbourne metropolitan area in Australia seen at night from the International Space Station
The Downtown Dubai Metropolis