Outline map of Canada's census divisions in 2001.

The census geographic units of Canada are the country subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada^[1] to conduct the country's five-yearly census. They exist on four levels: the top-level (first-level) divisions are Canada's provinces and territories; these are divided into second-level census divisions, which in turn are divided into third-level census subdivisions (roughly corresponding to municipalities) and fourth-level dissemination areas.

In some provinces, a census division also corresponds to a county or another similar unit of political organization, while in other provinces the boundaries are chosen arbitrarily as no such level of government exists. Two of Canada's three territories are also divided into census divisions.

Census divisions[link]

Canada's second-level geographic units are called "census divisions". In terms of size, they generally lie between the top-level administrative divisions of the province and territory and third-level administrative divisions such as sections, townships and ranges. Census divisions are divided into census subdivisions (see section below).

In most cases, a census division corresponds to a single unit of the appropriate type listed above. However, in a few cases, Statistics Canada groups two or more units into a single statistical division:

• In Ontario, Haldimand County and Norfolk County are grouped as a single census division, as are Brant and Brantford.
• In Quebec, 93 of 98 census divisions correspond precisely to the territory of one regional county municipality (with the addition of Indian reserves, which do not legally belong to RCMs) or a "territory equivalent to an RCM" (which usually corresponds to a single independent city). However, there are five census divisions consisting of two or three RCMs or equivalent territories each. See List of census divisions of Quebec.

In almost all such cases, the division in question was formerly a single unit of the standard type, which was divided into multiple units by its province after the Canada 2001 Census.

Census consolidated subdivisions[link]

A census consolidated subdivision is a geographic unit between census division and census subdivision. It is a combination of adjacent census subdivisions typically consisting of larger, more rural census subdivisions and smaller, more densely-populated census subdivisions.^[3]

Census subdivisions[link]

Census subdivisions generally correspond to the municipalities of Canada, as determined by provincial and territorial legislation.^[4] They are also areas that are deemed to be equivalents to municipalities for statistical reporting purposes, such as Indian reserves, Indian settlements, and unorganized territories.^[4] Statistics Canada has created census subdivisions in cooperation with the provinces of British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia as equivalents for municipalities.^[5] The Indian reserve and Indian settlement census subdivisions are determined according to criteria established by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.^[6]

Dissemination areas[link]

Dissemination areas are the smallest standard geographic unit in Canada and cover the entire country.^[7] As small areas, they comprise one or more dissemination blocks and have a population between 400 and 700 people.^[7]

Specially-defined geographic units[link]

Census metropolitan areas[link]

See template below for links to census metropolitan areas by size.

A "census metropolitan area" (CMA) is a grouping of census subdivisions comprising a large urban area (the "urban core") and those surrounding "urban fringes" and fringes" with which it is closely integrated. To become a CMA, an area must register an urban core population of at least 100,000 at the previous census. CMA status is retained even if this core population later drops below 100,000.

CMAs may cross census division and provincial boundaries, although the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area in Ontario and Quebec is the only one that currently crosses a provincial border.

Census agglomerations[link]

A "census agglomeration" (CA) is a smaller version of a CMA in which the urban core population at the previous census was greater than 10,000 but less than 100,000. If the population of an urban core is less than 50,000, it is the starting point for the construction of a 'census agglomeration'.^[8]

Census tracts[link]

CMAs and CAs with a population greater than 50,000 are subdivided into census tracts which have populations ranging from 2,000 to 8,000.

Population centres[link]

A "population centre" (PC), formerly known as an urban area (UA), is any grouping of contiguous dissemination areas that has a minimum population of 1,000 and an average population density of 400 persons per square kilometre or greater.^[9] For the 2011 census, urban area has been renamed to "population centre".^[10][9] In 2011, Statistics Canada identified 942 population centres in Canada. It is important to note that some urban areas include all or parts of a number of different municipalities; that not all municipalities contain an urban area; and that some municipalities contain more than one distinct urban area. The delineation of boundaries of 'urban areas' by Statistics Canada is almost completely unrelated to the existence of municipal boundaries.^[11]

The population centre level of geography is further divided into the following three groupings based on population:^[9]

• "small population centre" – 1,000 to 29,999
• "medium population centre" – 30,000 to 99,999
• "large urban population centre" – 100,000 and greater

Designated places[link]

A "designated place" (DPL) is usually a small community that does not meet the criteria used to define incorporated municipalities or urban areas (areas with a population of at least 1,000 and no fewer than 400 persons per square kilometre), but for which Statistics Canada or a provincial government has requested that similar demographic data be compiled.^[12]

Localities[link]

A "locality" (LOC) is a historical named location or place. The named location may be a former census subdivision, a former urban area, or a former designated place. It may also refer to neighbourhoods, post offices, communities and unincorporated places among other entities.^[13]

See also[link]

BC

AB

SK

MB

ON

QC

NB

PE

NS

NL

YT

NT

NU

Census divisions by province

• Census division statistics of Canada
• Census divisions of Alberta · Newfoundland and Labrador · Ontario · Saskatchewan
• Counties of New Brunswick · Nova Scotia · Prince Edward Island
• Regions of Manitoba · Northwest Territories · Nunavut
• Regional county municipalities of Quebec
• Regional districts of British Columbia
• Standard Geographical Classification code

References[link]

External links[link]

• Reference maps for census divisions at Statistics Canada.
• Hierarchy of census geography

v t e   Census divisions of Canada (by province or territory) Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Nova Scotia Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Northwest Territories Nunavut Yukon Book Category Portal WikiProject

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Densely populated metropolitan area (Western Tokyo)

The term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing.^[1] A metropolitan area usually comprises multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships, cities, exurbs, counties, and even states. As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions.^[2]

General definition[link]

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Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration (the contiguous, built-up area) with zones not necessarily urban in character, but closely bound to the center by employment or other commerce. These outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles' metro area.

In practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Sometimes they are little different from an urban area, and in other cases they cover broad regions that have little relation to a single urban settlement; comparative statistics for metropolitan area should take this into account. Population figures given for one metro area can vary by millions, and there is a tendency for people to promote the highest figure available for their own "city". However the most ambitious metropolitan area population figures are often better seen as the population of a "metropolitan region" than of a "city".^{[citation needed]}

There has been no significant change in the basic concept of metropolitan areas since its adoption in 1950,^[3] although significant changes in geographic distributions have occurred since then, and more are expected.^[4] Because of the fluidity of the term "metropolitan statistical area," the term used colloquially is more often "metro service area," "metro area," or "MSA" taken to include not only a city, but also surrounding suburban, exurban and sometimes rural areas, all which it is presumed to influence.

A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, which requires urban contiguity. In defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities constitute a nucleus with which other areas have a high degree of integration.

Country official unique definitions[link]

Perth is arguably the most isolated metropolitan area in the world.^{[citation needed]}

Vancouver, on Canada's Pacific Coast

Paris, one of Europe's major centres

Istanbul, the only metropolitan area that spans two continents.

Mumbai, Financial Capital of India.

Chicago, on the Great Lakes.

Australia[link]

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The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines 'statistical divisions' as areas under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or a major city.^[5] Each of the state and territory capital cities as well as the national capital, Canberra, forms its own statistical division, and the population of the statistical division is the figure most often quoted for that city's population. However, this definition has largely become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. For example, the City of Brisbane, the capital city of Queensland, has long since become contiguous with the surrounding cities of Ipswich, Logan City, Redland City, Redcliffe, Pine Rivers, Caboolture and the Gold Coast. This conurbation is common to all the major metropolitan areas of Australia which include all the capital cities and many major regional centres such as the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Wollongong, Geelong, Townsville, Cairns and Toowoomba.

Canada[link]

Statistics Canada defines a census metropolitan area (CMA) and census agglomeration (CA) as areas consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the metropolitan area must have a population of at least 100,000, at least half within the urban core. To form a CA, the urban core must have a population of at least 10,000. To be included in the CMA or CA, adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the core, as measured by commuter flows derived from census data.^[6]

European Union[link]

The European Union's statistical agency, Eurostat, has created a concept named Larger Urban Zone (LUZ). The LUZ represents an attempt at a harmonised definition of the metropolitan area, and the goal was to have an area from a significant share of the resident commute into the city, a concept known as the “functional urban region”.^[7]

France[link]

In France the term for the region around an urban core linked by commuting ties is an aire urbaine (officially translated as "urban area").^{[citation needed]}

Turkey[link]

The word metropolitan, describes a major city in Turkey like Istanbul, a city which is dominant to others both in financially and socially.^[8] There are 16 officially defined "state metropolitan areas" in Turkey, for governing purposes.^[9] More than ten of these metropolitan areas are populated with more than one million people: Istanbul (10+ Million), Ankara (4+ Million), Izmir (3+ Million), Bursa (2+ Million), Adana, Gaziantep, Konya, Antalya, Samsun, Kayseri and Mersin.

Istanbul-Kocaeli-Sakarya-Yalova-Bursa metropolitan areas, almost continuously inhabited, form one single megalopolitan area around the eastern part of Marmara Sea, with total population of almost 20 Million and with the combined economy of US$750 Billion. Istanbul metropolitan area itself has a population of 12+ Million and an economy of almost US$500 Billion.

India[link]

Rajarhat which is in the city of Kolkata is a newly established township, consisting of gated high rise apartment complexes. In this image, Uniworld City, a mini-township

In India, the Census Commission defines a metropolitan city one having a population of over 4 million.^[10] Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Siliguri , Pune, and Ahmedabad are the Indian cities that qualify. Residents of these cities are also entitled to a higher house rent allowance. The figure only applies to the city region and not the conurbation.^{[citation needed]}

Israel[link]

In Israel there are 4 metropolitan areas: Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Beersheba. Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area in late 2005 numbered about three million inhabitants. This is a center of metropolitan employment and business in Israel. Today, some argue that the Tel Aviv metropolitan area - Gush Dan, will be deployed in future from Hadera to Gedera (for all "rings" - inner, middle and outer).^{[citation needed]}

Japan[link]

In Japan a metropolitan area would be toshiken (都市圏^?, lit. block of cities).^{[citation needed]}

United States[link]

The Office of Management and Budget defines Core Based Statistical Areas used for statistics purposes among federal agencies. Each CBSA is based on a core urban area and is composed of the counties which comprise that core as well as any surrounding counties that are tightly socially or economically integrated with it. These areas are designated as either metropolitan or micropolitan statistical areas, based on population size; a "metro" area has an urban core of at least 50,000 residents, while a "micro" area has fewer than 50,000 but at least 10,000.^[11]

Megalopolis[link]

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This concept of a "megalopolis" was first proposed by the French geographer Jean Gottmann in his book Megalopolis, a study of the northeastern United States. One prominent example of a megalopolis is the Northeast megalopolis consisting of Boston, Hartford, Greater New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, Delaware, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and their vicinities. Two other prominent megalopolises in North America are as follows:

1. In California and Baja California, Ventura County, Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, part of Riverside County, part of San Bernardino County, Tijuana Municipality, Rosarito Beach Municipality, Mexicali Municipality, and Tecate Municipality. There are hundreds of cities and towns in this megalopolis, with the largest ones being Los Angeles, Long Beach, Irvine, Anaheim, San Diego, and Tijuana.
2. The bi-national Great Lakes Megalopolis consists of the group of North American metropolitan areas surrounding the Great Lakes region within the Midwestern United States, Southern Ontario, and parts of Pennsylvania, New York, and Quebec. The region extends from the Milwaukee–Chicago corridor to the Detroit–Toronto corridor, and includes Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Erie, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Louisville, Ottawa, Rochester, and Toledo, reaching as far as Pittsburgh and St. Louis. The region had an estimated population of 54 million for the 2000 Census and is projected to reach about 65 million by 2025.

The world's largest megalopolis is probably is the Taiheiyō Belt (the Pacific megalopolis) of Japan on southeastern Honshu that consists of the metropolis of Tokyo, Shizuoka, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Okayama, Yokosuka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, Kure, and their surrounding cities and towns. Major means of ground transportation in Japan such as its railroad network (for both passengers and freight), many expressways, and the "Shinkansen" bullet train are concentrated in this region, which also includes the northern shore of the Inland Sea of Japan. This is a highly-industrialized part of Japan, and it is also the location of its most important seaports in Japan - such as at Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima, and Kure - and its most important international airports - such as at Tokyo and Osaka. The population of this megalopolis can be considered to be as high as 83 million people, depending on where one draws its boundaries.

Guangdong Province's Pearl River Delta is a megalopolis with a population of 48 million that extends from Hong Kong and Shenzhen to Guangzhou. Some projections assume that by 2030 up to 1 billion people will live in China's urban areas. Even rather conservative projections predict an urban population of up to 800 million people. In its most recent assessment, the UN Population Division estimated an urban population of 1 billion in 2050.^[12]

The megalopolises in Europe are the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region (pop. 11.5 million) in Germany, the Milan metropolitan area (pop. 7.4 million) in Italy, the Randstad in the Netherlands (pop. 7.4 million), the Flemish Diamond in Belgium (pop. 5.5 million), Ile de France in France and the metropolitan area of London and Moscow, as well as several 'smaller' agglomerations, such as the Meuse-Rhine Euregion, the Ems-Dollart Region, the Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai Euregion and Metropoly of Upper Silesia in Poland (17 cities around Katowice with a total population of over 2 million). Together this megalopolis has an estimated population of around 50 million. In Turkey, multiple cities around Istanbul, Istanbul-Kocaeli-Sakarya-Yalova-Bursa metropolitan areas, almost continuously inhabited, form one single megalopolitan area to the east of Istanbul around the eastern part of Marmara Sea, with total population of almost 20 Million and with the combined economy of US$750 Billion.

It has been suggested^[who?] that most of southeastern England, the Midlands and parts of northern England will someday evolve into a megalopolis dominated by London.^{[citation needed]} Clearly when usage is stretched this far, it is remote from the traditional conception of a city.^{[citation needed]}

Africa's first megalopolis is situated in the urban portion of Gauteng Province in South Africa, comprising the conurbation of Johannesburg, and the metropolitan areas of Pretoria and the Vaal Triangle, otherwise known as the PWV.

Megacity is a general term for metropolitan areas which usually have a total population in excess of ten million people. In Canada, "megacity" can also refer informally to the results of merging a central city with its suburbs to form one large municipality. A Canadian "megacity", however, is not necessarily an entirely urbanized area, since many of its named "cities" have both rural and urban portions. Also, 10 million inhabitants is an unreasonably high number for Canada. Moreover, Canadian "megacities" do not constitute large metropolitan areas in a global sense. For example, Toronto has a metropolitan population of about five million people, but is part of a much larger metropolitan region called the Golden Horseshoe, which has about eight million people.

The census population of a metro area is not the city population. However, it better demonstrates the population of the city. Los Angeles may only have a city population of slightly less than four million, but depending on the definition, it has a metropolitan area population of either 13 million, or 18 million people in its combined statistical area. A major question is whether or not to include San Diego and Tijuana.

See also[link]

• Developed environments
• Economic restructuring
• Metropolitan Statistical Area
• metropolitan economy
• Urban sprawl

Metropolitan Planning Theories[link]

• New Urbanism
• Smart growth
• Transit-oriented development

Terms[link]

Lists of metropolitan areas[link]

• List of metropolitan areas that overlap multiple countries
• List of metropolitan areas by population
  • List of urban areas by population

References[link]

External links[link]

• Metropolis.org, An organisation of world metropolises
• Urban Employment Areas in Japan (Metropolitan Employment Areas in Japan)
• Turismo.fvg.it, (Metropolis read by maps in Friuli Venezia Giulia - Northeast of Italy - EU)
• Geopolis : research group, university of Paris-Diderot, France — Urbanization of the world

Kate Ryan
Kate Ryan in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Katrien Verbeeck
Also known as	Kate Ryan (stage name)
Born	(1980-07-22) 22 July 1980 (age 31)
Origin	Tessenderlo, Belgium
Genres	Dance-pop, Eurodance, House
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, Guitar, Piano
Years active	2001–present
Labels	EMI (2002-2006) ARS Entertainment (2007-present)
Website	www.kateryan.be

Kate Ryan (born Katrien Verbeeck on 22 July 1980^[1]) is a Belgian World Music Award winner. She began her singing career in 2001 and later found fame with a string of dance hits. These included covers, mostly of Mylène Farmer and France Gall, such as "Désenchantée", "Libertine", and "Ella, elle l'a" as well as new material. Ryan represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Je t'adore" coming in 12th place in the semi-final.

Biography[link]

[edit] 2001–04: Different

Ryan was born in the small village of Tessenderlo, Belgium. She grew up in a musical family, and reflected a talent for music at a very early age. At eight years old she learned to play piano and guitar. She received singing and piano lessons from her aunt who teaches at a conservatory. She studied at an art school, specialising in jewellery design. Ryan played frequently in bars and cafés as a teenager, and one night she was offered a recording deal. She became a member of a pop group called Melt at the age of 16.^[2] The group was active for two years, but they did not release any material commercially. When she met producer Andy Janssens, she left Melt and the pair began to write music together. Their debut single "Scream for More" was released in 2001, and it became a chart success. Later that year Ryan's second single, "UR (My Love)", cemented her position in Belgian charts.

She gained international prominence with a cover of Mylène Farmer's "Désenchantée", which was a hit in various European pop music charts. She signed in with Belgian department of EMI and released her first album Different in 2002 exclusively in Europe. The album went Gold and Platinum in a number of countries, selling more than 250.000 copies throughout Europe. Two final singles off Different, "Mon cœur résiste encore" and "Libertine" (the first one being a French version of "Scream for More", the latter a second cover of Farmer's number) also turned out a chart success. Kate's records were released in the USA under Robbins Entertainment label.

[edit] 2004–07: Stronger & Alive

In 2004, Ryan released a second album in Europe, entitled Stronger, that also contained her remarkable dance-pop style. The album's lead single, "Only If I" met with a modest success across Europe. A cover of Cock Robin's "The Promise You Made" became the second single, earning even greater success. It was also recorded in French as "La Promesse". Pop ballad "Goodbye" was released as the third single, meeting with considerable success. In 2005 Kate Ryan's music appeared in North America on Water Music Records.

In 2006 the singer participated in Eurosong '06, the national final to select the entrant for Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. She was selected as the entrant after placing first in the Eurosong final on 9 March 2006. Ryan represented Belgium at the Eurovision semi-final held on 18 May 2006 in Athens singing "Je t'adore". However, she did not qualify for the final, finishing two places outside the advancing Top 10 (12th) with 69 points. She was later voted best dressed performer by Eurovisions independent website esctoday.com for her 14.000 € outfit, later sold to raise charity funds.^[3] The following single was "Alive", taken from the album of the same name, which also featured French versions of several tracks including "Je t'adore", "Alive", and the third single "All for You". The album, although critically acclaimed, didn't repeat the success of two previous ones.

Kate Ryan performing at the Eurogames 2007

[edit] 2007-08: Free & Essential

In 2007, she had some success with the double-sided single "Voyage Voyage"/"We All Belong". The track "Voyage Voyage" was a cover of the 1986 European smash hit by Desireless, and "We All Belong" was selected as the official anthem for the EuroGames 2007 in Antwerp. In 2008, Ryan released two singles: "L.I.L.Y. (Like I Love You)" and then "Ella, elle l'a", a cover of France Gall's song. Both tracks (as well as "Voyage Voyage" and "We All Belong") were included on her album Free, which was released in the middle of the year. The album included also a duet with Spanish singer Soraya Arnelas. Singer's first best-of album Essential was released in July. It included songs recorded throughout her EMI period. In August Kate took part in Polish Sopot Hit Festival. During the show she received Gold award for the Free album in Poland. On 9 November 2008 in Monaco, Kate Ryan won the World Music Award as The Best Selling Benelux Artist. Two more singles promoted Free, including "I Surrender".

[edit] 2009-11: French Connection

2009 saw the release of the concept album French Connection. It was a compilation consisting of French-language-only material, including Ryan's previous hits recordings, and adding some new recordings. "Évidemment" and "Babacar", both from France Gall's repertoire, were released as singles, but only met with limited success, as did the album. The singer announced that French Connection was the end of an era, and from now on she will only release material written by her. She received a Multi-Platinum award from Spain for selling more than 300.000 digital songs.

[edit] 2011-present: Electroshock

Ryan announced via Facebook that her next album, Electroshock, would be released in 2011, preceded by a single "LoveLife".^[4] Another single "Broken" was released on October 7, 2011. ^[5] However, the album was delayed and is now scheduled to be released in March 2012, although as of May 2012 the album has not been released yet.^[6] It will contain English and French songs and will not have any cover versions. On May 12, 2012 another single entitled "robots" was released.

Discography[link]

• Different (2002)
• Stronger (2004)
• Alive (2006)
• Free (2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kate Ryan

• Official website
• Kate Ryan Music's channel on YouTube
• Kate Ryan on Myspace
• Kate Ryan on Facebook