Metropolitan Cork

The Cork Area Strategic Plan (CASP) and subsequent regional planning documents, such as the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy, have used the term to describe a continuous urban core and a commuter belt stretching from Ovens to Midleton and Watergrasshill and Blarney to Carrigaline. The metropolitan area includes Cork City and nearby commuter towns such as Ballincollig, Blarney, Carrigaline, Carrigtwohill, Cobh, Glanmire, Glounthaune, Midleton, Passage West, and Ringaskiddy. The boundary is not fixed and varies across contexts (e.g. transport, planning, and statistical definitions). ==Greater Cork==

Greater Cork is an area that extends beyond Metropolitan Cork, and includes the Metropolitan Cork area itself (referred to in the regional planning guidelines as the "Cork Gateway"), plus Mallow and its hinterland, as well as the ring towns of Bandon, Fermoy, Kinsale, Macroom and Youghal. This Greater Cork area was recorded as having a population of 377,596 in 2006. ==Population==

The Cork City administrative area (after the 2019 boundary extension) recorded a population of 224,004 in the 2022 census, while the overall population of County Cork was 584,156. The population of the wider Metropolitan Cork area was estimated to be around 305,000 as of 2016. ==References==