In terms of GDP, Milan is the wealthiest city in Italy, has the third-largest economy among EU cities after Paris and Madrid, and is the wealthiest among EU non-capital cities. Its business district hosts Italy's stock exchange ( Italian: Borsa Italiana), and the headquarters of national and international banks and companies. Milan is considered a leading alpha global city, with strengths in the fields of art, chemicals, commerce, design, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media (communication), services, research and tourism.

According to national sources, the population within the wider Milan metropolitan area (also known as Greater Milan), is estimated between 8.2 million and 12.5 million making it by far the largest metropolitan area in Italy and one of the largest in the EU. Its continuously built-up urban area (whose outer suburbs extend well beyond the boundaries of the administrative metropolitan city and even stretch into the nearby country of Switzerland) is the fourth largest in the EU with 5.27 million inhabitants.

The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has 3.26 million inhabitants. Milan ( / m ɪ ˈ l æ n/ mil- AN, US also / m ɪ ˈ l ɑː n/ mil- AHN, Lombard: ( listen) Italian: Milano ( listen)) is a city in the Po Valley in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome.

Citizens bank opera house seat view