Editing Cagliari (section)

===Metropolitan City===
{{Main|Metropolitan City of Cagliari}}
[[File:Map of comune of Cagliari (metropolitan city of Cagliari, region Sardinia, Italy) - 2016.svg|thumb|left|Map of the metropolitan city of Cagliari; the capital is indicated in red.]]
The Metropolitan City of Cagliari has been established in 2016 by a Sardinia Regional Law and totals about 420,000 inhabitants according to ISTAT. It is composed of 17 municipalities along the coast of the gulf and up to {{convert|20|km|mi}} of the inner Campidano plain.

It covers an area on the plain of Campidano between large basins (Santa Gilla lagoon and salt mills of about 30 km2 or 3200 acres), ponds ([[Molentargius]]), 16,22 km2 (40,10 acres) and the depopulated mountains up to {{convert|1100|m|ft}} above sea level. The mountains are largely covered by forests mostly managed by the Ente Foreste of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia. To the west these amount to {{convert|256|km2|mi2}} on the Capoterra and Pula mountains. Monte Arcosu WWF Natural Reserve has another {{convert|36|km2|mi2}}, and to the east on Mount Serpeddì and Sette Fratelli there are a total of {{convert|132|km2|mi2}} of forest.

The Metropolitan City is defined by municipalities where the population increased between the last two censuses, in a region where the population is otherwise generally decreasing. These municipalities welcome immigrants to the urban area whose main nucleus, the city of Cagliari, has a high number of elderly people.

In the last century, the population of the municipalities of the metropolitan area increased by 354% and in the last 50 years by 158% (1911: 128,444; 1961: 288,683; 2011: 454,819). For the whole of Sardinia this increase was respectively 88% and 15% (1911: 868,181; 1961: 1,419,362; 2011: 1,639,362). The urbanisation towards the area of Cagliari was, in percentage terms, impressive, making the capital of the island a metropolis surrounded by rural areas increasingly depopulated. This urbanisation is also reflected in the concentration in Cagliari of most of the economic activities and wealth.