The
Cardiff Built-up Area or
Cardiff Urban Area is the name given to the urban area around
Cardiff. The vast bulk of the population and area are contributed by Cardiff which had a population of 335,145 as recorded at the 2011 census. The rest was made up by the towns of
Penarth and
Dinas Powys connected to the south-east of the city along
Cardiff Bay as well as the
South Wales Valleys towns of
Caerphilly and
Pontypridd. The total official population of this urban area was given to be 447,487 in 2011. This was on increase of almost 37% on the 2001 population of 327,706 this was mainly due to
Caerphilly and
Pontypridd becoming part of the built-up area. The population of the Cardiff unitary authority (not co-terminous with the built-up area or the wider urban area) in 2001 was 305,353. Cardiff Council estimated the population of the unitary authority at 317,500 in 2006.