This is a list of Municipalities and their suburbs (neighbourhoods), townships, and rural localities in the greater metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Suburbs are defined here as localities within the legislated Urban Growth Boundary, all of which have some urban development. This line is the effective boundary of suburban Melbourne; outside it lie rural areas, and some townships of varying size. Each suburb is followed by its postcode. Some suburbs share the same postcode. Indented entries are recognised by the Geographic Names Board as unbounded neighbourhoods except when italicised. Those italicised usually have, or have had, Post Offices open under that name. Information about exact suburb boundaries can be obtained from the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning. In Australia, a suburb is a named and bounded locality of a city, with an urban nature, regardless of its location within that city. The term "inner suburbs" refers to the older, denser, urban areas closer to the original colonial centre of the cities and "outer suburbs" refers to the urban areas more remote from the centre of the metropolitan area. Sometimes the term "middle ring suburb" is used to refer to areas that were urbanised early in a city's expansion after the inner suburbs had become established. This differs from British and North American usage, in which the term "suburb" is usually not applied to urban areas (neighbourhoods) that are close to a major city centre or inside the central city's local government boundary. Inner City municipalities and their suburbs (followed by their 4-digit postcodes) City of Melbourne Carlton 3053 Carlton South Carlton North 3054 (Shared with City of Yarra) Docklands 3008 East Melbourne 3002 Jolimont (the name of the railway station) Flemington 3031 (Shared with City of Moonee Valley) Kensington 3031 Melbourne 3000 (Central business district) Melbourne 3004 (St Kilda Road area, shared with City of Port Phillip) North Melbourne 3051 (Shared with City of Moonee Valley) Hotham Hill Macaulay (the name of the railway station) Parkville 3052 Royal Park Port Melbourne 3207 (Shared with City of Port Phillip) Fishermans Bend (formerly Fishermen's Bend) Garden City Southbank 3006 (Shared with City of Port Phillip) South Wharf 3006 South Yarra 3141 (Shared with City of Stonnington) West Melbourne 3003 Coode Island See Melbourne central business district for precincts in the CBD. City of Port Phillip Albert Park 3206 Balaclava 3183 Elwood 3184 Brighton Road Melbourne 3004 (St Kilda Road