It was previously only a NUTS III subregion integrated in the Lisboa Region and, previously, in the Lisboa e Vale do Tejo until it was abolished at the January 2015 NUTS 3 revision.

It includes the capital and prime city of Portugal, Lisbon (Lisboa in Portuguese).

In spite of getting the name Grande Lisboa, the subregion did not take the entire area of the Lisbon metropolitan area, because it does not include the municipalities on the South bank of the Tagus river estuary, known as Península de Setúbal, which the term at times also applied to.

This subregion is the leading services center for the entire country and it also has a large industrial output.

The main urban centers are Lisboa, Amadora, Algueirão-Mem Martins, Agualva-Cacém, Queluz and Odivelas.