Chungcheongnam-do and Jeju-do have benefitted from overall population growth. In the 15 years between 2000 and 2015, metropolitan areas, defined as functional urban areas with 500 000 - 1.5 million residents, experienced the fastest population growth with an approximately 18% increase, on average, over the period. Large metropolitan and medium-sized urban areas grew by 9% and 7%.