No. 2 on the list is North Carolina's Raleigh-Cary metropolitan area, whose population grew 47% in the 2000s to more than 1.1 million.

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The Houston metropolitan area, with a population of 6.1 million, experienced a net migration gain of 313, 800 new residents during the past five years.

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One of the most interesting things about the HDI report is its home value analysis of the 50 largest U.S. real estate markets (as broken down by population size of Metropolitan Statistical Area).

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The New York metropolitan area is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel, and "perhaps more than any other city on earth, we're truly aware of the challenges facing Israel, " said Weiner, who wore blue slacks and a white top.

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Vegas continues to explode in population and is now the largest metropolitan area in the country without a major-league franchise.

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Consider also that roughly 14 percent of the Asian Population in the United States resides in the New York metropolitan area and the state of New York is home to the second largest community of Asian Americans behind only California.

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Fuelled by booming aerospace and high-tech industries, population growth was of 1.5% a year in the metropolitan area in the 1990s, and a record 1.98% a year in the 2000s.

UNESCO: Social and Human Sciences