Houston is the largest city in the
state of Texas
and the fourth-largest in the
United States. The city covers more than 600 square miles (1,600 km˛)
and is the county seat of
Harris County—the third-most populous in the country. As of the
2005 U.S. Census estimate, Houston had a population of more than 2 million.
The city is at the heart of the
Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the largest cultural and
economic center of the
Gulf Coast region and the seventh-largest
metropolitan area in the U.S. with a population of 5.3 million in 10
counties.
Houston is world-renowned for its energy (particularly oil) and
aeronautics industries, and for its ship channel. The area is also the
world's leading center for building oilfield equipment. The
Port of Houston ranks first in the country in international commerce
and is the sixth-largest port in the world. Second only to New York City in
Fortune 500 headquarters, Houston is the seat of the
internationally-renowned
Texas Medical Center, which contains the world's largest concentration
of research and healthcare institutions.
Houston is ranked as one of 11 U.S.
world-class cities by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group &
Network.
The city has a vibrant visual and performing arts scene as Houston is one of
the five U.S. cities that offer world-class, year-round resident companies
in all major performing arts.
In addition, the
Houston Theater District is ranked second in the country for the number
of theatre seats in a concentrated downtown area per capita.
The city is within proximity to beaches on
Galveston Island as well as one of the United State's largest
concentrations of pleasure boats.
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