The Houston metropolitan area, also known as Greater Houston or MetroHouston, is the second most populous metropolitan area in the Southern United States and fifth most populous in the U.S., with over 6 million residents. The metropolitan area is centered around the city of Houston—the largest economic and cultural center of the South. The metropolitan area encompasses 9 counties in Texas, containing a population of 6,997,384 in an area encompassing over 10,000 square miles (26,000 km2).
