Houston ( ; HEW-st?n) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. It is the fourth-most populous city in the United States after New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, and the seventh-most populous city in North America. With a population of 2,302,878 in 2022, Houston is located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico; it is the seat and largest city of Harris County and the principal city of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, which is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the second-most populous in Texas after Dallas–Fort Worth. Houston is the southeast anchor of the greater megaregion known as the Texas Triangle.Comprising a land area of 640.4 square miles (1,659 km2), Houston is the ninth-most expansive city in the United States (including consolidated city-counties). It is the largest city in the United States by total area whose government is not consolidated with a county, parish, or borough. Though primarily in Harris County, small portions of the city extend into Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, bordering other principal communities of Greater Houston such as Sugar Land and The Woodlands.
