San Antonio
San Antonio (/ˌsæn ænˈtoʊnioʊ/ SAN an-TOH-nee-oh; Spanish for "Saint Anthony"), officially the City of San Antonio, is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio, the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 2.6 million people in 2020.[11] It is the most populous city in and seat of Bexar County. The city is the seventh-most populous in the United States, the second-largest in the Southern United States,[12] and the second-most populous in Texas after Houston.[8]
This article is about the city in Texas. For the metropolitan area, see Greater San Antonio. For other uses, see San Antonio (disambiguation).
San Antonio
United States
May 1, 1718[5]
June 5, 1837[6]
504.64 sq mi (1,307.00 km2)
498.85 sq mi (1,292.02 km2)
5.79 sq mi (14.98 km2)
650 ft (198 m)
1,434,625
1,472,909
2,875.86/sq mi (1,110.37/km2)
1,992,689 (US: 24th)
3,248.4/sq mi (1,254.2/km2)
2,601,788 (US: 24th)
San Antonian
$163.1 billion (2022)
48-65000
Founded as a Spanish mission and colonial outpost in 1718, the city in 1731 became the first chartered civil settlement in what is now present-day Texas. The area was then part of the Spanish Empire. From 1821 to 1836, it was part of the Mexican Republic. It is the oldest municipality in Texas, having celebrated its 300th anniversary on May 1, 2018.[13][14][15]
Straddling the regional divide between South and Central Texas, San Antonio anchors the southwestern corner of an urban megaregion colloquially known as the Texas Triangle. Downtown Austin and Downtown San Antonio are approximately 80 miles (129 km) apart, and both fall along the Interstate 35 corridor. This combined metropolitan region of San Antonio–Austin has approximately 5 million people.[16]
San Antonio was named by a 1691 Spanish expedition for the Portuguese priest Saint Anthony of Padua, whose feast day is June 13.[17][18] The city contains five 18th-century Spanish frontier missions, including The Alamo and San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Together these were designated as UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2015.[19] Other notable attractions include the River Walk, the Tower of the Americas, SeaWorld San Antonio, the Alamo Bowl, and Marriage Island. Commercial entertainment includes Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Morgan's Wonderland amusement parks. According to the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau, the city is visited by about 32 million tourists a year. It is home to the five-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion San Antonio Spurs. It hosts the annual San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, one of the largest such events in the U.S.
The U.S. Armed Forces have numerous facilities in and around San Antonio;[20][21][22] Fort Sam Houston, which has Brooke Army Medical Center within it, is the only one within the city limits. Lackland Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base, Kelly Air Force Base, Camp Bullis, and Camp Stanley are outside the city limits. San Antonio is home to four Fortune 500 companies and the South Texas Medical Center, the only medical research and care provider in the South Texas region.
San Antonio is also the largest majority-Hispanic city in the United States, with 64% of its population being Hispanic.[23]
