Houston, city in southeastern Texas and the seat of Harris County. Located at the head of the Houston Ship Channel, which links the city to the Gulf of Mexico, Houston is an inland seaport and a major financial, distribution, and manufacturing center for the southern United States. It is the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest in the country, behind New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The terrain is level and drains into a number of bayous and canals. The city has a humid coastal climate, with hot summers and very mild winters. Houston was named for Sam Houston, a distinguished military leader and hero of the Texas Revolution (1835-1836).

The Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area includes the counties of Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller. In addition to Houston, the area includes Pasadena, Texas City, Galveston, Brazoria, and many other cities and communities.

Houston has an extensive park system that includes Hermann Park, the home of the Houston Zoo; Memorial Park; the Armand Bayou Nature Center; and the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. The Houston Astros of major league baseball play in Minute Maid Park. The Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association play at the Compaq Center sports and entertainment complex. Among the city’s many annual events are the River Oaks Garden Club’s Azalea Trail, a tour of azalea gardens at Bayou Bend and homes in River Oaks; Houston International Festival, a ten-day downtown celebration of the city’s different cultures; and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Space Center Houston is the official visitors’ center of NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Here one will find many interactive exhibits including moon rocks, a shuttle simulator, and presentations about the history of NASA's manned space flight program.

The Theater District is a 17-block area in the center of downtown Houston that is home to the Bayou Place entertainment complex, restaurants, movies, plazas, and parks. Bayou Place is a large multilevel building containing full-service restaurants, bars, live music, billiards, and art house films. The Houston Verizon Wireless Theater stages live concerts, stage plays, and stand-up comedy; and the Angelika Film Center presents the latest in art and foreign and independent films.

Houston is home to many parks including Hermann Park, which houses the Houston Zoo and the Houston Museum of Natural Science, Lake Houston Park, Memorial Park, Tranquility Park, and Sam Houston Park which contains restored and reconstructed homes which were originally built between 1823 and 1905). The city has 337 city parks and over 200 green spaces—totaling over 19,600 acres (79 km˛) that are managed by the city—including the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center. The Houston Civic Center was replaced by the George R. Brown Convention Center—one of the nation's largest—and the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, home of the Houston Symphony Orchestra and Society for the Performing Arts. The Sam Houston Coliseum and Music Hall have been replaced by the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts.

Other tourist attractions include the Galleria (Texas's largest shopping mall located in the Uptown District), Old Market Square, the Downtown Aquarium, SplashTown and Sam Houston Race Park. The San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site where the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution was fought is located on the Houston Ship channel east of the city; the park is also the location of the museum battleship USS Texas (BB-35).