Dallas is the third-largest city in the state of Texas and the ninth-largest city in the United States. It is the main cultural and economic center of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area (colloquially referred to as Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex), which is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with a population of 5.7 million in 12 counties .

The city was founded in 1841 and formally incorporated as a city on 2 February 1856. Dallas is known globally as a center for telecommunications, computer technology, banking, and transportation. It is the core of the largest inland metropolitan area in the nation and lacks any direct link to the sea—Dallas's prominence despite this comes from its historical importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries, its position along numerous railroad lines, and its powerful industrial and financial tycoons.

As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Dallas's population was 1.1 million (though a 2006 estimate placed the population at more than 1.26 million .) The city is also large in geographic area as it covers 385 square miles (997 km²) and is the county seat of Dallas County. Dallas is one of 11 U.S. global cities as it is ranked "Gamma World City" by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network.