San Antonio

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
City
Downtown San Antonio
Alamo Mission
San Antonio River Walk
Emily Morgan Hotel
Tower of the Americas
San Antonio Botanical Garden
Flag of San Antonio
Flag
Official seal of San Antonio
Seal
Coat of arms of San Antonio
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): 
San Antone[1][2][3][4] Alamo City, Military City USA, River City, The 210, S.A., Countdown City, Something to Remember
Motto: 
Latin: Libertatis cunabula ("Cradle of Freedom")
Map
Interactive map of San Antonio
San Antonio is located in Texas
San Antonio
San Antonio
Location in Texas
San Antonio is located in the United States
San Antonio
San Antonio
Location in the United States
Coordinates: 29°27′00″N 98°33′38″W / 29.45000°N 98.56056°W / 29.45000; -98.56056
Country United States
State Texas
CountiesBexar, Comal, Medina
FoundationMay 1, 1718; 306 years ago (1718-05-01)[5]
IncorporatedJune 5, 1837; 187 years ago (1837-06-05)[6]
Named forSaint Anthony of Padua
Government
 • TypeCouncil-Manager
 • BodySan Antonio City Council
 • MayorRon Nirenberg (I)
 • City ManagerErik Walsh
 • City Council
List
Area
[7]
 • City504.64 sq mi (1,307.00 km2)
 • Land498.85 sq mi (1,292.02 km2)
 • Water5.79 sq mi (14.98 km2)
Elevation
[8]
722 ft (220 m)
Population
 (2020)[9]
 • City1,434,625
 • Estimate 
(2024)
1,513,974
 • Rank
  • 17th in North America
  • 7th in the United States
  • 2nd in Texas
 • Density2,875.86/sq mi (1,110.37/km2)
 • Urban
1,992,689 (US: 24th)
 • Urban density3,248.4/sq mi (1,254.2/km2)
 • Metro
[10]
2,601,788 (US: 24th)
DemonymSan Antonian
GDP
[11]
 • Metro$163.061 billion (2022)
Time zoneUTC−6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
ZIP Codes
78201–78266, 78268–78270, 78275, 78278–78280, 78283–78285, 78288–89, 78291–78299
Area codes210 (majority), 830 (portions), 726
FIPS code48-65000
GNIS feature ID2411774[8]
Websitewww.SanAntonio.gov

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 the 2020 US census.[12] It is the most populous city in and the county seat of Bexar County. The city is the seventh-most populous in the United States, the second-largest in the Southern United States,[13] and the second-most populous in Texas after Houston.[9]

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.[14][15][16]

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 I-35 corridor. This combined metropolitan region of San Antonio–Austin has approximately 5 million people.[17]

San Antonio was named by a 1691 Spanish expedition for the Portuguese priest Saint Anthony of Padua, whose feast day is June 13.[18][19] 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.[20] 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;[21][22][23] 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 one of the largest majority-Hispanic cities in the United States, with 64% of its population being Hispanic.[24]

  1. ^ Austin Papers: Series III, 1835 (December 9, 1835). "Transcript of letter from E. Hall to James F. Perry". Retrieved June 16, 2021 – via University of North Texas Libraries.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Olmsted, Frederick Law (1857). Journey through Texas, or, A saddle-trip on the southwestern frontier: with a statistical appendix. New York: Dix, Edwards & Co. p. 187. Retrieved June 16, 2021 – via University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History.
  3. ^ Marini, Richard A. (March 21, 2012). "You know you're from San Antonio if ..." San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  4. ^ Ayala, Christine (May 6, 2016). "No, Obama, it's not called 'San Antone'". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Adina was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)". id.loc.gov.
  7. ^ "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  8. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: San Antonio
  9. ^ a b "QuickFacts: San Antonio city, Texas". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  10. ^ "2020 Population and Housing State Data". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  11. ^ "Total Gross Domestic Product for San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX (MSA)". fred.stlouisfed.org.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference CensBur was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Mendoza, Madalyn (June 24, 2015). "SA first southern city to integrate lunch counters". San Antonio Express-News.
  14. ^ Chabot, Frederick Charles. San Fernando de Bexar (Archived September 4, 2019, at the Wayback Machine). Texas State Historical Association. Uploaded June 15, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  15. ^ Guerra, Mary Ann Noonan. "The First Civil Settlement in Texas" (Archived July 9, 2019, at the Wayback Machine). Excerpted from The San Antonio River (The Alamo Press, San Antonio: 1987). Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  16. ^ "SA300 Tricentennial – Celebrating San Antonio for 300 Years". sanantonio300.org. Archived from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  17. ^ Egan, John (September 6, 2022). "Booming Texas region could rival Dallas-Fort Worth as 'next great U.S. metroplex,' mayor says". CultureMap.
  18. ^ "St. Anthony of Padua – Saints & Angels". Catholic Online. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  19. ^ "Saint Anthony of Padua | Franciscan Media". www.franciscanmedia.org. June 13, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference PBS-SanAn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ "Joint Base San Antonio". www.jbsa.mil. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  22. ^ "SA Bases". www.sanantonio.gov. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  23. ^ "18 Things You Didn't Know About Military City USA". www.kwsanantonio.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference census was invoked but never defined (see the help page).