Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas and the 19th-largest in the United States. The city is also large in geographic area as it covers almost 300 square miles (780 km2) and is the county seat of Tarrant County—the 18th most populous county in the country. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Fort Worth population was 534,694. The city is the second-largest cultural and economic center of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. with a population of 5.7 million in 12 counties.
Fort Worth was founded as a military camp in 1849, named after General William Jenkins Worth. Today, the city is portrayed as more old-fashioned and laid-back than its neighbor, Dallas. Known as "Cowtown" for its roots as a cattle drive terminus, Fort Worth still celebrates its colorful Western and Southern heritage today and bills itself as "Where the West begins."