what is the population of houston and surrounding areas
Greater Houston Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land is the fifth most populous metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Coast of the state of Texas. Colloquially referred to as Greater Houston, the 10,000-square-mile (26,000 km2) region is centered around Harris County, the third-most populous county in the nation, which contains the city of Houston—the largest economic and cultural center of the South—with a population of 2.3 million.[2]