Dallas is the third-largest city in the state of Texas and the ninth-largest city in the United States. The city covers 385 square miles and is the county seat of Dallas County. As of 2005, U.S. Census estimates Dallas has a population of 1.2 million. The Loughborough University Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network list Dallas as a gamma world city.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 385 square miles; out of which 342.5 square miles is land and 42.5 square miles is water. Note however that Dallas only makes up one-fifth of the much larger urbanized area known as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, about a quarter of all Texans live in Dallas's metropolitan area.

Climate
Dallas receives approximately 37.1 inches of rain per year, much of which is delivered in the spring. Dallas has a humid subtropical climate, yet this part of Texas also tends to receive warm, dry winds from the north and west in the summer. In the winter, strong cold fronts from the north pass through Dallas, plummeting temperatures well below freezing. The average annual snowfall in Dallas is 4.5 inches, with snowfall seen six days out of the year and snow accumulation seen five days out of the year. Occasionally, warm and humid air from the south overrides cold, dry air, leading to freezing rain, which usually causes major disruptions in the city.

Cityscape
Architecture
Most of the notable architecture in Dallas is modernist and postmodernist. Iconic examples of modernist architecture include I. M. Pei's Fountain Place, the Bank of America Plaza, Renaissance Tower, and Reunion Tower. Examples of postmodernist architecture include the JPMorgan Chase Tower and Chase Center. Several smaller structures are fashioned in the Gothic Revival and neoclassical styles. One architectural "hotbed" in the city is a stretch of homes along Swiss Avenue, which contains all shades and variants of architecture from Victorian to neoclassical.

Culture:
Cuisine
Dallas is renowned for barbeque, authentic Mexican and Tex-Mex cuisine. Famous products of the Dallas culinary scene include La Calle Doce, Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse, El Fenix, Mi Cocina, Bone Daddy's Barbeque, the Mansion on Turtle Creek, and the frozen margarita. The French Room at the Hotel Adolphus in downtown Dallas was named the best hotel restaurant in the US by Zagat. On average, Dallasites eat out about four times every week, which is the third highest rate in the country and Dallas has more restaurants per capita than New York City.

Arts
Notable venues in the district include the Dallas Museum of Art, the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, the Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, the Nasher Sculpture Center, and nearby The Dallas Contemporary. The district is also home to DISD's Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, which is currently being expanded.

Music
Deep Ellum originally became popular during the 1920s and 1930s as the prime jazz and blues hotspot in the south. Artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Huddie "Leadbelly" Ledbetter, and Bessie Smith played in original Deep Ellum clubs such as The Harlem and The Palace. Today, Deep Ellum is home to hundreds of artists who live in lofts and operate in studios throughout the district alongside bars, pubs, and concert venues. The Cedars has a growing population of studio artists and an expanding roster of entertainment venues. Dallas has an Office of Cultural Affairs as a department of the city government. The City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs is responsible for six cultural centers located throughout the city, funding for local artists and theatres, public art projects and running the city owned radio station WRR.

Recreation
The City of Dallas maintains and operates 406 parks on 21,000 acres of parkland. Its flagship park is the 260-acre, Fair Park, originally developed to host the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936. The city is also home to Texas's first and largest zoo at 95 acres, the Dallas Zoo, which opened in 1888. The city's parks contain 17 separate lakes, including White Rock and Bachman lakes, spanning a total of 4,400 acres. The city is criss-crossed with 61.6 miles of bike & jogging trails, including the Katy Trail, and is home to 47 community and neighborhood recreation centers. To the west of Dallas in Arlington is Six Flags Over Texas, one of the biggest theme parks in the United States. Hurricane Harbor, a large water park, is also in Arlington.

Transportation:
North Central Expressway (US 75) southbound towards downtown Dallas. The primary mode of local transportation in the city is the automobile, though efforts have been made to increase the availability of alternative modes. The city of Dallas is at the confluence of a large number of major interstate highways. The city's freeway system, as it has no major geographical inhibitors surrounding it, is set up in the popular hub-and-spoke system, much like a wagon wheel.

White Rock Lake:
White Rock Lake is a unique, 1,015-acre city lake, centrally located at 8300 East Lawther Drive, which offers a wide variety of outdoor activities, including: Hike and bike trail (9.33 miles)

Dallas Zoo:
The Dallas Zoo covers 95 landscaped acres and is open every day, except Christmas Day. The Zoo is located three miles south of downtown Dallas at I-35E and Marsalis.

Zoo Facts:
The Dallas Zoo was founded in 1888, making it the first zoological park in the Southwest. The park covers 95 developed acres. In terms of landmass, it’s the largest zoological park in Texas. It provides care for a wide variety of animals and is involved in conservation and breeding programs for numerous endangered species.