[a] Dallas and nearby Fort Worth were initially developed as a product of the construction of major railroad lines through the area allowing access to cotton, cattle, and later oil in North and East Texas.

The city has a population from a myriad of ethnic and religious backgrounds and is one of the largest LGBT communities in the U.S.[20][21] Indigenous tribes in North Texas included the Caddo, Tawakoni, Wichita, Kickapoo and Comanche.

[43] The upper two floors of the building from which the Warren Commission reported assassin Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy have been converted into a historical museum covering the former president's life and accomplishments.

Iconic examples of modernist architecture include Reunion Tower, the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial, I. M. Pei's Dallas City Hall and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.

This area includes Uptown, Victory Park, Harwood, Oak Lawn, Dallas Design District, Trinity Groves, Turtle Creek, Cityplace, Knox/Henderson, Greenville, and West Village.

Marked variations in terrain are also found in cities immediately to the west in Tarrant County surrounding Fort Worth, as well as along Turtle Creek north of Downtown.

Northeast of the city is Lake Ray Hubbard, a vast 22,745-acre (92 km2) reservoir in an extension of Dallas surrounded by the suburbs of Garland, Rowlett, Rockwall, and Sunnyvale.

[61] To the west of the city is Mountain Creek Lake, once home to the Naval Air Station Dallas (Hensley Field) and a number of defense aircraft manufacturers.

Each spring, cold fronts moving south from the North collide with warm, humid air streaming in from the Gulf Coast, leading to severe thunderstorms with lightning, torrents of rain, hail, and occasionally, tornadoes.

[102] By 2020, Hispanic or Latino Americans of any race continued to constitute the largest ethnic group in the city proper,[94] reflecting nationwide demographic trends.

[116][117] In addition, Dallas and its suburbs are home to a large number of Asian Americans including those of Indian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Japanese, and other heritage.

[124][125] Throughout the year there are many well-established but quite small compared to other cities LGBT events held in the area, most notably the annual Alan Ross Texas Freedom (Pride) Parade and Festival in June which draws approximately 50,000.

[142] Since the establishment of the city's first Jewish cemetery in 1854 and its first congregation (which would eventually be known as Temple Emanu-El) in 1873, Dallasite Jews have been well represented among leaders in commerce, politics, and various professional fields in Dallas and elsewhere.

[161] The end of World War II left Dallas seeded with a nexus of communications, engineering, and production talent by companies such as Collins Radio Corporation.

The city is sometimes referred to as the heart of "Silicon Prairie" because of a high concentration of telecommunications companies in the region, the epicenter of which lies along the Telecom Corridor in Richardson, a northern suburb of Dallas.

[164][165] A sudden drop in the price of oil, starting in mid-2014 and accelerating throughout 2015, has not significantly affected Dallas and its greater metro area due to the highly diversified nature of its economy.

[18] As of 2022, Dallas–Fort Worth represents the second-largest concentration of Fortune 500 headquarters in Texas and fourth-largest in the United States, behind the metropolitan areas of Houston (24), Chicago (35) and New York (62).

[174] Westlake, TX, north of Fort Worth, now has two Fortune 500 companies: Financial services giant, Charles Schwab, and convenience store distributor, Core-Mark.

Additional major companies headquartered in Dallas and its metro area include Comerica, which relocated its national headquarters to Downtown Dallas from Detroit in 2007,[177] NTT DATA Services, Regency Energy Partners, Atmos Energy, Neiman Marcus, AECOM, Think Finance, 7-Eleven, Brinker International, Primoris Services, AMS Pictures, id Software, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Chuck E. Cheese's, Zale Corporation, and Fossil, Inc.

[190] Artists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Huddie "Lead Belly" 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.

[191] A major art infusion in the area results from the city's lax stance on graffiti, and a number of public spaces, including tunnels, sides of buildings, sidewalks, and streets, are covered in murals.

The area's art scene began to grow in the early 2000s with the opening of Southside on Lamar, an old Sears Roebuck and Company warehouse converted into lofts, studios, and retail.

The office is responsible for six cultural centers throughout the city, funding for local artists and theaters, initiating public art projects, and running the city-owned classical radio station WRR.

The Stars have won eight division titles in Dallas, two Presidents' Trophies as the top regular season team in the NHL, the Western Conference championship three times, and in 1998–99, the Stanley Cup.

The Red River Showdown is an American college football rivalry game played annually at the Cotton Bowl Stadium during the second weekend of the State Fair of Texas in October.

The preserve sits at an elevation of 755 feet (230 m) above sea level and offers a variety of outdoor activities, including 10 miles (16 km) of hiking trails and picnic areas.

[250] Democratic voters dominate the majority of the city, especially the central urban core and southern sectors, with Republicans spreading a sliver of suburban neighborhoods in North Dallas.

[304] This provides passengers the convenience of disembarking the DART rail, proceeding to security check-in and immediately boarding Skylink to be quickly transported to their desired terminal.

The program aims to build global cooperation at the municipal level by promoting cultural understanding and stimulating economic development between Dallas and its foreign counterparts.