Short answers, pulled from the story.
The term "metroplex" is a portmanteau of "metropolis" and "complex," credited to Harve Chapman, an executive vice president at the Dallas-based advertising agency Tracy-Locke. The North Texas Commission copyrighted the phrase "Southwest Metroplex" in 1972 to replace "North Texas," which surveys had shown was poorly recognized outside the state.
The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex had a population of 7,637,387 according to the 2020 U.S. census, making it the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. By 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population had grown to 8,344,032.
As of 2022, Dallas-Fort Worth is home to 23 Fortune 500 companies, the fourth-largest concentration in the United States behind New York City with 62, Chicago with 35, and Houston with 24.
Major professional sports first came to the area in 1952 with the Dallas Texans in the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys began play in 1960, the Texas Rangers arrived from Washington in 1972, the Dallas Mavericks joined the NBA in 1980, and the Dallas Stars relocated from Minnesota in 1993.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport covers 17,207 acres, making it the second-largest airport in the United States and the sixth-largest in the world. It is the third-busiest airport globally by aircraft movements and transported 62.9 million passengers in fiscal year 2014.
The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex had a GDP of just over $620.6 billion in 2020. By 2026, if measured as a sovereign state, the Metroplex would rank as the 22nd-largest economy in the world.