Five Fast Facts About San Antonio

Here are some interesting facts about San Antonio that you may not know.

1. Namesake: Saint Anthony of Padua is the namesake of San Antonio. In 1691, Spanish explorers stopped in the area on his feast day (July 13) and named the river and their settlement after him.
2. Population: San Antonio is the seventh-most populated city in the United States. According to the 2005 census estimate, the city itself has over 1.2 million, while the metropolitan San Antonio area (made up of eight counties) has over 1.8 million.
3. Big Business: San Antonio is home to many Fortune 500 companies, including HEB Grocery, USAA, SBC Communications, Frost National Bank, Taco Cabana, Southwest Research Institute, Valero Energy, Luby's Cafeteria, Clarke American, QWest Communications and Tesoro Petroleum.
4. Education: San Antonio is home to five major universities with both undergraduate and graduate programs -- Our Lady of the Lake University, St. Mary's University, Trinity University, University of the Incarnate Word, and University of Texas at San Antonio.
5. Sports: The San Antonio Spurs, the Alamo City's NBA franchise, have won three NBA Championships -- 1999, 2003 and 2005. They are the winningest franchise in all of professional sports since 1997.