Midland, city, seat of Midland County, western Texas, located midway between Fort Worth and El Paso; incorporated 1906. It is a commercial, manufacturing, and corporate center for a major livestock-raising region and for the highly productive Permian Basin petroleum fields. In addition to petroleum and natural gas, the city's diverse manufactures include oil-field equipment, fabricated metal, chemicals, plastics, electronic components, and synthetic DNA. The retirement and entertainment industry sectors of the economy are growing in importance. A junior college, the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, and the Museum of the Southwest are here. Settled soon after the construction of the railroad in 1881, Midland was a small ranching community until the 1923 discovery of petroleum nearby brought new wealth. Population 70,525 (1980); 89,443 (1990); 94,996 (2000).
