Pearland is a city located along the Gulf Coast region in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area and is in the counties of Brazoria, Fort Bend, and Harris. As of the census of 2000, the city's population was 37,640.

As of 2008, Pearland is estimated to have a population of 90,700 according to city limit signs. The estimate for the 2010 census has the population in excess of 121,000 residents

The city's name is pronounced "pear" land (like the fruit), not "peer-land" or "pearl-land".

In 2007, Forbes Magazine ranked Pearland as the 34th fastest growing suburb in the nation. It is therefore the fastest growing suburb in the Greater Houston area, and the 10th fastest growing in the state of Texas.

History

The area that is now Pearland had its humble beginnings near a siding switch on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway in 1882. When a post office was established in 1893, the community was originally named Mark Belt. On September 24, 1894, the plat of "Pear Land" was filed with the Brazoria County courthouse by Witold von Zychlinski, a man of Polish nobility. At the time Pearland had many fruits harvested by residents. Zychlinski saw the pear trees and decided that "Pearland" would make a good name for the community.

Pearland was promoted by some developers as an "agricultural Eden." The first subdivision was called Suburban Gardens. The Galveston hurricane of 1900 and the Galveston hurricane of 1915, destroyed most of the fruit trees and slowed growth for a considerable period of time, and caused a period of desertification in the area. In 1914, with agriculture rebounding and the end of desertification, Pearland had a population of 400, but a devastating freeze in 1918 was another setback to the local farming enterprises. Oil was discovered nearby in 1934, which led to the development of the Hastings Oilfield, though did not spur a large amount of growth, as the population fluctuated from 150 and 350. From the 1970s, the town has grown to its present-day population.