Center is a city in Shelby County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,678 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Shelby County. It is named for its location near the center of Shelby County, not for its location in Texas as it is located near the Louisiana border.

Center is seventeen miles from the Louisiana border and 118 miles north of Beaumont at the center of Shelby County.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.2 square miles (16.2 km²), of which, 6.2 square miles (16.1 km²) of it is land and 0.16% is water.

As of the census of 2000, there were 5,678 people, 2,034 households, and 1,334 families residing in the city. The population density was 911.0 people per square mile (351.9/km²). There were 2,290 housing units at an average density of 367.4 per square mile (141.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 51.14% White, 34.22% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 10.95% from other races, and 2.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.05% of the population.

Texas (ⁱ/ˈtɛksəs/) (Alibamu: Teksi ) is the second most populous and the second most extensive of the 50 United States, and the most extensive state of the 48 contiguous United States. The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas. Located in the South Central United States, Texas shares an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south, and borders the US states of New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km²), and a growing population of 25.7 million residents.

During the Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas: La Provincia de Texas. Antonio Margil de Jesús was known to be the first person to use the name in a letter to the Viceroy of Mexico in July 20, 1716. The name was not popularly used in daily speech but often appeared in legal documents until the end of the 1800s.