Belton is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,623 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Bell County.

Belton is part of the Killeen – Temple – Fort Hood metropolitan area.

Belton is located at 31°3′32″N 97°27′48″W / 31.05889°N 97.46333°W / 31.05889; -97.46333 (31.058904, -97.463382).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.2 square miles (34 km²), of which, 12.5 square miles (32 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) of it (5.09%) is water.

Belton is just south of Temple and north of Salado on Interstate 35.

Belton was platted in 1850 with the name of Nolandville. It was given its current name in 1851, named after Texas' Governor, Peter Hansborough Bell. As the county seat of the like named Bell County the town seemed destined for growth. The l880's marked the town's brightest age, with the building of the courthouse, Mary Hardin Baylor buildings, and a "railroad war" in which, by 1881, Belton was bypassed by the railroad which built Temple, Texas as the local junction and depot town. In 1913 the city experienced a major flood. leading to the naming of Yettie Polk Park, from one of those who died. The town struggled along until the l942 creation of Fort Hood for tank training, and the town thrived.

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.