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Texas | |
|---|---|
| State of Texas | |
| Nickname(s): The Lone Star State | |
| Motto(s): Friendship | |
| Anthem: "Texas, Our Texas" | |
 Map of the United States with Texas highlighted | |
| Country | United States |
| Before statehood | Republic of Texas |
| Admitted to the Union | December 29, 1845 (28th) |
| Capital | Austin |
| Largest city | Houston |
| Largest metro | Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Greg Abbott (R) |
| • Lieutenant Governor | Dan Patrick (R) |
| Legislature | Texas Legislature |
| • Upper house | Senate |
| • Lower house | House of Representatives |
| Judiciary | Supreme Court of Texas (Civil) Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (Criminal) |
| U.S. senators | John Cornyn (R) Ted Cruz (R) |
| U.S. House delegation | 22 Republicans 13 Democrats 1 Vacancy (list) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 268,596[1] sq mi (695,662 km2) |
| • Land | 261,232[1] sq mi (676,587 km2) |
| • Water | 7,365[1] sq mi (19,075 km2) 2.7% |
| Area rank | 2nd |
| Dimensions | |
| • Length | 801[2] mi (1,289 km) |
| • Width | 773[2] mi (1,244 km) |
| Elevation | 1,700 ft (520 m) |
| Highest elevation | 8,751 ft (2,667.4 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 29,360,759[6] |
| • Rank | 2nd |
| • Density | 108/sq mi (40.6/km2) |
| • Density rank | 26th |
| • Median household income | $59,206[7] |
| • Income rank | 24th |
| Demonym(s) | Texan Texian (archaic) Tejano (usually only used for Hispanics) |
| Language | |
| • Official language | No official language (see Languages spoken in Texas) |
| • Spoken language | Predominantly English; Spanish is spoken by a sizable minority[8] |
| Time zones | |
| Majority of state | UTC−06:00 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−05:00 (CDT) |
| El Paso, Hudspeth, and northwestern Culberson counties | UTC−07:00 (Mountain) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−06:00 (MDT) |
| USPS abbreviation | TX |
| ISO 3166 code | US-TX |
| Traditional abbreviation | Tex. |
| Latitude | 25°50′ N to 36°30′ N |
| Longitude | 93°31′ W to 106°39′ W |
| Website | texas |
| Texas state symbols | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Living insignia | |
| Bird | Northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) |
| Fish | Guadalupe bass (Micropterus treculii) |
| Flower | Bluebonnet (Lupinus spp., namely Texas bluebonnet, L. texensis) |
| Insect | Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) |
| Mammal | Texas longhorn, nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) |
| Reptile | Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) |
| Tree | Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) |
| Inanimate insignia | |
| Food | Chili |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Shell | Lightning whelk (Busycon perversum pulleyi) |
| Ship | USS Texas |
| Slogan | The Friendly State |
| Soil | Houston Black |
| Sport | Rodeo |
| Game | Texas 42 dominoes |
| Other | Molecule: Buckyball (For more, see article) |
| State route marker | |
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| State quarter | |
 Released in 2004 | |
| Lists of United States state symbols | |
Texas (/ˈtɛksəs/, also locally /ˈtɛksɪz/;[9] Spanish: Texas or Tejas, pronounced [ˈtexas] (
listen)) is a state in the South Central region of the United States. It is the second largest U.S. state by both area (after Alaska) and population (after California). Texas shares borders with the states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and southwest, and has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast.
Houston is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth largest in the U.S., while San Antonio is the second-most populous in the state and seventh largest in the U.S. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and fifth largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country, respectively. Other major cities include Austin, the second-most populous state capital in the U.S., and El Paso. Texas is nicknamed the "Lone Star State" for its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the state's struggle for independence from Mexico. The "Lone Star" can be found on the Texas state flag and on the Texas state seal.[10] The origin of Texas's name is from the word táyshaʼ, which means "friends" in the Caddo language.[11]
Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, Texas contains diverse landscapes common to both the U.S. Southern and the Southwestern regions.[12] Although Texas is popularly associated with the U.S. southwestern deserts, less than ten percent of Texas's land area is desert.[13] Most of the population centers are in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests, and the coastline. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, and finally the desert and mountains of the Big Bend.
The term "six flags over Texas"[note 1] refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim and control the area of Texas. France held a short-lived colony. Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming the Republic of Texas. In 1845, Texas joined the union as the 28th state.[14] The state's annexation set off a chain of events that led to the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U.S. in early 1861, and officially joined the Confederate States of America on March 2 of the same year. After the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation.
Historically four major industries shaped the Texas economy prior to World War II: cattle and bison, cotton, timber, and oil.[15] Before and after the U.S. Civil War the cattle industry, which Texas came to dominate, was a major economic driver for the state, thus creating the traditional image of the Texas cowboy. In the later 19th century cotton and lumber grew to be major industries as the cattle industry became less lucrative. It was ultimately, though, the discovery of major petroleum deposits (Spindletop in particular) that initiated an economic boom which became the driving force behind the economy for much of the 20th century. Texas developed a diversified economy and high tech industry in the mid-20th century. As of 2015, it is second on the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with 54.[16] With a growing base of industry, the state leads in many industries, including tourism, agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace, and biomedical sciences. Texas has led the U.S. in state export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. If Texas were a sovereign state, it would have the 10th largest economy in the world.
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
factswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Environment. Texas Almanac. 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- ^ "El Capitan". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved October 20, 2011.
- ^ a b "Elevations and Distances in the United States". United States Geological Survey. 2001. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
- ^ Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
- ^ "Population, Population Change, and Estimated Components of Population Change: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2020 (NST-EST2020-alldata)". Census.gov. United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
- ^ "Median Annual Household Income". The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- ^ Texas—Languages. MLA. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
- ^ Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Volume 3: Beyond the British Isles (pp. i–xx, 467–674). Cambridge University Press. p. 551. ISBN 0-52128541-0.
- ^ "Introduction to Texas". Netstate.com. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
- ^ Hanson-Harding, Alexandra (2001). Texas. Children's Press. ISBN 978-0-516-22322-3.
- ^ Sansom, Andrew (2008). Water in Texas: An Introduction. University of Texas Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-292-71809-8.
- ^ Dingus, Anne (1987). The dictionary of Texas misinformation. Texas Monthly Press. ISBN 978-0-87719-089-9.
- ^ "Resolutions" (PDF). Twenty-ninth Congress. 1845. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 25, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
- ^ Ramos, Mary G.; Reavis, Dick J. (2004). Texas. Fodor's Travel Publications. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-676-90502-1.
- ^ Hackett, Robert (June 15, 2015). "States with the most Fortune 500 companies". Fortune. Time Inc.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).