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Texas

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For other meanings of Texas, see Texas (disambiguation).


Texas
State nickname: Lone Star State

(In Detail)
Capital Austin
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water
 - % water
Ranked 2nd
696,241 km²
678,907 km²
17,333 km²
2.5%
Population
 - Total (2000)
 - Density
Ranked 2nd
20,851,820
30/km²
Admittance into Union
 - Order
 - Date

28th
December 29, 1845
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Mountain: UTC-7/-6
All but some part of western TX in Central
Latitude
Longitude
25°50'N to 36°30'N
93°31'W to 106°38'W
Width
Length
Elevation
  -Highest
  -Mean
  -Lowest
1,065 km
1,270 km
 
2,667 meters
520 meters
0 meters
ISO 3166-2:US-TX

Texas (old Spanish Tejas) is a southern state of the United States of America.

The state is named for the Native American Texas tribe[?], a subdivision of the Caddo[?] people once living in the east of the state.

The state flower is the bluebonnet[?] (Lupinus texensis); the state motto is both "The lone star state" and the "Friendship state", and the people of Texas are still debating which motto best represents them. However, "The Lone Star State" seems to be the most commonly used today.

Texas (area 690,000 km2) is the second largest state in size after Alaska and has historically been portrayed as larger than life, especially in cowboy films and oil wells.

A number of ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Texas in honour of this state.

Table of contents

History

Texas was part of the Spanish colony of New Spain; see Spanish Texas[?] for details.

After Mexican independence in 1821 Texas was a part of Mexico. See Mexican Texas[?].

Also see Texas Revolution.

The Republic of Texas (1836-1845)

Texas was the first sovereign nation (other than aboriginal nations) to be annexed by the United States. (The other was the Kingdom of Hawaii.) The area now known as Texas was called The Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1845.

Important dates:

Law and Government Its capital is Austin, also known as the "Live Music Capital of the World." The Capitol is loosely modeled after the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, except that it is built of pink granite and its dome is topped by a statue of the "Goddess of Liberty", holding aloft a five-point Texas star. The capitol building is taller than the national capitol, but less massive.

See List of Texas Governors

Geography See List of Texas counties

It is bordered to the north by Oklahoma (across the Red River[?]), to the east by Louisiana and Arkansas, to the south by Mexico (across the Rio Grande) and the Gulf of Mexico, and the west by New Mexico.

Economy

Texas was largely rural before World War II with cattle ranching, oil, and agriculture as its main industries. In 1926 San Antonio was the largest city in Texas with over 120,000 people.

After World War II, Texas has become increasingly industralized. Its economy (circa 2000) is largely based on information technology, with Dallas - Fort Worth Metroplex being the largest IT labor market in the United States, oil and natural gas, energy exploration and energy trading, agriculture, and manufacturing. Major cities include Houston, Brownsville, McAllen, Tyler, Odessa and Midland. Other important cities include El Paso, Eagle Pass, and Laredo; these are very important because of their location at the borderline with Mexico, making them important trade points.

The state passed New York in the 1990s to become the second largest state in population after California largely due to the availability of jobs, low cost of living, high living standard, lack of a state income tax, low taxation of business, limited government (the state legislature of Texas meets only once every two years), warm weather, and friendly people.

Demographics

As of 2000, the population of the state is 20,851,820.

Texas has a large number of Spanish speaking people some of whom have recently immigrated from Mexico, Central America, and South America but includes others, known as Tejanos[?], whose ancestors have lived in Texas since before independence from Mexico. Unlike other United States states which border Mexico, the culture of Texas gradually merges into that of Mexico producing a vibrant border region.

Texas has been largely fortunate in avoiding the racial and ethnic problems found in many southern states and large cities of the northeast. Much of this is because Texas's immigrant population and cultural connections with Mexico are considered to have a highly positive influence on the area's economy.

But Texas' diversity comes from more than its Hispanic residents. Frontier Texas was also settled by Germans, Poles, Swedes, Norwegians, Czechs, and French, and their influence can still be noted in the names of towns, styles of architecture, genres of music, and variety of foods.

Important Cities and Towns See: List of cities in Texas

Education

Colleges and Universities

Professional Sports Teams

Miscellaneous Information

Further Reading

  • Imperial Texas: An Interpretive Essay in Cultural Geography, D. W. Meinig, University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, 1969, hardback, 145 pages.
  • Great River, The Rio Grande in North American History, Paul Horgan, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, reprint, 1977, in one hardback volume, ISBN 0-03-029305-7

External Links



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