Texas
Texas | |
|---|---|
| Nickname: The Lone Star State | |
| Motto: Friendship | |
| Anthem: "Texas, Our Texas" | |
 Location of Texas within the United States | |
| Country | United States |
| Before statehood | Republic of Texas |
| Admitted to the Union | December 29, 1845 (28th) |
| Capital | Austin |
| Largest city | Houston |
| Largest county or equivalent | Harris |
| Largest metro and urban areas | Dallas–Fort Worth (MSA) Houston (UA) |
| 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 | 24 Republicans 13 Democrats 1 vacant (list) |
| Area | |
• Total | 268,597 sq mi (695,662 km2) |
| • Land | 261,232 sq mi (676,587 km2) |
| • Water | 7,365 sq mi (19,075 km2) 2.7% |
| • Rank | 2nd |
| Dimensions | |
| • Length | 801 mi (1,289 km) |
| • Width | 773 mi (1,244 km) |
| Elevation | 1,710 ft (520 m) |
| Highest elevation | 8,751 ft (2,667.4 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 ft (0 m) |
| Population (est. 2025) | |
• Total |  31,709,821[3] |
| • Rank | 2nd |
| • Density | 111/sq mi (42.9/km2) |
| • Rank | 23rd |
| • Median household income |  $75,800 (2023)[4] |
| • Income rank | 23rd |
| Demonym(s) | Texan Texian (archaic) Tejano (usually only used for Hispanics) |
| Language | |
| • Official language | None |
| • Spoken language | |
| 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 |
| List of state symbols | |
|---|---|
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| Slogan | The Friendly State |
| 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, Mexican long-nosed armadillo (Dasypus mexicanus) |
| Mushroom | Texas star (Chorioactis geaster) |
| Reptile | Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) |
| Tree | Pecan (Carya illinoinensis) |
| Inanimate insignia | |
| Food | Chili |
| Game | Texas 42 dominoes |
| Instrument | Guitar |
| Shell | Lightning whelk (Busycon perversum pulleyi) |
| Ship | USS Texas |
| Soil | Houston Black |
| Sport | Rodeo |
| 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/ ⓘ TEK-səss)[c] is the most populous state in the Southern United States. It borders the American states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, and New Mexico to the west. To the south and southwest, it has an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas, along a natural boundary formed by the Rio Grande. Texas has a coastline on the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast. Covering 268,596 square miles (695,660 km2) and with an estimated population of over 31.7 million residents in 2025,[8] it is the second-largest U.S. state both by area and by population. Texas is nicknamed the "Lone Star State" for the single star on its flag, symbolic of its former status as an independent country, the Republic of Texas.[9]
Spain was the first European country to claim and control Texas. Following a brief period of French colonization, the territory became part of Mexico after its independence from Spain in 1821. Increasing tensions between settlers and the Mexican government culminated in the Texas Revolution, which included the Battle of the Alamo, and led to the establishment of the independent Republic of Texas in 1836. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state. The state's annexation contributed to the Mexican–American War in 1846. Texas remained a slave state until the American Civil War, during which it seceded from the Union in 1861 and joined the Confederate States. After the war and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a prolonged period of economic stagnation.
The economy of Texas (prior to World War II) has been shaped by bison, cattle, cotton, oil, and timber industries.[10] The cattle industry was a major economic driver and created 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. Ultimately, the discovery of major petroleum deposits (Spindletop in particular) initiated an economic boom that became the driving force behind the economy for much of the 20th century. Texas developed a diversified economy and high tech industry during the mid-20th century. As of 2024[update], it has the second-highest number (52) of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the United States. 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. Texas consistently ranks highly among national averages for business growth, job creation, and economic opportunity with low taxes and a regulatory environment that encourages innovation.[11]
The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and Greater Houston areas are the nation's fourth and fifth-most populous urban regions respectively. Its capital city is Austin. 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] Most population centers are in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests, and the coastline. Traveling from east to west, terrain ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, to the desert and mountains of the Big Bend.
Etymology
The name Texas, based on the Caddo word táy:shaʼ (/tə́jːʃaʔ/) 'friend', was applied, in the spelling Tejas or Texas,[13][14][15][16] by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, specifically the Hasinai Confederacy.[17]
During Spanish colonial rule, in the 18th century, the area was known as Nuevas Filipinas ('New Philippines') and Nuevo Reino de Filipinas ('New Kingdom of the Philippines'),[18] or as provincia de los Tejas ('province of the Tejas'),[19] later also provincia de Texas (or de Tejas), ('province of Texas').[20][18] It was incorporated as provincia de Texas into the Mexican Empire in 1821, and declared a republic in 1836. The Royal Spanish Academy recognizes both spellings, Tejas and Texas, as Spanish-language forms of the name.[21]
The English pronunciation with /ks/ is unetymological, contrary to the historical value of the letter x (/ʃ/) in Spanish orthography. Alternative etymologies of the name advanced in the late 19th century connected the name Texas with the Spanish word teja, meaning 'roof tile', the plural tejas being used to designate Indigenous Pueblo settlements.[22] A 1760s map by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin shows a village named Teijas on the Trinity River, close to the site of modern Crockett.[22]
History
Precontact era
Texas lies between two major cultural spheres of Pre-Columbian North America: the Southwestern and the Plains areas. Archaeologists have found that three major Indigenous cultures lived in this territory, and reached their developmental peak before the first European contact. These were: the Ancestral Puebloans from the upper Rio Grande region, centered west of Texas; the Mississippian culture, also known as Mound Builders, which extended along the Mississippi River Valley east of Texas; and the civilizations of Mesoamerica, which were centered south of Texas. Influence of Teotihuacan in northern Mexico peaked around AD 500 and declined between the 8th and 10th centuries.[23]
When Europeans first arrived in the Texas region, the languages present in the state were Caddoan, Atakapan, Athabaskan, Coahuiltecan, and Uto-Aztecan, in addition to several language isolates such as Tonkawa. Uto-Aztecan Puebloan and Jumano peoples lived near the Rio Grande in the western portion of the state, and the Athabaskan-speaking Apache tribes lived throughout the interior. The agricultural, mound-building Caddo controlled much of the northeastern part of the state, along the Red, Sabine, and Neches River basins.[24][25] Atakapan peoples such as the Akokisa and Bidai lived along the northeastern Gulf Coast; the Karankawa lived along the central coast.[26] At least one tribe of Coahuiltecans, the Aranama, lived in southern Texas. This entire culture group, primarily centered in northeastern Mexico, is now extinct.[27]
No one culture was dominant across the territory of present-day Texas, with many peoples inhabiting the area.[28] Native American tribes who have lived inside the boundaries of present-day Texas include the Alabama, Apache, Atakapan, Bidai, Caddo, Aranama, Comanche, Choctaw, Coushatta, Hasinai, Jumano, Karankawa, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Tonkawa, and Wichita.[29][30] Many of these peoples migrated from the north or east during the colonial period, such as the Choctaw, Alabama-Coushatta, and Delaware.[24]
The region was primarily controlled by the Spanish until the Texas Revolution. They were most interested in relationships with the Caddo, who were - like the Spanish - a settled, agricultural people. Several Spanish missions were opened in Caddo territory, but a lack of interest in Christianity among the Caddo meant that few were converted. Positioned between French Louisiana and Spanish Texas, the Caddo maintained relations with both, but were closer with the French.[31] After Spain took control of Louisiana, most of the missions in eastern Texas were closed and abandoned.[32] The United States obtained Louisiana following the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and began convincing tribes to self-segregate from whites by moving west; facing an overflow of native peoples in Missouri and Arkansas, they were able to negotiate with the Caddo to allow several displaced peoples to settle on unused lands in eastern Texas. These included the Muscogee, Houma Choctaw, Lenape and Mingo Seneca, among others, who came to view the Caddoans as saviors.[33][34]
The different temperaments of Native American tribes directly affected the fates of the European explorers and settlers coming to the area.[35] Friendly tribes taught newcomers how to grow local crops, prepare foods, and hunt wild game, while warlike tribes resisted the settlers.[35] Prior treaties with the Spanish forbade either side from militarizing its native population in any potential conflict between the two nations. Several outbreaks of violence between Native Americans and Texans started to spread in the prelude to the Texas Revolution. Texans accused tribes of stealing livestock.[24] While no proof was found, those in charge of Texas at the time attempted to publicly blame and punish the Caddo, with speculation that the U.S. government was trying to keep them in check this way. The Caddo never turned to violence because of the situation, except in cases of self-defense.[33]
By the 1830s, the U.S. had drafted the Indian Removal Act, which was used to facilitate the Trail of Tears. Fearing retribution, Indian Agents all over the eastern U.S. tried to convince all Indigenous peoples to uproot and move west. This included the Caddo of Louisiana and Arkansas. The first president of Texas,