Texas

Texas
State
State of Texas
Flag Seal
Nickname:  The Lone Star State
Motto:  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 and urban areas	Dallas–Fort Worth
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	23 Republicans 13 Democrats (list)
Area
• Total	268,596 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[1] mi (1,289 km)
• Width	773[1] mi (1,244 km)
Elevation	1,700 ft (520 m)
Highest elevation (Guadalupe Peak[2][3][4])	8,751 ft (2,667.4 m)
Lowest elevation (Gulf of Mexico[3])	0 ft (0 m)
Population  (2022)
• Total	29,183,290[5]
• Rank	2nd
• Density	176/sq mi (67.9/km2)
• Rank	26th
• Median household income	$64,034[6]
• Income rank	23rd
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[7]
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.gov

Texas state symbols
Flag of Texas
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
Other	Molecule: Buckyball (For more, see article)
State route marker
State quarter
Released in 2004
Lists of United States state symbols

Texas (/ˈtɛksəs/, also locally /ˈtɛksɪz/ American Spanish: [tejaz]^[8]), officially the State of Texas, is a state in the South Central Region of the United States. It is the second largest US state by total area (after Alaska) with 268,596 sq mi (695,662 km²) and population (after California) with nearly 29 million people as of 2019. Its largest cities are Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, El Paso, and Austin, the capital city.

Texas became the 28th state in the United States in 1845. Texas has been controlled by Spain, France, the Confederate States of America, and Mexico. It declared its independence from Mexico in 1836. It was its own country, the Republic of Texas, for 9 years (1836–1845). It is called the "Lone Star State" and its flag has one star.

There are many tourist attractions in Texas. Fort Worth is known for its stockyards. Amarillo is known for the cattle business and stockyards. In Dallas, industrial technology companies including Texas Instruments and EDS have their home offices. San Antonio has The Alamo. Houston has the Johnson Space Center. Austin has the University of Texas at Austin. Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Baylor University in Waco and the University of North Texas in Denton are other important universities in the state.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Environment. Texas Almanac. 2008. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
2. ↑ "El Capitan". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "Elevations and Distances in the United States". United States Geological Survey. 2001. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
4. ↑ Elevation adjusted to North American Vertical Datum of 1988.
5. ↑ Bureau, US Census (April 26, 2021). "2020 Census Apportionment Results". The United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
6. ↑ "Median Annual Household Income". The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
7. ↑ Texas—Languages. MLA. Archived from the original on May 22, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2010.
8. ↑ 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.