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TEXAS - USA
Texas joined the United States of America as its 28th member state in 1845.
It has the postal abbreviation TX.
The state name derives from a word in a Caddoan language of the Hasinai,
tejas, meaning friends or allies; Spanish explorers mistakenly applied the
word to the people and their location.
Major state designations and symbols include:
state flower -- the bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis)
state motto -- "Friendship"
state nickname -- The Lone Star State (after the single star on the state
flag)
state tree -- the pecan
state bird -- the mockingbird
official state song -- Texas Our Texas
Other state designations
Air Force -- Commemorative Air Force (formerly known as the Confederate Air
Force), based in Midland
dinosaur -- the Brachiosaur Sauropod, Pleurocoelus
dish -- chili con carne
fiber and fabric -- cotton
fish -- Guadalupe bass
folk dance -- square dance
fruit -- Texas red grapefruit
gem -- Texas blue topaz
grass -- Sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)
insect -- monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)
mammals (three)
small -- armadillo
large -- Texas longhorn
flying -- Mexican free-tailed bat
musical instrument -- guitar
peppers (two)
native -- chiltepin
other -- jalapeño
plant -- prickly pear cactus
reptile -- Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum), commonly called the "horny
toad"
shell -- lightning whelk (Busycon perversum pulleyi)
ship -- the Battleship USS Texas (BB-35)
shrub -- crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)
sport -- rodeo
stone -- petrified palmwood
tartan -- Texas Bluebonnet Tartan
vegetable -- Texas sweet onion
The pledge to the Texas Flag is:
Honor the Texas Flag
I pledge allegiance to thee
Texas, one, and indivisible
With an area of 690,000 km2, Texas forms the second-largest US state in size
after Alaska and the largest state in the contiguous 48 states. It has
historically had a "larger than life" reputation, especially in cowboy films.
Location
Texas has borders on the west with New Mexico, on the north with Oklahoma (across
the Red River), and on the east with Louisiana (across the Sabine River) and
with Arkansas. To the southwest, across the Rio Grande, Texas borders the
Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. To the
southeast of Texas lies the Gulf of Mexico.
Texas lies in the south-central part of the United States of America.
Depending on who you talk to (and which part of Texas they come from), Texas
forms part of the US South or part of the US Southwest. Texas shares some
cultural elements with both regions, with more similarities with the South,
especially Arkansas and Louisiana, in East Texas, and more similarities with
the Southwest, especially Mexico and New Mexico, in West Texas and South
Texas.
History
Native American inhabitants of present-day Texas include Apache, Atakapan,
Bidai, Caddo, Comanche, Karankawa, Kiowa, Tonkawa, and Wichita.
On November 6, 1528 shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de
Vaca became the first known European to set foot on Texas.
Texas can claim that 'Six Flags' have flown over its soil: the Fleur-de-lis
of France, and the national flags of Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas,
the United States of America and the Confederate States of America.
Texas formed part of the Spanish colony of New Spain; see Spanish Texas for
details.
After Mexican independence in 1821 Texas became a part of Mexico. See
Mexican Texas.
The Republic of Texas (1836-1845)
Texas became the first, and to date, only, internationally recognized
independent state directly admitted to the United States as a constituent
state of the union. (Vermont, which declared itself an independent republic
in 1777, and joined the union in 1791, had de facto autonomy but no
international recognition. The U.S. annexed both the self-proclaimed
California Republic and the internationally-recognized Republic (or Kingdom)
of Hawaii, but did not immediately admit them as states.)
The Republic of Texas included all the area now included in the state of
Texas, although its self-proclaimed western and northwestern borders
extended as far west as Santa Fe and as far northwest as present-day Wyoming,
respectively.
Important dates
1519: Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, a Spanish explorer, became probably the
first European to map the Texas coast.
1528 - 1534: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, another Spanish explorer, spent six
years visiting Texas for trade.
18 February 1685: René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de LaSalle established Fort St.
Louis at Matagorda Bay, thus establishing a French claim to Texan territory.
1690: Alonso De León crosses the Rio Grande to establish San Francisco de
los Tejas Mission in East Texas, effectively blazing the Old San Antonio
Road portion of the Camino Real - one of the oldest continuously-used
roadways in the United States.
1700 - 1799: Spain established Catholic missions in Texas throughout the
18th century.
3 January 1823: Stephen F. Austin began a colony of 300 families in the
Brazos River region. This group became known as the "Old Three Hundred".
26 June 1832: The Battle of Velasco resulted in the first casualties of the
developing Texas Revolution.
1832 - 1833: The "Conventions" of 1832 and 1833 responded to rising unrest
at the policies of the ruling Mexican government. Policies that most
irritated the Texians included the Mexican ban on slavery, the forcible
disarmament of Texian settlers, and the expulsion of illegal immigrants from
the United States of America. The example of the Centralista forces'
suppression of dissidents in Zacatecas also inspired fear of the Mexican
government.
1835: The Texas Revolution began. Early in 1835 Stephen F. Austin announced
that only war with Mexico could secure Texian freedom.
2 October 1835: Texians fought a Mexican cavalry detachment at the town of
Gonzales, which began the actual revolution.
28 October 1835: At the "Battle of Concepcion", 90 Texians defeated 450
Mexicans.
2 March 1836: The "Convention of 1836" signed the Texas "Declaration of
Independence", making an attempt at a clear break from Mexican rule.
6 March 1836: A Mexican army (numbering 4,000 to 5,000) besieged
approximately 190 Texians, led by William B. Travis, at the Alamo in San
Antonio. The thirteen-day siege resulted in the deaths of all of the
defenders, including Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and Travis.
27 March 1836: By the order of General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the
Mexicans executed James Fannin and nearly 400 Texians in the Massacre at
Goliad. The place-names Goliad, Alamo. San Jacinto, etc. line the rim of
Rotunda of the Capitol in Austin.
21 April 1836: General Santa Anna, having defeated the Texas rebellion,
while conducting mopping up operations advanced to San Jacinto in pursuit of
the fleeing rebels. Led by Sam Houston, the Texians won their independence
in one of the most decisive battles in history when they defeated the
Mexican forces of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. Houston's army of
800 killed or captured the entire Mexican force of 1,600 men, themselves
sufferring only nine fatal casualties. Santa Anna himself passed into
captivity.
14 May 1836: Republic of Texas officials and General Santa Anna signed the
treaty of Velasco.
1836: Five cities (Washington-on-the-Brazos, Galveston, Harrisburg, Velasco,
and Columbia) each served as temporary capitals of Texas before Sam Houston
moved the capital to Houston in 1837.
5 March 1842: A Mexican force of over 500 men, led by Rafael Vasquez,
invaded Texas for the first time since the revolution. They soon headed back
to the Rio Grande after briefly occupying San Antonio.
11 September 1842: 1400 Mexican troops, led by Adrian Woll, captured San
Antonio again. They retreated, as before, but with prisoners this time.
29 December 1845: President James K. Polk of the United States of America
followed through on a campaign platform promising to annex Texas, and signed
legislation making Texas the 28th state of the United States.
9 September 1850: The Compromise of 1850 strips Texas of a third of its
claimed territory (now parts of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and
Wyoming) in return for the federal government assuming $10 million of
Texas's pre-annexation debt.
1 February 1861: Following a 171 to 6 vote by the "Secession Convention",
Texas seceded from the Union, Sam Houston opposing.
19 June 1865: Union troops landed in Galveston, Texas with news of the
Emancipation Proclamation, two and a half years after Lincoln signed it.
30 March 1870: The United States Congress readmitted Texas into the Union.
Law and government
Austin functions as the capital of Texas. The state Capitol loosely follows
the model of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, except that it uses
pink granite and bears atop its dome a statue of the "Goddess of Liberty"
holding aloft a five-point Texas star. Like several other southern state
capitols, it faces south instead of north. The capitol building is taller
than the U.S. national capitol, but less massive.
Republican Rick Perry has served as Governor of Texas since December 2000;
two Republicans represent Texas in the U.S. Senate: Kay Bailey Hutchison (since
1993) and John Cornyn (since 2002)
Texas has a republican constitution with separation of powers and a bill of
rights more inclusive than the federal Bill of Rights. The executive branch
consists of an elected Governor ("first among equals"), a Lieutenant
Governor, a Comptroller of Public Accounts, a Land Commissioner, an Attorney
General, an Agriculture Commissioner, three Railroad Commissioners, the
State Board of Education, a governor-appointed Secretary of State and the
bureaucracy. As a consequence of the state having so many elected officials,
the Governor remains fairly weak and has few powers. In popular lore and
belief the Lieutenant Governor has more power than the Governor, since he
heads the State Senate and appoints committees. The Governor commands the
state militia and can veto bills passed by the Legislature and call special
sessions of the Legislature. He also appoints members of various executive
boards and fills judicial vacancies between elections.
The Legislature of Texas has two chambers, a 150-member House of
Representatives and a 31-member Senate. The speaker of the house (currently
Tom Craddick R-Midland) leads the House, and the Lieutenant Governor (currently
Republican David Dewhurst) leads the State Senate. The Legislature meets in
regular session only once every two years.
The judicial system of Texas has a reputation as one of the most complex in
the United States - if not in the world - with many layers and many
overlapping jurisdictions. Texas has two "highest" courts, the Texas Supreme
Court for civil cases, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Except in
the case of some municipal benches, partisan elections choose all of the
judges at all levels of the judiciary - the Governor fills vacancies by
appointment.
Texas has a total of 254 counties, each run by a county commissioners' court
headed by a county judge (elected by the entire county). Every county
maintains a constitutionally-required county courthouse.
Geography
Texas has five major topographic regions:
The Coastal Plain, from the Gulf of Mexico inland to about San Antonio and
just southeast of Austin
The Hill Country and Edwards Plateau, a hilly rocky area in central Texas
bordered on the east by the Balcones fault zone and Blackland Prarie.
The Great Plains region extends into northern Texas, including the Llano
Estacado and the Panhandle high plains
The North Central Plains
The Trans Pecos Desert.
Articles on Texas regions:
Central Texas
East Texas
North Texas
Rio Grande Valley
Texas Hill Country
Llano Estacado
West Texas
For the 254 counties of Texas, see: List of Texas counties
Interstate highways
Interstate 10
Interstate 20
Interstate 25
Interstate 27
Interstate 30
Interstate 35
Interstate 37
Interstate 40
Interstate 44
Interstate 45
Interstate 69 (proposed extension)
United States highways
North-south routes East-west routes
U.S. Highway 59
U.S. Highway 259
U.S. Highway 67
U.S. Highway 69
U.S. Highway 75
U.S. Highway 175
U.S. Highway 271
U.S. Highway 77
U.S. Highway 277
U.S. Highway 377
U.S. Highway 79
U.S. Highway 81
U.S. Highway 181
U.S. Highway 281
U.S. Highway 83
U.S. Highway 183
U.S. Highway 285
U.S. Highway 385
U.S. Highway 87
U.S. Highway 287
U.S. Highway 96 (north-south despite number)
U.S. Highway 54
U.S. Highway 57 (east-west despite number)
U.S. Highway 60
U.S. Highway 62
U.S. Highway 70
U.S. Highway 66 (historic Route 66)
U.S. Highway 80
U.S. Highway 180
U.S. Highway 380
U.S. Highway 82
U.S. Highway 84
U.S. Highway 90
U.S. Highway 190
U.S. Highway 290
Economy
Texas remained largely rural until World War II, with cattle ranching, oil,
and agriculture as its main industries. In 1926 San Antonio had the largest
population of any city in Texas with over 120,000 people.
After World War II, Texas became increasingly industralized. Its economy
(circa 2000) relies largely on information technology, oil and natural gas,
energy exploration and energy trading, agriculture, and manufacturing. Two
major economic centers exist: the Houston Metropolitan Area, centered in
Houston, and Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, centered on those two cities.
Houston stands at the center of the petrochemical and NASA/space trades
while Dallas functions as the center of the agricultural and information
technology labor market in Texas. Other major cities include San Antonio,
Brownsville, Lubbock, Amarillo, McAllen, Tyler, Odessa and Midland. Other
important cities include El Paso, Eagle Pass, and Laredo; these have
particular significance due to their location on the border with Mexico,
making them important trade points.
The state passed New York in the 1990s to become the second-largest U.S.
state in population (after California). In 2001 Texas had a gross state
product of $764 billion. Texas's growth allegedly stems largely from the
availability of jobs, the low cost of living, the generally high
living-standard, the 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 perhaps the reputation of Texans as friendly
people.
Demographics
The people of Texas, historically often known as Texians, now generally
class as Texans.
As of 2003, the state had a population of 22,118,509, a large number of them
Latinos, some of whom have recently immigrated from Mexico, Central America,
and South America. Others, known as Tejanos, have ancestors who have lived
in Texas since before Texan independence, or at least for several
generations.
Other population groups in Texas also exhibit great diversity. Frontier
Texas saw settlements of Germans, particularly in Fredericksburg and New
Braunfels. After the European revolutions of 1848, German, Polish, Swedish,
Norwegian, Czech and French immigration grew, and continued until World War
I. The influence of the diverse immigrants from Europe survives in the names
of towns, in styles of architecture, in genres of music, in varieties of
cuisine, and in many other ways. For example, the manager of the storied
King Ranch came from Germany, and eventually married into the owner's
family.
In recent years the Asian population in Texas has grown, especially in
Houston and in Dallas. People from mainland China, Vietnam, India, South
Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Pakistan and other countries have settled in Texas.
The racial makeup of Texas today comprises:
52.4% White Non-Hispanic
32% Hispanic
11.5% Black
2.7% Asian
0.6% American Indian
2.5% belonging to two or more races
The top 5 ancestry groups in Texas are Mexican (24.3%), African American
(11.5%), German (9.9%), American (7.2%), Irish (7.2%).
In terms of religious denomination, 28% of Texans regard themselves as Roman
Catholic, 21% as Baptist, 8% as Methodist, 7% as "Christian", and 3% as
Lutheran. 11% of the population does not profess a religion.
7.8% of Texas's population was reported as under 5, 28.2% under 18, and 9.9%
exceeded 64 years. Females made up approximately 50.4% of the population.
Important cities and towns
As of the 2000 Census Texas had 22 Metropolitan Statistical Areas or MSAs
and 2 Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas or CMSAs; for a total of
24 metropolitan areas.
Abilene MSA
Amarillo MSA
Austin- San Marcos MSA
Beaumont- Port Arthur MSA
Brownsville- Harlingen- San Benito MSA
Bryan- College Station MSA
Corpus Christi MSA
Dallas-Fort Worth CMSA
Arlington
Carrollton
Denton
Garland
Grand Prairie
Irving
Mesquite
Plano
Richardson
Eagle Pass
El Paso MSA
Houston-Galveston-Brazoria CMSA
Baytown
Conroe
Pasadena
Sugar Land
Texas City
Killeen- Temple MSA
Laredo MSA
Longview- Marshall MSA
Lubbock MSA
McAllen- Edinburg- Mission MSA
Odessa-Midland MSA
San Angelo MSA
San Antonio MSA
Sherman- Denison MSA
Texarkana MSA
Tyler MSA
Victoria MSA
Waco MSA
Wichita Falls MSA
Education
Colleges and universities
Abilene Christian University
Amberton University
Arlington Baptist College
Art Institute of Dallas
Austin College
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor University
College of Saint Thomas More
Concordia University, Austin
Criswell College
Dallas Baptist University
Dallas Christian College
Dallas Theological Seminary
DeVry University, Dallas
DeVry University, Houston
East Texas Baptist University
Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest
Hardin-Simmons University
Houston Baptist University
Howard Payne University
Huston-Tillotson College
Institute for Christian Studies
ICI University
Jarvis Christian College
LeTourneau University
Lee College
Lubbock Christian University
McMurry University
Midwestern State University
Northwood University
Our Lady of the Lake University
Paul Quinn College
Rice University
St. Edward's University
Saint Mary's University of San Antonio
Schreiner College
Southern Methodist University
South Texas College of Law
Southwestern Adventist University
Southwestern Assemblies of God University
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southwestern Christian College
Southwestern University
Stephen F. Austin State University
Texas A&M University System
Baylor College of Dentistry
Texas A&M University, College Station
Texas A&M University, Commerce
Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
Texas A&M University, Galveston
Texas A&M University Health Science Center
Texas A&M University - Kingsville
Prairie View A&M University
Tarleton State University
Texas A&M University-Texarkana
Texas A&M International University
West Texas A&M University
Texas Christian University
Texas College
Texas Lutheran University
Texas Southern University
Texas State Technical College System
Texas State Technical College- Harlingen
Texas State Technical College- Marshall
Texas State Technical College- Waco
Texas State Technical College- Sweetwater
Texas State University System
Angelo State University
Lamar University
Lamar Institute of Technology
Lamar State College - Orange
Lamar State College - Port Arthur
Sam Houston State University
Sul Ross State University
Sul Ross State University - Rio Grande College
Texas State University-San Marcos
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Texas Wesleyan University
Texas Woman's University
Trinity University
University of Central Texas
University of Dallas
University of Houston System
University of Houston
University of Houston Clear Lake
University of Houston-Downtown
University of Houston Victoria
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
University of North Texas
University of North Texas Health Science Center
University of Saint Thomas
University of Texas System
University of Texas at Arlington
University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Brownsville
University of Texas at Dallas
University of Texas at El Paso
University of Texas-Pan American
University of Texas of the Permian Basin
University of Texas at San Antonio
University of Texas at Tyler
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
University of Texas Health Center at Tyler
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
University of the Incarnate Word
Wayland Baptist University
Wiley College
Professional sports teams
National Football League
Dallas Cowboys
Houston Texans
Arena Football League
Austin Wranglers
Dallas Desperados
Women's Professional Football League, Women's American football
Dallas Diamonds
Houston Energy
Independent Women's Football League
Dallas Revolution
National Basketball Association
Dallas Mavericks
Houston Rockets
San Antonio Spurs
Women's National Basketball Association
Houston Comets
San Antonio Silver Stars
National Hockey League
Dallas Stars
American Hockey League
Houston Aeros
San Antonio Rampage
Central Hockey League
Austin Ice Bats
Lubbock Cotton Kings
Major League Baseball
Texas Rangers
Houston Astros
Pacific Coast League, Minor League Baseball
Round Rock Express
Texas League, Minor League Baseball
Corpus Christi Hooks
Frisco RoughRiders
San Antonio Missions
Midland RockHounds
Central Baseball League, Minor League Baseball
Amarillo Dillas
Edinburg Roadrunners
Fort Worth Cats
Rio Grande Valley White Wings
San Angelo Colts
Major League Soccer
Dallas Burn
Major Indoor Soccer League
Dallas Sidekicks
The Houston Oilers, formerly based in Texas, moved to Memphis and later to
Nashville, Tennessee, and became the Tennessee Titans. Houston also formerly
had the Arena Football League team Houston Thunderbears, and the Minor
League Soccer team Houston Hotshots.
Through 2004, El Paso had a minor-league baseball team in the Texas League,
the El Paso Diablos, but the club moved to Springfield, Missouri after that
season and became known as the Springfield Cardinals.
Miscellaneous information
A number of ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Texas in
honor of the state.
Famous for their role in the history of Texas law enforcement, the Texas
Rangers continue today to provide special law enforcement services to the
state.
Juneteenth, which is June 19, is a state holiday commemorating the day in
1865 that the slaves learned they were free.
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