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Texas, largest state in the contiguous United States (excluding Alaska) and is located in the S Central part of the country and is bounded by Oklahoma to the north, across the Red River. except in the Texas panhandle (N); Arkansas (NE); Louisiana, across the Sabine R. (E); the Gulf of Mexico (SE); Mexico, across the Rio Grande R. (SW); and New Mexico (W).
Area,
267,338 sq mi (692,405 sq km).
Pop.
(2000) 20,851,820, a 22.8% increase since the 1990 census.
Capital,
Austin. Largest city, followed by Houston and San Antonio.
Nickname,
Lone Star State.
Motto,
Friendship. State bird, mockingbird.
State flower,
bluebonnet.
State tree,
pecan.
Texas is roughly spade shaped. The vast expanse of the state contains great regional differences (the distance from Beaumont to El Paso is greater than that from New York to Chicago).
Mineral resources compete with industry for primary economic importance in Texas. The state is the leading U.S. producer of oil, natural gas, and natural-gas liquids. It is also a major producer of helium, salt, sulfur, sodium sulfate, clays, gypsum, cement, and talc. The amount of rainfall varies widely from an average yearly total 8.65" in El Paso, in west Texas to a much heavier, 47.7" annually in Nacogdoches on average in east Texas. As a result the terrain in west Texas can be almost desert like, but in east Texas there is a large forest industry.
Texas manufactures an enormously large variety of products, including chemicals and chemical products, petroleum, food and food products, transportation equipment, machinery, and primary and fabricated metals. The development and manufacture of electronic equipment, such as computers (Dell, for example), has in recent decades become one of the state's leading industries; the area around Dallas-Fort Worth has become known as “Silicon Prairie,” a name now also extended to Austin and its suburbs. Agriculturally, Texas is one of the most important states in the country. It easily leads the nation in producing cattle, cotton, and cottonseed. Texas also has more farms, farmland, sheep, and lambs than any other state.
The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is in the Houston area. Other places of interest in the state include Big Bend National Park,Guadalupe Mountains National Park , Amistad and Lake Meredith national recreation areas, Padre Island National Seashore, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park, and Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge, winter home of the whooping crane. Austin is the capital; Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio are the largest cities.
Among the many institutions of higher learning in Texas are the University of Texas, mainly at Austin, but with large branches at Arlington, El Paso, and the Dallas suburb of Richardson.
Texas is also home to the Fightin' Texas Aggies. The main campus of Texas A&M (in College Station) is currently celebrating it's 130th year of educating students. Texas A&M's band and the Corps of Cadets have appeared on screen, most notably in A Few Good Men.
*Information from Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
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