PORTAL:TEXAS

Texas
Texas
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	State of Texas
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Texas ( /ˈtɛksəs/ TEK-səss, locally also /ˈtɛksɪz/ TEK-siz; Spanish: Texas or Tejas, pronounced [ˈtexas]) is the most populous state in the South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and southwest. Texas has a coastline on the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast. Covering 268,596 square miles (695,660 km²), and with over 30 million residents as of 2023, it is the second-largest state by both area and population.

Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State for its former status as an independent republic. The Lone Star can be found on the Texas state flag and the Texas state seal. Spain was the first European country to claim and control the area of Texas. Following a short-lived colony controlled by France, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming the Republic of Texas. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state. The state's annexation set off a chain of events that led to the Mexican–American War in 1846. Following victory by the United States, Texas remained a slave state until the American Civil War, when it declared its secession from the Union in early 1861 before officially joining the Confederate States of America on March 2. After the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation.

Historically, five major industries shaped the Texas economy prior to World War II: cattle, bison, cotton, timber, and oil. Before and after the Civil War, the cattle industry—which Texas came to dominate—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. , it has the most Fortune 500 company headquarters (53) 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. ( Full article...)

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Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. Since 2021, Texas A&M has enrolled the largest student body in the United States, and is the only university in Texas to hold simultaneous designations as a land-, sea-, and space-grant institution. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and a member of the Association of American Universities.

The university was the first public higher education institution in Texas; it opened for classes on October 4, 1876, as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (A.M.C.) under the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Act. In the following decades, the college grew in size and scope, expanding to its largest enrollment during WWII before its first significant stagnation in enrollment post-war. Enrollment grew again in the 1960s under the leadership of President James Earl Rudder, during whose tenure, the college desegregated, became coeducational, and ended the requirement for participation in the Corps of Cadets. In 1963, to reflect the institution's expanded roles and academic offerings, the Texas Legislature renamed the college Texas A&M University; the letters "A&M" were retained as a tribute to the university's former designation. ( Full article...)

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Yeager in 1986 in front of Voyager

Jeana Lee Yeager (born May 18, 1952) is an American aviator. She co-piloted, along with Dick Rutan, the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world in the Rutan Voyager aircraft from December 14 to 23, 1986. The flight took 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds and covered 24,986 miles (40,211 km), almost doubling the old distance record set by a Boeing B-52 strategic bomber in 1962. ( Full article...)

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State symbols

Flower	Bluebonnet
Motto	Friendship
Nickname	The Lone Star State
Tree	Pecan
Dog	Blue Lacy
Bird	Mockingbird
Fish	Guadalupe bass
Flying Mammal	Mexican free-tailed bat
Reptile	Texas Horned Lizard

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Credit: User:Rei
The Comal River, at Schlitterbahn, New Braunfels, Texas.

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Man-made waterfall attraction in Lucy Park

Wichita Falls ( /ˈwɪtʃɪtɑː/ WITCH-i-tah) is a city in and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita Counties. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 102,316, making it the 39th-most populous city in Texas.

The city was named, in 1876, for a waterfall on the Wichita River, which was destroyed due to flooding in 1886. ( Full article...)

List of cities
Houston Dallas Marshall, Texas Austin, Texas San Antonio Amarillo, Texas Arlington, Texas Beaumont, Texas Corpus Christi, Texas El Paso, Texas Fort Worth, Texas Midland, Texas Waco, Texas Tyler, Texas Lubbock, Texas Irving, Texas Sugar Land, Texas San Angelo, Texas Brownsville, Texas Grand Prairie, Texas Abilene, Texas Richardson, Texas McAllen, Texas Denton, Texas

General images

The following are images from various Texas-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Captain Charles A. May's squadron of the 2d Dragoons slashes through the Mexican Army lines. Resaca de la Palma, Texas, May 1846 (from History of Texas)
Image 2French Texas in 1685 consisted of Fort St. Louis on Matagorda Bay. (from History of Texas)
Image 3The Viceroyalty of New Spain in 1819 (from History of Texas)
Image 41913 cotton harvest in East Texas (from History of Texas)
Image 5The French flag of the Bourbons (from History of Texas)
Image 6 Sam Houston served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and seventh governor of Texas. (from History of Texas)
Image 7Mexican Texas in 1833 (from History of Texas)
Image 8President John F. Kennedy in the presidential limousine, minutes before his assassination (from History of Texas)
Image 9Comancheria before 1850. (from History of Texas)
Image 10 Big Tex, the mascot of the State Fair of Texas since 1952 (from Culture of Texas)
Image 11Spanish Texas in 1794 (from History of Texas)
Image 12Spanish missions within the boundaries of what is now the state of Texas. (from History of Texas)
Image 13 Austin (from List of Texas metropolitan areas)
Image 14Company D, Texas Rangers, at Realitos in 1887 (from History of Texas)
Image 15 Mission Concepcion is one of the San Antonio missions which is part of a National Historic Landmark. (from History of Texas)
Image 16 René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle founded the French colony in Texas. (from History of Texas)
Image 17Territories of some Native American tribes in Texas ~1500CE (from History of Texas)
Image 18A factory worker in Fort Worth, Texas, 1942 (from History of Texas)
Image 19Texas in 1718, Guillaume de L'Isle map, approximate state area highlighted, northern boundary was indefinite. (from History of Texas)
Image 20The Praetorian Building in Dallas, completed 1909, was the first skyscraper west of the Mississippi and the tallest in Texas. (from History of Texas)
Image 21 McAllen (from List of Texas metropolitan areas)
Image 22The U.S. and Texas flags at the Texas State Capitol. (from History of Texas)
Image 23Boom periods of the four major industries that built the early Texas economy. (from History of Texas)
Image 24The "Lone Star" Belle, postcard, around 1908. (from Culture of Texas)
Image 25The Republic of Texas. The present-day outlines of the U.S. states (white lines) are superimposed on the boundaries of 1836–1845. (from History of Texas)
Image 26 Stephen F. Austin, known as the "Father of Texas." (from History of Texas)
Image 27First Day of Passenger Service, Dallas & Sherman Interurban Railroad 1908 (from History of Texas)
Image 28The Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad --the "Katy"--was the first railroad to enter Texas from the north (from History of Texas)
Image 29The Spanish flag of Burgundy. (from History of Texas)