Texas, USA

Texas is a state in the south-central United States, bordered by New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, Louisiana to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas to the southwest and south. Austin is the state capital, while Houston is the largest city; Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, El Paso and Arlington are other major population centers. As the second-largest state by both area and population, Texas encompasses a wide range of landscapes, including the Piney Woods of the east, the Blackland Prairies and Hill Country of central Texas, the South Texas Plains, the Chihuahuan Desert in the west, and more than 350 miles of Gulf coastline. Major rivers include the Rio Grande, Red, Brazos, Colorado, Trinity and Sabine, while Guadalupe Peak in the Guadalupe Mountains is the state’s highest point at 8,751 feet. Texas contains 254 counties—the most of any U.S. state—covers approximately 261,232 square miles of land and had 29,145,505 residents in the 2020 census. Admitted to the Union in 1845 as the 28th state after nearly a decade as the independent Republic of Texas, it is a leading center for energy, technology, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and aerospace.