About Texas

The great state of Texas encompasses 268,601 square miles, making it the 2nd largest state in the union, after Alaska. As of the 2000 census it was also 2nd in population with almost 21,000,000 people. Among Texas’ largest cities are Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, and yes, Corpus Christi. Austin is the capital of Texas, located just southeast of the center of the state.

Texas became the 28th state on December 29, 1845. Texas gets its name from a Caddo Indian word meaning “friends”. In contrast to its friendly name, its nickname is the Lone Star State, bringing to mind the lonesome cowboy out on the range. However, today its people reflect its friendlier origins. They are proud of their state, and always happy to share it with anyone who visits.

Bordering Texas are New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Its vast lands consist of deserts, mountains, valleys, and yes, even bodies of water! Admittedly, that water constitutes less than 25% of its mass. Texas is home to the 14th highest point in the United States, Guadalupe Peak, at 8,749 feet. Its lowest point is the Gulf Coast at sea level. Because of its acres of grassland it continues to be a major source for cattle, as well as crops such as cotton, sorghum, corn, and wheat. Some of the significant industries in Texas are petroleum (of course), natural gas, chemical products, electric equipment, mining, and tourism.

Texas is home to numerous major military installations, with bases in nearly every corner of the state. All the services have operational and training missions in Texas, despite the lack of a major United States Marine Corps installation. In addition to active duty forces, there are a wide variety of reserve units and guard units. The guard units are collectively known as the “Texas Military Forces.” The Texas Military Forces includes the Texas Army National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard and the Texas State Guard, the state militia. The headquarters of the Texas Military Forces is at Camp Mabry in Austin.

In 2005 Texas had a gross state product of $982.4 billion, the second highest in the U.S. after California. Gross state product per capita as of 2005 was $42,899. Texas’s growth is often attributed to the availability of jobs, the low cost of housing (housing values in the Dallas and Houston areas, while generally rising, have not risen at the astronomical rates of other cities such as San Francisco), the lack of a personal state income tax, low taxation and limited regulation of business, a geographic location in the center of the country, limited government (the Texas Legislature meets only once every two years), favorable climate in many areas of the state, and vast, plentiful supplies of oil and natural gas. Texas has 4.6 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves.

As of 2006, Texas, for the first time, has more Fortune 500 company headquarters (56) than any other state (California has 55; ironically, it was due to the move of Fluor from California to Texas). This has been attributed to both the growth in population in Texas and the rise of oil prices in 2005, which resulted in the growth in revenues of many Texas oil drilling and processing companies. Texas is the largest international exporter among the 50 American states, with international merchandise exports totaling $117.2 Billion in 2004. Air Cargo World rated Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as “the best air cargo airport in the world”.

Two US presidents were born in Texas, though not the ones you might think. Dwight D. Eisenhower (34th) was born in Denison in 1890. Eighteen years later the 36th president, Lyndon B. Johnson, was born near Johnson City.