Towns and Cities in Texas, USA

Texas

Texas is a state in the South Central Region of the USA, it is bordered by New Mexico in the northwest; Oklahoma in the north and northeast; Arkansas, Louisiana, and the Gulf of Mexico in the east; and Mexico in the southwest. It is the second largest U.S. state by population (after California) with 29,360,759 inhabitants in 2019. Its capital is Austin and its largest city is Houston. Its governor is Greg Abbott.

The large size of Texas and its location at the intersection of multiple climate zones gives the state highly variable weather. As an example, January temperatures in the Rio Grande valley have been known to register well into the 90s F (about 32 °C), while blizzards have blocked highways in the Panhandle section of the state during the same month. Thanks to this climate and the different types of soils, a great variety of vegetation is found in Texas. The state is home to hundreds of species of birds (nearly three-fourths of all species found in the USA).

Before the Spanish settlers promoting Christianity (called missionaries) arrived, Native American tribes, including the Akokisa, Karankawa, Mogollon, and Comanche, lived on the land. In 1821, Mexico took control of the land, Texas became an independent nation called the Republic of Texas in 1836. But fending off hostile tribes and Mexican troops was difficult for a small country, and Texas joined the United States in 1845.

Texas is wellknown for its oil rigs (hundreds of them pump beneath the earth), the state is also famous for another natural resource: cattle. Texas has about 12 million cattles. Texas also produces wool and cotton, and has one of the largest wind-power-producing farms in the world with more than 100,000 acres of wind turbines. At one point the turbines provided 45 percent of the state’s electricity needs.