Texas

The city centre of Houston, Texas, USA, is characterized by tall, glass skyscrapers, some of which are interconnected by underground tunnels.

Texas was named the Lone Star State after the single star on its flag, first adopted by the independent Republic of Texas in 1839.

Locator map for the US state of Texas.

Designed by the architect Alfred Finn, the San Jacinto Monument in Deer Park, Texas, commemorates the centennial of the Battle of San Jacinto. The battle was part of the Texas revolution of 1835-36, when US colonists fought for independence from Mexico.

State in southwestern USA, one of the Great Plains states, bordered to the east by Louisiana (partly along the Sabine River), to the northeast by Arkansas, to the north by Oklahoma (part of this boundary being along the Red River), to the west by New Mexico, to the southwest by the Rio Grande River and Mexico, and to the southeast by the Gulf of Mexico; area 678,051 sq km/261,797 sq mi; population (2000) 20,851,800; capital Austin. Texas's nickname derives from the state flag's single star. The landscape of Texas varies, with the Great Plains in the north, the Basin and Range region in the west, and the Coastal Plain region and the Gulf of Mexico in the south. Huge inland seas created much of the bedrock of present-day Texas, and the state's sedimentary rocks contain many fossils and are rich in oil reserves. Texas produces nearly one-third of US petroleum. Chemicals, petrochemicals, cotton, sorghum, wheat, and livestock are among the state's chief economic products. Despite the vast rural landscape, over 80% of the Texas population resides in urban areas. The Dallas-Forth Worth Consolidated Metropolitan Area is the state's most populous; other cities include Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso. Originally home to the Apache, Comanche, and Karankawa peoples, Texas was settled by the Spanish in the 16th and 17th centuries. Texas was part of Mexico 1821-36, after which it became an independent republic. Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845 as the 28th US state. The annexation of Texas was one of the causes of the Mexican War (1846-48).

Physical Texas is the largest state in the coterminous USA. Texas comprises four major physical regions: the Great Plains, the North-Central Plains, the Coastal Plain, and the Basin and Range region.

The Great Plains is an L-shaped region, with the High Plains in the Texas panhandle forming the vertical extension and the Edwards Plateau and Llano Uplift in central Texas forming the horizontal extension. The High Plains region consists of limestone and sandstone bedrock overlaid by sediments eroded from the Rocky Mountains, resulting in the somewhat higher elevations and richer soils that are characteristic of the panhandle. Cotton, wheat, and other grains are grown here. The Edwards Plateau is a broad surface consisting largely of fossil-rich sedimentary rocks laid down by shallow seas 360-500 million years ago. These are underpinned by very old rocks, which are exposed in the Llano Uplift, a hilly area with characteristic red granite domes, one of the largest of which is known as Enchanted Rock.

The North-Central Plains region lies east of the panhandle. Lower in elevation, this region has dark soils and is primarily a mixed-grass prairie. Several lakes dot the region, including Lake Kickapoo, Lake Kemp, and Possum Kingdom Lake.

The High Plains and North-Central Plains regions, with their proximity to the warm air of the Gulf, are prone to thunderstorms and tornadoes. These plains are separated from the Coastal Plain region to the east and southeast by the Balcones Escarpment, which extends eastward from Del Rio to San Antonio, then northeastward to Austin, and continues north to the Red River.

The Coastal Plain region developed 220 million years ago with the formation of the Gulf of Mexico. Cycles of rifting and subsidence as the gulf opened resulted in layers of marine salts being deposited over the Coastal Plain. These were overlaid by limestone, sandstone, and shale deposited by the widening gulf seas. The accumulation of sediments over less dense salt deposits caused salt to migrate upward through the overlying rock layers, creating structures that trapped the oil and natural gas for which the region is famous, particularly the East Texas Oil Field in northeastern Texas - the largest oil reservoir in the contiguous USA - and the Gulf coast's offshore reserves.

The northeastern Coastal Plain is known for its biodiversity. Big Thicket, an area of dense woodland near Beaumont in eastern Texas, is home to a mixture of subtropical and temperate fauna and flora. The Nueces, San Antonio, Guadalupe, Colorado, Brazos, Trinity, and Neches rivers all flow southeast across the Coastal Plain to the Gulf, where barrier islands, such as Galveston Island and Matagorda Island, skirt the 600 km/ 370 mi of coastline.

The Basin and Range region of western Texas is bounded by the Rio Grande and Pecos rivers and includes Big Bend National Park in the Guadalupe Mountains, the Chihuahuan Desert, and the Chisos Mountains. Formed at the same time as the Rocky Mountains, this mountainous region ranges 825-2,670 m/2,700-8,749 ft, with Guadalupe Peak being the state's highest point.

Features The most famous landmark is the Alamo in San Antonio, a monument to those Texans who died there in 1836, besieged by the Mexican army during the Texas Revolution.

Mission Ysleta, near El Paso, is the oldest Spanish mission in the state and in the southwest, completed in 1692. Goliad is the site of a restored Spanish mission. Spanish colonial sites are, however, concentrated in San Antonio, home to four Spanish missions: San Jose (1720), San Juan (1731), Concepcion (1731), and Espada (1731). Also in San Antonio is the Spanish Governor's Palace (1749) and the Witte Museum, which features history and science exhibits.

Frontier forts in Texas include Fort Leaton, an adobe (made of sun-dried earth bricks) fortress built in 1848; Fort Lancaster, a pre-Civil War guardian of the San Antonio-El Paso Road; Fort Griffin, a post-Civil War garrison on the Brazos River; and Fort McKavett, where all four regiments of the buffalo soldiers, black cavalry regiments of the US Army during the late 19th century, served. Battlegrounds include Sabine Pass Battleground, the site of an 1863 Civil War battle, and San Jacinto Battleground, where Texas won independence from Mexico, with the San Jacinto Monument (175 m/570 ft). Palo Duro Canyon State Park marks the site of the last great battle with the Comanche American Indians in 1874.

Historic structures in Texas include Kreische Brewery, the ruins of an 1870s German brewery; Port Isabel Lighthouse, a mid-19th-century beacon for South Texas shipping; Sebastopol House, an 1850s Greek Revival house; Varner-Hogg Plantation, an antebellum sugar plantation house; and the President Dwight D Eisenhower Birthplace in Denison.

Historic sites in Texas include Galveston, an island in the Gulf of Mexico, with Victorian buildings; Johnson City, featuring the President Lyndon B Johnson birthplace and state historical park; Fredericksburg, founded in the 19th century by German immigrants; and Bandera, a Polish community dating from 1855.

Houston is home to many museums and exhibits, including the Houston Zoological Gardens, the Museum of Natural Science, NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, and the Holocaust Museum Houston. Dallas is another cultural and commercial centre, and was the site of the assassination of US president John F Kennedy. The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza features exhibits on his life and legacy. Other museums in Dallas include the Museum of Natural History, the Age of Steam Railroad Museum, and the Dallas Horticultural Center.

Austin is home to the largest state capitol in the USA (1882-88) and to the University of Texas.

Other museums of historical interest in Texas are the Texas Memorial Museum of the University of Texas and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, both in Austin, and the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum at Canyon.

Ancient sites in Texas include Caddoan Mounds in Alto; Caprock Canyons in Quitaque, the site of the Lake Theo Paleo-Indian archaeological excavation; and Lubbock Lake Landmark, a prehistoric site.

There are four national forests in Texas, concentrated in the east - Sabine, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, and Angelina - and Big Bend National Park in the west is popular with holidaymakers. Texas also has 14 national wildlife refuges.

Culture Texas is a state associated with oil tycoons, cowboys and ranches, Republicanism, and ‘tough on crime’ policies that have spawned the largest prison system in the world. Texas is also the home of country music, of a growing Hispanic population, and, in Austin, a thriving counter-culture based on environmentalist values. Houston is a multicultural city, with Hispanic, Asian, Greek, African, Cajun, and Caribbean festivals held throughout the year. Austin is also increasingly ethnically diverse, and has a highly educated population.

Houston is a major centre for visual art in Texas. The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston has a permanent US collection. The Menil Collection includes antiquities, Byzantine art, and 20th-century art. Houston has a major Contemporary Arts Museum and the Blaffer Gallery, and is also home to the Rothko Chapel, featuring a series of paintings by Mark Rothko. The Art Car Museum in Houston features a collection of car art objects. In Fort Worth, the Kimbell Art Museum's permanent collection includes masterpieces by Fra Angelico, Caravaggio, and El Greco and has a substantial collection of Asian art. The Dallas Museum of Art has extensive collections of US and European painting; also in Dallas is the Crow Collection of Asian art. In Austin, the Blanton Museum of Art has collections of European paintings. In Marfa, western Texas, the Chianti Foundation is a centre for larger outdoor works by Donald Judd and other artists. The Stark Museum in Orange is largely devoted to 19th- and 20th-century Western US paintings and sculpture.

Buildings designed by architect I M Pei include the First Interstate Bank Building, Dallas (1986), and the Texas Commerce Tower, Houston.

Houston is home to the Houston Symphony and the Wortham Theater Center, with the resident Houston Grand Opera and the Houston Ballet. The Alley Theatre and the Music Hall for Broadway feature productions by Theater Under the Stars. Summer festivals and evening concerts take place in Hermann Park, and the Houston International Festival attracts artists in the performing and visual arts from all over the world. Dallas is home to the Morton H Meyerson Symphony Center, the Dallas Theater Center, and the Majestic Theatre, Fair Park Music Hall. There are also symphony orchestras in San Antonio and Austin. Austin has a number of small live-music venues and hosts the South by Southwest music and film festivals every spring. It is also the home of the live-music show Austin City Limits, which focuses on country music.

Texas is world famous for its rodeos. The most important are Laredo's Washington Birthday Celebration, a ten-day fiesta; the Brownsville's costume festival, known as Charro Days; and Fiesta San Antonio. Dallas is home of the vast Texas State Fair. There are many German and Polish ethnic events, folk festivals, and smaller country fairs and rodeos across Texas throughout the year.

Sport in Texas is extremely important, and college football plays a central role in Texan culture. The professional team is the Dallas Cowboys American football team. In baseball, the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers are major league teams, and the Houston Astrodome draws sightseers as well as sports fans. The Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and San Antonio Spurs are the professional basketball teams.

Recreation in Texas centres on barbecues, sports, country music, and bar life. Hiking, mountain biking, trail horseback riding, swimming, bird watching, camping, and environmental pursuits have become popular in recent years. Texmex or Southwestern Mexican food, typified by beefsteaks, barbecue, and chilli, is enjoyed throughout the state.

Government Texas's state constitution Constitutional government in Texas dates back to 1824, when Texas and the Mexican state Coahuila were combined as one under the Mexican constitution. Texas's first constitution was written for the Republic of Texas in 1836. A second constitution was written in 1845, when Texas joined the Union. The revised constitution of 1876 is still used today, although it has since been amended.

Structure of state government The legislature is made up of the Senate, with 31 members, and the House of Representatives, which has 150 members. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor. Texas sends two senators and 30 representatives to the US Congress. The state has 34 electoral votes in presidential elections.

The executive branch is made up of six officials: the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, comptroller of public accounts, and the commissioner of the General Land Office. With the exception of the secretary of state, who is appointed by the governor, these officials are elected by popular vote to four-year terms. Unlike in other states, Texas's governor and lieutenant governor do not run on the same ticket but are elected separately and can be in different political parties. Furthermore, the lieutenant governor, as the only government official to serve in both the executive and the legislature, wields more political power than the governor.

The judiciary consists of the Texas Supreme Court, court of criminal appeals, 14 courts of appeals, and the trial courts, including the district, county, probate, and municipal courts.

Economy The energy and agriculture industries, dominant sectors of the Texas economy until the 1980s, were replaced by service-related industries by the end of the 20th century. Business and financial services, along with manufacturing jobs in aerospace and computers, have led to high per-capita income in the state's Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston-Galveston, and Austin metropolitan areas. Manufacturing is the second-largest sector of the economy, producing industrial machinery, electronics and computers, fabricated metals, rubber, plastics, chemicals, and petrochemicals. Mining, which includes oil and natural gas, is a declining section of the economy.

Texas leads the nation in sheer quantity of farmland: there are 53 million ha/131 million acres of cropland, pastures, and ranges. Though declining, the state's agricultural sector remains a large producer of rice, cotton, sorghum, wheat, hay, and livestock.

Texas has 13 major ports. Houston is ranked second in the USA in terms of total tonnage and is the 8th-largest port in the world.

History Indigenous peoples Texas was home to many American Indian peoples, including the Apache, Comanche, Caddo, and Karankawa. The Apache and Lipan-Apache were Plains Indians living in the Texas panhandle and the Edwards Plateau until the late 17th century, when pressure from the Comanche in the north drove the Apache southward towards the Rio Grande. By the 18th century, the Comanche expanded into the Texas panhandle along the same routes the Apache had travelled. The Comanche coexisted peacefully there with the Kiowa American Indians. The Caddo were farmers living in eastern Texas and the Red River region. Other related tribes were the Wichita, Pawnee, Kadohadacho, and Hasinai. In the southeast, along the Gulf Coast, lived the Karankawa Indians, tall, formidable people who easily navigated their marshy environment.

Exploration and settlement The Texas region was travelled by Spanish explorers Cabeza de Vaca and Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Spaniards settled at Ysleta in 1682. Spanish settlement was limited to a number of missions and trading posts. In 1685, the French explorer René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle established a fort on Matagorda Bay, and soon after, the French fought with the Karankawa in the region, later abandoning their fort. Throughout the 18th century, the Spanish established Catholic missions. The missions provided the Apache some protection from the Comanche. Conditions at the missions were poor, however, and many American Indians either died of disease or were enslaved.

The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 extended US control over much of northern Texas, while southeastern and southern Texas was the venue for Mexican revolts against Spanish government. The Guiterrez-Magee Expedition of 1812 was one such rebellion. Much of Texas was part of Mexico from 1821 to 1836, although Americans led by Stephen Austin were authorized to settle along the Brazos River from 1823. The Texas Rangers were formed at this time to guard the frontier against American Indians. By the late 1820s tension between the rapidly growing US community and Mexican authorities led to moves for Texan independence, and in 1835-36 this was achieved, in a conflict that included the massacres at the Alamo and Goliad and ended with Sam Houston achieving US victory at San Jacinto.

Independence and the Civil War From 1836 to 1845, Texas was an independent republic, with Sam Houston as its president. During that time, westward expansion sparked wars with Mexico over lands west of Texas. Mexican troops twice occupied San Antonio in 1842, in a Mexican revolt led by Rafael Vasquez. In 1845, the USA annexed the rest of the modern state (see Texas, annexation of), along with parts of New Mexico, leading to the Mexican War, in which US control over the rest of the Southwest (excluding the Gadsden Purchase) was achieved.

Having been settled largely by Southerners, the new state was slave territory, and joined the Confederacy at the start of the Civil War. Sam Houston was one of the minority who opposed secession at the Secession Convention of 1861. Military action in the Civil War was limited to the 1863 battle at Sabine Pass and a rearguard action by fleeing Confederates at Brownsville in 1865, shortly before the 19 June 1865 Galveston Declaration freeing the slaves (celebrated today in annual ‘Juneteenth’ festivities).

Late 19th and early 20th centuries The poor Reconstruction economy after the Civil War sparked the beginning of Texas cattle drives to markets in the North. The cattle industry soon expanded, with the Chisholm Trail leading north to Kansas. In 1870, Texas was readmitted to the Union. Skirmishes with the Texas American Indians had continued throughout the 19th century, despite efforts to establish reservations in the 1850s. The tension culminated in the Red River War, and the defeat of the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache at Battle of Palo Duro Canyon in 1874.

In 1901, at Spindletop, near Beaumont, the first big Texas oil strike occurred. Between 1920 and 1930, the Texas population had grown by 25% and the economy was thriving. Irrigation supported citrus groves in southern Texas along the Rio Grande and livestock on the Edwards Plateau, establishing Texas a major producer of hides, wool, and mohair. When the East Texas Oilfield was discovered in 1930, the state became the centre of the ‘Oil Patch’.

Despite its prosperity, Texas was eventually affected by the Great Depression. Disillusionment with President Herbert Hoover and growing Texas support for Franklin D Roosevelt ushered in an era of Texan influence on federal government. Aircraft and other technology contributed to the industrialization of Texas during and after World War II. Texas's influence in national politics continued after the war with the election of Dwight D Eisenhower as president, and later, Lyndon Johnson, George Bush, and George W Bush.

Famous people sport Jack Johnson (1878-1946), boxer; Ben Hogan (1912-1997), golfer; Babe Zaharias (1914-1956), athlete and golfer; George Foreman (1948- ), boxer; Michael Johnson (1967- ), athlete; Lance Armstrong (1971- ), cyclist

the arts Scott Joplin (1868-1917), pianist and composer; Katherine Ann Porter (1890-1980), writer; Bob Wills (1905-1975), musician; Gene Autry (1907-1998), entertainer; Joan Crawford (1908-1977), actor; Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991), screenwriter; Robert Rauschenberg (1925- ), pop artist; Alvin Ailey (1931-1989), choreographer; Willie Nelson (1933- ), country singer; Buddy Holly (1936-1959), rock and roll singer; Roy Orbison (1936-1988), musician; Janis Joplin (1943-1970), blues singer; Steve Martin (1945- ), comedian; Tommy Lee Jones (1946- ), actor; Sissy Spacek (1949- ), actor

science Gail Borden (1801-1874), surveyor and inventor; Denton Cooley (1920- ), heart surgeon; R Bruce Merrifield (1921-2006), Nobel Prize-winning biochemist; Robert Wilson (1936- ), Nobel Prize-winning astronomer

society and education Jim Bowie (1796-1836), folk hero; Bonnie and Clyde (1911-1934 and 1909-1934), outlaws; Lady Bird Johnson (1912- ), first lady and conservationist; Dan Rather (1931- ), journalist

economics Howard Hughes (1905-1976), industrialist; H Ross Perot (1930- ), philanthropist and politician

politics and law Stephen Austin (1793-1836), pioneer; Sam Houston (1793-1863), general and president of the Republic of Texas; John Nance Garner (1868-1967), vice president; Sam Rayburn (1882-1961), politician; Chester W Nimitz (1885-1966), admiral; Dwight D Eisenhower (1890-1969), 34th president of the USA; Lyndon B Johnson (1908-1973), 36th president of the USA; James Baker (1930- ), politician; Sandra Day O'Connor (1930- ), justice; Henry Cisneros (1947- ), politician.