The Gulf Coastal Plains region wraps around the Gulf of Mexico on the southeast section of the state.

Vegetation in this region consists of thick piney woods. The Interior Lowlands region consists of gently rolling to hilly forested land and is part of a larger pine-hardwo
The Great Plains region in central Texas is located in spans through the state's panhandle and Llano Estacado to the state's hill country near Austin. This region is dominated by prairie and steppe. "Far West Texas" or the "Trans-Pecos" region is the state's Basin and
Texas has 3,700 named streams and 15 major rivers,[18][19] with the Rio Grande as the largest. Other major rivers include the Pecos, the Brazos, Colorado, and Red River, which forms the border with Oklahoma. While Texas has few natural lakes, Texans have built ov
The size and unique history of Texas make its regional affiliation debatable; it can be fairly considered a Southern or a Southwestern state, or both. The vast geographic, economic, and cultural diversity within the state itself prohibits easy categorization of the whole st
ogy
Texasis thesecond most populous(afterCalifornia) and thesecond largestof the50 U.S. states(afterAlaska) in theUnited States of America
Main article: Geology of Texas
, and the largest state in the48 contiguous United States. Geographically located in thesouth centralpart of the country, Texas shares an
Texas is the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which ends in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. The continental crust forms a stable Mesoproterozoic craton which changes across a broad continental margin and transitional crust into
international
borderwith
Len,
andTamaulipasto
and rocks
borders
theU.S.
statesof
These Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks
underlie most theMexicanstatesofChihuahua,Coahuila,Nuevo
of the state, and are exposed in three places: Llano uplift, Van Horn, and
the Franklin
Mountains, near El the
Paso.south
Sedimentary
overlay
most of these
ancient rocks. The oldest sediments were dep
Mexicoto
theinwest,Oklahomato
thetonorth,Arkansasto
the northeast,
andLouisianato
the east.
Texaszone
hasofan
area of 268,820
This margin existed until Laurasia New
and Gondwana
collided
the Pennsylvanian subperiod
form Pangea. This is the buried
crest of the Appalachian
MountainsOuachita
Mountains
Pennsylvanian
continental square
collision. This orogenic crest is today buried ben
The late Paleozoic mountains collapsed as rifting in the Jurassic period
began
to open the Gulf2)ofand
Mexico.
Pangea began
to break upof
in the
Triassic,
seafloorresidents
spreading to (July
form the
Gulf of [8]
Mexico occurred only in the mid and late Jurassic. The shoreline shifted ag
miles
(696,200km
a growing
population
over
26.9but
million
2014).
East Texas outcrops consist of Cretaceous and Paleogene sediments which contain important deposits of Eocene lignite. The Mississippian and Pennsylvanian sediments in the north; Permian sediments in the west; and Cretaceous sediments in the east, along the G
Houstonis the largest city in Texas and thefourth-largestin the United States, whileSan Antoniois the second largest in the state and
Wildlife
A wide range of animals and insects
live in Texas.
It is in
the the
homeUnited
to 65 species
of mammals, 213 species
of reptiles and amphibians,
and the greatest
diversity of
bird fifth
life in largestUnited
the United States590
nativemetropolitan
species in all. [24]Atareas,
least 12 species have been introduced and n
seventh
largest
States.DallasFort
WorthandGreater
Houstonare
the fourth
and
States
[26]
Texas plays host to several speciesrespectively.
of wasps. Texas is
one
of
the
regions
that
has
the
highest
abundance
of
Polistes
exclamans.
Additionally,
Texas
has
provided
an
important
ground
for
the
study
of
Polistes
annularis.
Other major cities includeEl PasoandAustinthestate capital. Texas is nicknamed theLone Star Stateto signify
Texas as a
During the spring Texas wildflowers such as the state flower, the bluebonnet, line highways throughout Texas. During the Johnson Administration the first lady, Lady Bird Johnson, worked to draw attention to Texas wildflowers.
former independent republic and as a reminder of the state's struggle for independence from Mexico. The "Lone Star" can be found on the
Climate
Texas state flag and on the Texas state seal today.[9] The origin of the state name, Texas, is from the word, "Tejas", which means 'friends' in
Main article: Climate of Texas
[10]
The large size of Texas and its location at the intersection of multiple climate zones gives the state highly variable weather.
theCaddolanguage.
The Panhandle of the
state has colder winters than North Texas, while the Gulf Coast has mild winters. Texas has wide variations in precipitatio
Snow falls multiple times each winter in the Panhandle and mountainous areas of West Texas, once or twice a year in North Texas, and once every few years in Central and East Texas. Snow rarely falls south of San Antonio or on the coast except in rare circumstanc
Due months
to its average
size and
features
as theBalcones
TexasIsland
contains
diverselandscapesthat
resemble
bothareas
theofAmericanSouth
Maximum temperatures in the summer
fromgeologic
the 80s F (26
C) in thesuch
mountains
of West Texas andFault,
on Galveston
to around
100 F (38 C) in the Rio Grande
Valley, but most
Texas see consistent summer high temperatures in the 90
[11] Although
[30]
[31]
andSouthwest.
Texas
popularly
with
theSouthwestern
deserts, less than 10 percent of the land area isdesert.[12]
Night-time summer temperatures range
from the upper 50s
F (14 C) in the
West is
Texas
mountainsassociated
to 80 F (27 C)
in Galveston.
Thunderstorms strike Texas often,
especially
the eastern
and northern
portions
the state. Tornado
Alleyofcovers
the northern section of Texas. The state experiences
the most tornadoes
in the United
States,
an average
of 139
a year. These strike most frequently in N
Most
of the
population
centers
areof located
in areas
formerprairies,grasslands,forests,
and thecoastline.
Traveling
from
east
to west,
one
Some of the most destructive hurricanes
in
U.S.
history
have
impacted
Texas.
A
hurricane
in
1875
killed
approximately
400
people
in
Indianola,
followed
by
another
hurricane
in
1886
that
destroyed
the
town.
These
events
allowed
can observe terrain that ranges from coastalswampsandpiney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, and finally thedesertand mountainsGalveston to take over as the chief p
Other devastating Texas hurricanes include the 1915 Galveston Hurricane, Hurricane Audrey in 1957 which killed over 600 people, Hurricane Carla in 1961, Hurricane Beulah in 1967, Hurricane Alicia in 1983, Hurricane Rita in 2005, and Hurricane Ike in 2008.[34] Trop
of theBig Bend.
Greenhouse gases
[35][36][37]
Texas emits the most greenhouse
gases
in the
U.S.
The state
emits nearly
1.5 be
trillion
pounds
billion kg) Prairie-based
of carbon dioxide annually.
As an independent
nation, Texas would
rank as the world's
producer
of greenhouse gases. [36] Causes of the
The
term
"six
flags
over
Texas",
as can
seen
in (680
theGrand
large national
and international
amusement
parkseventh-largest
operatorSix
Flags,
History

came from the several nations that had ruled over the territory.Spainwas the first European country to claim the area of Texas. France held a
short-lived colonyin Texas.Mexicocontrolled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independentRepublic. In
1845 it joined the United States as the 28th state. The state'sannexationset off a chain of events that caused theMexicanAmerican Warin
1846. Aslave state, Texas declared its secession from the United States in early 1861, and officially joined theConfederate States of America
on March 2 of the same year. After the consequent Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas
entered a long period of economic stagnation.
One Texas industry that thrived after the Civil War wascattle. Due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the
image of thecowboy. The state's economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, whenoildiscoveriesinitiated aneconomic boomin
the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversifiedeconomyandhigh techindustry in the mid-20th century. As
of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the mostFortune 500companies with California at 57.[13] With a growing base of industry, the state
leads in many industries, including agriculture,petrochemicals,energy,computersandelectronics,aerospace, andbiomedical sciences. Texas
has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has thesecond-highestgross state product.
source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas

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