Texas

Introduction

Water delineates many of Texas's borders. The wriggling course of the Red River makes up the eastern two-thirds of Texas's boundary with Oklahoma to the north, while the remainder of the northern boundary is the Panhandle, which juts northward, forming a counterpart in the western part of that state. The Sabine River forms most of the boundary with Louisiana to the east, where by land it is bounded by Arkansas as well. The crescent-shaped coastline of the Gulf of Mexico lies to the southeast, and the Rio Grande carves a shallow channel that separates Texas from Mexico to the southwest. The state of New Mexico lies to the west. Austin, in the south-central part of the state, is the capital.

The vastness and diversity of Texas are evident in nearly all aspects of its physical features, economy, history, and cultural life. The territory of Texas was part of the Spanish Empire for more than a century. It was then part of the new country of Mexico from 1821 to 1836, when it gained its independence, and had a short-lived existence as a republic before joining the Union. The image of Texas was that of a raw and lawless frontier when it relinquished its independence to become a state. Although Texans still identify strongly with their cowboy heritage, the state's image of Texas changed dramatically over the course of the 20th century; present-day Texas is known for its great agricultural wealth, major oil and natural gas production, industry and finance, huge urban centres that foster a cosmopolitan cultural life, and seemingly unending stretches of high prairie and ranges devoted to cattle and cotton.

The name of the state derives from the Caddo word thecas, meaning “allies” or “friends.” (The Spanish spelled the word tejas or texas and used it to describe the area where this Native American tribe lived.) Texas is commonly divided into East and West, although the dividing line between the two is ambiguous. Generally, though, East Texas has a wet climate and is characterized by cotton and by ties to the Old South, while West Texas is dry and is known for cattle ranching and an affinity with the West.

Area 266,853 square miles (691,146 square km).

Pop. (2000) 20,851,820; (2007 est.) 23,904,380.

Land

Relief

Texas comprises a series of vast regions, from the fertile and densely populated Coastal Plains in the southeast to the high plains and mountains in the west and northwest. Stretching inland from the Gulf Coast, the Coastal Plains, encompassing about two-fifths of the state's land area, range from sea level to about 1,000 feet (300 metres) in elevation. These flat, low prairies extend inland to form a fertile crescent that is well adapted to farming and cattle raising. Near the coast much land is marshy, almost swamp, except where drained by man-made devices.

The Coastal Plains ends at the Balcones Escarpment, where tremors have occurred. Northwest of this fault, the land extends into the Texas Hill Country and into the tablelands of the Edwards Plateau to the south and the North Central Plains to the north. The entire region varies from about 750 to 2,500 feet (200 to 750 metres) above sea level, and farming and livestock raising constitute the basic economy. In Hill Country there are small industries and recreational areas.

The North Plains subdivision, centred on Amarillo, depends on grain farming, ranching, oil, and small industries. The South Plains subdivision, with Lubbock as the principal city, has large underground water reservoirs that allow large-scale irrigated cotton farming.

At the western edge of the North Central Plains lies the Caprock Escarpment, an outcropping of rock that stretches to the north and south for about 200 miles (320 km). Beyond that escarpment lies the third largest region of Texas, the High Plains country, and to the south lies the Trans-Pecos region.

From the High Plains country of West Texas emerged many of the legends of Texas weather and of the Texas cowboy. On these plains, sandstorms are common. Many wide, flat riverbeds in the region remain dry most of the year, but they can become sluiceways for flash floods. In this region lies the flat, dry area known as the Llano Estacado (“Staked Plain”). According to legend, when traveling through the region in the mid-16th century, the Spanish expedition from New Spain (Mexico) led by Francisco Vázquez de Coronado laid down stakes to serve as guides for the return trip. Even Native Americans hesitated to venture across these lands.

The state's most rugged terrain lies to the west of the Pecos River. Trailing down from the Rocky Mountains, the Guadalupe Mountains lead into Big Bend country, whose name is derived from a bend in the Rio Grande. The highest peak in Texas is Guadalupe Peak, which rises to 8,749 feet (2,667 metres) above sea level. Much of the native ruggedness of the region is preserved in Big Bend National Park.

Drainage

The most important river in Texas is the Rio Grande. It extends some 1,900 miles (3,060 km) from its source in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to the Gulf of Mexico, and its Texas segment forms the border between the United States and Mexico. Other major rivers traversing the state are the Brazos (at 1,280 miles [2,060 km], the longest river solely in Texas), as well as the Sabine, Trinity, and Red rivers, the last of which forms a large portion of the border between Texas and Oklahoma.

In 1913 there were only 8 major lakes or reservoirs in Texas; by the early 21st century there were about 200, many of which were created to store water against periodic droughts. Others, including the 85-mile- (137-km-) long Highland Lakes chain in Hill Country, are popular for recreation.

Soils

The rich fertility of the territory's soils first attracted settlers to Texas. Much of the soil was degraded through wasteful practices in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but since the 1930s efforts by federal and state governments have done much to promote soil conservation in the state.

There is immense variation in the types of Texas soil. The Piney Woods region of East Texas has a gray and tan topsoil that covers the red subsoil usually within about 2 feet (0.6 metre) of the surface. The soil along the upper and middle Texas coast is black clay or loam, with lighter-coloured sandy soil on the coastal islands, bars, and spits. The soil of the southern Texas coast and inland to the Rio Grande is sandy, like that of East Texas, but it is less eroded and leached.

The Blackland Prairie, a belt of fertile black clay to the west of the Piney Woods, extends southwesterly from the Red River to San Antonio. The soil of the Grand Prairie region, just to the west of the Blackland Prairie, is more rocky and resistant to erosion.

The Cross Timbers, a forest region with light-coloured, slightly acid sandy loam soil, stretches across the prairies of northern Texas, enclosing part of the Grand Prairie. Red sandy and dark clay soils are found in the Llano Basin, in the centre of the state. The Edwards Plateau has thin, stony soil with a limestone bedrock.

Most of the soils of the western North Central Plains are red or tan-coloured and sandy, but some black clay is found in the region. The High Plains, just to the west, has dark brown to reddish clay loams, sandy loams, and sands. In the Trans-Pecos region are found reddish brown sandy soil in the mountains and grayish brown to reddish brown clay soil in the basins.

Climate

Virtually every kind of weather condition has been known to occur in Texas. 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. The Gulf Coast area around Houston has average annual temperatures in the low 70s F (about 21 °C) and precipitation of some 45 inches (1,100 mm), whereas the Panhandle averages in the low 60s F (about 16 °C) with less than 20 inches (500 mm) of rain. The driest region is the Trans-Pecos, and the wettest is the southeast. Southern areas have freezing weather only rarely. In Brownsville, the southernmost Texas city, snow is rare, but the northwestern corner of the state averages about 23 inches (580 mm) annually. The Gulf Coast of Texas is especially prone to hurricanes. The deadliest storm to hit the area was in 1900, when more than 8,000 people were killed and the island of Galveston was inundated.

Plant and animal life

A great variety of vegetation is found in Texas because of variations in the amount of precipitation and types of soils. Native longleaf, shortleaf, and loblolly pine provide most of the commercial timber in East Texas. A belt of post oak grows just west of the Piney Woods, as do blackjack oak, elm, pecan, and walnut. Marsh and salt grasses are found along the Texas coast, with bluestem and tall grasses growing a little farther inland.

Bluestem, grama, Indian grass, switch grass, and buffalo grass grow in the prairies and plains regions of West Texas. Oak, pecan, elm, Osage orange, and mesquite are native trees found in the prairies and the Cross Timbers region. Cedar, mesquite, yucca, cactus, and some islands of cypress make up the vegetation of the Edwards Plateau.

Desert plants provide much of the vegetation of the Trans-Pecos region. Piñon pine, ponderosa pine, spruce, cedar, and oak grow in the higher mountains of the region. The region south of San Antonio was originally brush country, with mesquite, small live and post oak, prickly pear cactus, bluestem, buffalo grass, and bunchgrass. Much of this native vegetation has been replaced with agricultural crops.

Hundreds of species of birds (nearly three-fourths of all species found in the United States) have been identified in Texas. Among the more exotic are the once nearly extinct whooping cranes that winter in the protected Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, near Corpus Christi; the endangered Attwater's prairie chicken, now bred in a number of Texas zoos and protected at a national wildlife refuge near Houston; and the rare ivory-billed woodpeckers, found mainly in the Big Thicket National Preserve of East Texas.

Many of the domestic animals that are important in the economy of the state—cattle, horses, sheep, goats, and hogs—were introduced by the Spanish, but some 150 mammals are native to Texas. Some, such as the bison, black bear, mountain lion, pronghorn, and red wolf, almost disappeared in the late 19th century but have been saved from extinction through the efforts of conservationists. More than 100 species of snakes, including the poisonous copperhead, cottonmouth, rattlesnake, and Texas coral snake, are native to the state. The alligator is found in the lower reaches of all the major rivers and bayous.