Spanish missionaries were the first European settlers in Texas, founding San Antonio in 1718. Hostile natives and isolation from other Spanish colonies kept Texas sparsely populated until after the Revolutionary War and the War of Mexican Independence, when the newly established Mexican government began allowing settlers of the US to claim land there.
This led to a population boom, but drastically reduced the percentage of the population with Mexican ancestry, creating friction with the government in Mexico City. After several minor revolts, the Texas Revolution broke out and the state became an independent nation in 1836.
However, the newly formed Republic of Texas was unable to defend itself against further incursions by Mexican troops and eventually negotiated with the US to join the union in 1845.
Geography
Texas is a large and diverse state located in the south-central United States. It is bordered to the north by Oklahoma, to the east by Arkansas and Louisiana, to the south by Mexico, and to the west by New Mexico. With an area of 268,820 square miles (696,241 km2), it is the second largest state in the US after Alaska.
Texas has three distinct geographical regions: East Texas, Central Texas and West Texas. East Texas is characterized by flat terrain covered with pine forests. This region contains many of the state’s major cities such as Dallas and Houston. Central Texas is dominated by rolling hills and plains and contains a number of smaller cities including Austin, San Antonio and Waco. West Texas is made up of vast desert areas with mountains in some areas. The highest peak in the state is Guadalupe Peak at 8751 feet (2667 m).
The climate of Texas varies greatly depending on location; however most of the state experiences hot summers with occasional thunderstorms followed by mild winters with occasional snowfall. The Gulf Coast region has a subtropical climate while much of West Texas has an arid climate with low humidity levels.
The terrain of Texas ranges from sea level along its coastlines to more than 8700 ft (2650 m) above sea level in its mountain ranges. Most rivers flow from east to west across the state while some originate in Oklahoma or New Mexico before flowing into Texas. Major rivers include The Brazos River, Red River and Pecos River among many others.
Texas also has several large lakes including Lake Texoma on its border with Oklahoma, Lake Livingston near Houston, Lake Amistad on its border with Mexico and Caddo Lake near Shreveport Louisiana as well as numerous smaller bodies of water throughout its interior regions.
The state also contains several national parks including Big Bend National Park located along its western border which offers stunning views of rugged canyons carved out over millions of years by rivers flowing through them as well as Padre Island National Seashore which protects 70 miles (112 km) worth of beaches along its southeastern coastline near Corpus Christi Bay.
Cities in Texas
Below are the top 15 cities by population in Texas. For all cities and towns in the state, please see Texas cities list.
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston | 2,293,288 |
| 2 | San Antonio | 1,434,540 |
| 3 | Dallas | 1,300,239 |
| 4 | Austin | 944,658 |
| 5 | Fort Worth | 908,469 |
| 6 | El Paso | 676,395 |
| 7 | Arlington | 392,304 |
| 8 | Corpus Christi | 318,168 |
| 9 | Plano | 282,181 |
| 10 | Lubbock | 255,537 |
| 11 | Laredo | 254,697 |
| 12 | Irving | 254,184 |
| 13 | Garland | 245,075 |
| 14 | Amarillo | 200,371 |
| 15 | Grand Prairie | 195,992 |
Counties in Texas
The State of Texas consists of 254 counties. They are:
- Anderson County, Texas
- Andrews County, Texas
- Angelina County, Texas
- Aransas County, Texas
- Archer County, Texas
- Armstrong County, Texas
- Atascosa County, Texas
- Austin County, Texas
- Bailey County, Texas
- Bandera County, Texas
- Bastrop County, Texas
- Baylor County, Texas
- Bee County, Texas
- Bell County, Texas
- Bexar County, Texas
- Blanco County, Texas
- Borden County, Texas
- Bosque County, Texas
- Bowie County, Texas
- Brazoria County, Texas
- Brazos County, Texas
- Brewster County, Texas
- Briscoe County, Texas
- Brooks County, Texas
- Brown County, Texas
- Burleson County, Texas
- Burnet County, Texas
- Caldwell County, Texas
- Calhoun County, Texas
- Callahan County, Texas
- Cameron County, Texas
- Camp County, Texas
- Carson County, Texas
- Cass County, Texas
- Castro County, Texas
- Chambers County, Texas
- Cherokee County, Texas
- Childress County, Texas
- Clay County, Texas
- Cochran County, Texas
- Coke County, Texas
- Coleman County, Texas
- Collin County, Texas
- Collingsworth County, Texas
- Colorado County, Texas
- Comal County, Texas
- Comanche County, Texas
- Concho County, Texas
- Cooke County, Texas
- Coryell County, Texas
- Cottle County, Texas
- Crane County, Texas
- Crockett County, Texas
- Crosby County, Texas
- Culberson County, Texas
- Dallam County, Texas
- Dallas County, Texas
- Dawson County, Texas
- Deaf Smith County, Texas
- Delta County, Texas
- Denton County, Texas
- DeWitt County, Texas
- Dickens County, Texas
- Dimmit County, Texas
- Donley County, Texas
- Duval County, Texas
- Eastland County, Texas
- Ector County, Texas
- Edwards County, Texas
- Ellis County, Texas
- El Paso County, Texas
- Erath County, Texas
- Falls County, Texas
- Fannin County, Texas
- Fayette County, Texas
- Fisher County, Texas
- Floyd County, Texas
- Foard County, Texas
- Fort Bend County, Texas
- Franklin County, Texas
- Freestone County, Texas
- Frio County, Texas
- Gaines County, Texas
- Galveston County, Texas
- Garza County, Texas
- Gillespie County, Texas
- Glasscock County, Texas
- Goliad County, Texas
- Gonzales County, Texas
- Gray County, Texas
- Grayson County, Texas
- Gregg County, Texas
- Grimes County, Texas
- Guadalupe County, Texas
- Hale County, Texas
- Hall County, Texas
- Hamilton County, Texas
- Hansford County, Texas
- Hardeman County, Texas
- Hardin County, Texas
- Harris County, Texas
- Harrison County, Texas
- Hartley County, Texas
- Haskell County, Texas
- Hays County, Texas
- Hemphill County, Texas
- Henderson County, Texas
- Hidalgo County, Texas
- Hill County, Texas
- Hockley County, Texas
- Hood County, Texas
- Hopkins County, Texas
- Houston County, Texas
- Howard County, Texas
- Hudspeth County, Texas
- Hunt County, Texas
- Hutchinson County, Texas
- Irion County, Texas
- Jack County, Texas
- Jackson County, Texas
- Jasper County, Texas
- Jeff Davis County, Texas
- Jefferson County, Texas
- Jim Hogg County, Texas
- Jim Wells County, Texas
- Johnson County, Texas
- Jones County, Texas
- Karnes County, Texas
- Kaufman County, Texas
- Kendall County, Texas
- Kenedy County, Texas
- Kent County, Texas
- Kerr County, Texas
- Kimble County, Texas
- King County, Texas
- Kinney County, Texas
- Kleberg County, Texas
- Knox County, Texas
- Lamar County, Texas
- Lamb County, Texas
- Lampasas County, Texas
- LaSalle County, Texas
- Lavaca County, Texas
- Lee County, Texas
- Leon County, Texas
- Liberty County, Texas
- Limestone County, Texas
- Lipscomb County, Texas
- Live Oak County, Texas
- Llano County, Texas
- Loving County, Texas
- Lubbock County, Texas
- Lynn County, Texas
- Madison County, Texas
- Marion County, Texas
- Martin County, Texas
- Mason County, Texas
- Matagorda County, Texas
- Maverick County, Texas
- McCulloch County, Texas
- McLennan County, Texas
- McMullen County, Texas
- Medina County, Texas
- Menard County, Texas
- Midland County, Texas
- Milam County, Texas
- Mills County, Texas
- Mitchell County, Texas
- Montague County, Texas
- Montgomery County, Texas
- Moore County, Texas
- Morris County, Texas
- Motley County, Texas
- Nacogdoches County, Texas
- Navarro County, Texas
- Newton County, Texas
- Nolan County, Texas
- Nueces County, Texas
- Ochiltree County, Texas
- Oldham County, Texas
- Orange County, Texas
- Palo Pinto County, Texas
- Panola County, Texas
- Parker County, Texas
- Parmer County, Texas
- Pecos County, Texas
- Polk County, Texas
- Potter County, Texas
- Presidio County, Texas
- Rains County, Texas
- Randall County, Texas
- Reagan County, Texas
- Real County, Texas
- Red River County, Texas
- Reeves County, Texas
- Refugio County, Texas
- Roberts County, Texas
- Robertson County, Texas
- Rockwall County, Texas
- Runnels County, Texas
- Rusk County, Texas
- Sabine County, Texas
- San Augustine County, Texas
- San Jacinto County, Texas
- San Patricio County, Texas
- San Saba County, Texas
- Schleicher County, Texas
- Scurry County, Texas
- Shackelford County, Texas
- Shelby County, Texas
- Sherman County, Texas
- Smith County, Texas
- Somervell County, Texas
- Starr County, Texas
- Stephens County, Texas
- Sterling County, Texas
- Stonewall County, Texas
- Sutton County, Texas
- Swisher County, Texas
- Tarrant County, Texas
- Taylor County, Texas
- Terrell County, Texas
- Terry County, Texas
- Throckmorton County, Texas
- Titus County, Texas
- Tom Green County, Texas
- Travis County, Texas
- Trinity County, Texas
- Tyler County, Texas
- Upshur County, Texas
- Upton County, Texas
- Uvalde County, Texas
- Val Verde County, Texas
- Van Zandt County, Texas
- Victoria County, Texas
- Walker County, Texas
- Waller County, Texas
- Ward County, Texas
- Washington County, Texas
- Webb County, Texas
- Wharton County, Texas
- Wheeler County, Texas
- Wichita County, Texas
- Wilbarger County, Texas
- Willacy County, Texas
- Williamson County, Texas
- Wilson County, Texas
- Winkler County, Texas
- Wise County, Texas
- Wood County, Texas
- Yoakum County, Texas
- Young County, Texas
- Zapata County, Texas
- Zavala County, Texas
