The geography of Texas form a wide and far reaching scope. Occupying about 7% of the total water and land area of the U.S.,^[1] it is the second largest state after Alaska Alaska was purchased from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867, for $7.2 million at about two cents per acre . The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912, and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959, and is the southernmost part of the Great Plains The Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie, steppe and grassland which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming, and the Canadian, which end in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico, spanning 1000 km from Coahuila south through Nuevo León, southwest Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, and Hidalgo to northern Puebla, where it joins with the east-west running Eje Volcánico Transversal of central Mexico of Mexico In Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica many cultures matured into advanced civilizations such as the Olmec, the Toltec, the Teotihuacan, the Zapotec, the Maya and the Aztec before the first contact with Europeans. In 1521, Spain conquered and colonized the territory, which was administered as the viceroyalty of New Spain which would eventually become Mexico. Texas is in the south-central part of the United States of America, and is considered to form part of the U.S. South The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, Down South, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive region in the southeastern and south-central United States. Because of the region's unique cultural and historic heritage, including Native Americans, early European settlements of English, Ulster Scots, and also part of the U.S. Southwest The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. Narrowly defined, the "core" Southwest might include only Arizona and New Mexico, with parts of.

By residents, the state is generally divided into North Texas North Texas is a distinct cultural and geographic area forming the central-northeastern section of the U.S. state of Texas. North Texas is generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, and north of Waco. North Texas, being more precisely the northern part of the eastern portion of Texas, does not include the, East Texas According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone County and then southeastward to Galveston Bay", though some separate the Gulf Coast area into a separate region, Central Texas, South Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of, or beginning at, San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region is often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley. The, West Texas West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas (and sometimes the Panhandle The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. The southern border of Swisher County is considered to be the southern boundary of the region, though some consider the region), but according to the Texas Almanac, Texas has four major physical regions: Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and Basin and Range Province. This has been cited as the difference between human geography Human geography is an interdisciplinary field combining approaches from academic geography with the traditional subject matter of social science, thus emphasizing population issues such as tourism, urbanisation, and so on and physical geography Physical geography is one of the two major subfields of geography. Physical geography is that branch of natural science which deals with the study of processes and patterns in the natural environment like atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the domain of human geography, although the fact that Texas was granted (and retains to this day) the prerogative to divide into as many as five U.S. states Texas divisionism is a mainly historical movement that advocates the division of the U.S. state of Texas into as many as five states, a prerogative guaranteed to Texas as a condition of the former Republic of Texas joining the Union in 1845 may be a historical motive for Texans defining their state as containing exactly five regions.^[2]

Some regions in Texas are more associated with the South than the Southwest (primarily East Texas According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone County and then southeastward to Galveston Bay", though some separate the Gulf Coast area into a separate region, Central Texas, and North Texas North Texas is a distinct cultural and geographic area forming the central-northeastern section of the U.S. state of Texas. North Texas is generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, and north of Waco. North Texas, being more precisely the northern part of the eastern portion of Texas, does not include the), while other regions share more similarities with the Southwest (primarily far West Texas West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas and South Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of, or beginning at, San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region is often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley. The). The upper Panhandle A panhandle is an informal geographic term for an elongated arm-like protrusion of a geo-political entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state. The term "panhandle" derives from the analogous part of a cooking pan, and its use is generally confined to the United States. A term used elsewhere is salient, derived from is considered by many to have more in common with parts of the plains Midwest The Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America used by the United States Census Bureau in its reporting than either the South or Southwest. The size of Texas prohibits easy categorization of the entire state wholly in any recognized region of the United States; geographic, economic, and even cultural diversity between regions of the state preclude treating Texas as a region in its own right.

Climate

Continental Continental climate is a climate that is characterized by winter temperatures cold enough to support a fixed period of snow each year, and relatively moderate precipitation occurring mostly in summer, although east coast areas may show an even distribution of precipitation. Regions containing a continental climate exist in portions of the Northern, Mountain Mountain Climate is a crude geographical term used for the kind of climate in the mountains and generally in the high country. It is often contrasted to the climate of the cloudy, lowland area surrounding or near the same mountains, and Modified Marine are the three major climatic types Climates encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time. Climate can be contrasted to weather, which is the present condition of these same elements and their variations over periods up to two weeks of Texas, with no distinguishable boundaries. Modified Marine, or subtropical, dominates the majority of the state.^[3] Texas has an annual precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that is pulled down by gravity and deposited on the Earth's surface. The main forms of precipitation include rain, snow, ice pellets, and graupel. It occurs when the atmosphere, a large gaseous solution, becomes saturated with water vapour and the water range from 60.57 inches (1,538 mm) in Jasper County Jasper County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 35,604. Its county seat is Jasper. Jasper County is named for William Jasper, an American Revolutionary War hero, East Texas, to 9.43 inches (240 mm) in El Paso El Paso stands on the Rio Grande , across the border from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The image to the right shows Downtown El Paso and Juárez, with the Juárez Mountains in the background. The two cities form a combined international metropolitan area, sometimes called Juarez-El Paso, with Juárez being the significantly larger of the two. The record high of 120 °F Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Today, the temperature scale has been replaced by the Celsius scale in most countries. It is still in use in few nations, such as United States and Belize (49 °C Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744), who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death. The degree Celsius (°C) can refer to a specific temperature on the Celsius scale as well as a unit to indicate a temperature interval (a difference between two temperatures) was reached at Seymour Seymour is a city in and the county seat of Baylor County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,908 as of the 2000 Census on August 12, 1936, and Monahans Monahans is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, Texas, United States. A very small portion of the city extends into Winkler County. The population was 6,821 at the 2000 census on June 28, 1994. The low also ties at −23 °F Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Today, the temperature scale has been replaced by the Celsius scale in most countries. It is still in use in few nations, such as United States and Belize (−30.6 °C Celsius is a temperature scale that is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius (1701–1744), who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death. The degree Celsius (°C) can refer to a specific temperature on the Celsius scale as well as a unit to indicate a temperature interval (a difference between two temperatures) in Tulia Tulia is a city in, and county seat of, Swisher County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,117 at the 2000 census; in the 2005 census estimate, it had fallen to 4,714. The city is at the junction of U.S. Route 87 and Texas State Highway 86, approximately two miles east Interstate 27 on February 12, 1899, and Seminole Seminole is a city in and the county seat of Gaines County in west Texas, United States. The population was 5,910 at the 2000 census. It is the birthplace of Country music singers Larry Gatlin and Tanya Tucker. Radio talk-show personality Randi Rhodes got her start in Seminole on February 8, 1933.^[4]

Physical geography

Texas covers a total area of 268,581 mi². The longest straight line distance is from the northwest corner of the panhandle to the Rio Grande just below Brownsville Brownsville is a city in and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, United States. Brownsville is the 15th largest city in the state of Texas and the 129th largest in the United States. The population was 139,722 at the 2000 census. Brownsville is also the southernmost city in Texas, 801 mi.^[1] The largest continental state is so expansive that El Paso El Paso stands on the Rio Grande , across the border from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico. The image to the right shows Downtown El Paso and Juárez, with the Juárez Mountains in the background. The two cities form a combined international metropolitan area, sometimes called Juarez-El Paso, with Juárez being the significantly larger of the two, in the western corner of the state, is closer to San Diego, California San Diego , named after Saint Didacus (Spanish: Diego de Alcalá), is the ninth largest city in the United States, second-largest city in California and 46th largest city in the Americas. Located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States, San Diego has a population of 1,279,329 (July 2008 estimate). This coastal city is also than to Beaumont Beaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 113,866 at the 2000 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the Gulf Coast, near the Louisiana state line; Beaumont, in turn, is closer to Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Duval County. The governments of the City of Jacksonville and Duval County consolidated in 1968, giving Jacksonville a particularly large land area and placing most of its metropolitan area within the city limits. As a result it is the most populous city proper in than it is to El Paso. Texarkana Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue. The population of the city is 34,782 at the 2000 census, in the northeastern corner of the state, is about the same distance from Chicago, Illinois Chicago ( /ʃɨˈkɑːɡoʊ/ or /ʃɨˈkɔːɡoʊ/) is the largest city in both Illinois and the Midwest, and the third most populous city in the United States, with over 2.8 million people living within the city limits. Its metropolitan area, commonly named "Chicagoland", is the 26th most populous in the world, home to an estimated 9.7 as it is to El Paso, and Dalhart Dalhart is a city in Dallam and Hartley counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and the county seat of Dallam County. The population was 7,237 at the 2000 census. Founded in 1901, Dalhart is named for its location on the border of Dallam and Hartley counties. Dalhart sits at the intersection of U.S. Highway 87, 385, and 54, in the northwestern corner of the state, is closer to the state capitals of Kansas Historically, the area was home to large numbers of nomadic Native Americans who hunted bison. It was first settled by European Americans in the 1830s, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery issue. When officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854, abolitionist Free-, Colorado Colorado is nicknamed the "Centennial State" because it was admitted to the Union as the 38th state in 1876, the centennial year of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is bordered on the north by Wyoming and Nebraska, on the east by Nebraska and Kansas, on the south by Oklahoma and New Mexico, and on the west by Utah, New Mexico Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S. states, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics, at 44 percent , including descendants of Spanish colonists and recent immigrants from Latin America. It, Oklahoma A major producer of natural gas, oil and agriculture, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. It has one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, ranking among the top states in per capita income growth and gross domestic product growth. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's and Wyoming As specified in the designating legislation for the Territory of Wyoming, Wyoming's borders are lines of latitude, 41°N and 45°N, and longitude, 104°3'W and 111°3'W , making the shape of the state a latitude-longitude quadrangle. Wyoming is one of only three states (along with Colorado and Utah) to have borders along only straight latitudinal than it is to Austin Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation from 2000 to 2006. According to the 2008 U.S. Census, its own state capital.^[5]

The geographic center of Texas is about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Brady in northern McCulloch County. Guadalupe Peak, at 8,749 feet (2,667 m) above sea level is the highest point in Texas. The lowest being sea level where Texas meets the Gulf of Mexico.^[6] Texas has five state forests and 120 state parks for a total over 605,000 acres (2,450 km²).^[7] There are 3,700 named streams and 15 major river systems flowing through 191,000 miles (307,000 km) of Texas. Eventually emptying into seven major estuaries, these rivers support over 212 reservoirs.^[8]

With 10 climatic regions, 14 soil regions, and 11 distinct ecological regions, regional classification becomes problematic with differences in soils, topography, geology, rainfall, and plant and animal communities.^[9]

Gulf Coastal Plains

The Gulf Coastal Plains stretches from the Gulf of Mexico inland to the Balcones Fault and the Eastern Cross Timbers. This large area, including the Texas barrier islands, stretches from the cities of Paris to San Antonio to Del Rio but shows a large variety in vegetation. With about 20 to over 58 inches (508-1,480 mm) annual rainfall, this is a nearly level, drained plain dissected by streams and rivers flowing into estuaries and marshes. Windblown sands and dunes, grasslands, oak mottes and salt marshes make up the seaward areas.^[10] National Parks include Big Thicket National Preserve, Padre Island National Seashore and the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site.^[11]

Interior Lowlands

The Interior Lowlands are bounded by the Caprock Escarpment to the west, the Edwards Plateau to the south, and the Eastern Cross Timbers to the east. This area includes the North Central Plains around the cities of Abilene and Wichita Falls, the Western Cross Timbers to the west of Fort Worth, the Grand Prairie, and the Eastern Cross Timbers to the east of Dallas. With about 35 to 50 inches (890 to 1,300 mm) annual rainfall, gently rolling to hilly forested land is part of a larger pine-hardwood forest of oaks, hickories, elm and gum trees.^[10] Soils vary from coarse sands to tight clays or red-bed clays and shales.^[12] The only National Park in this region is Lake Meredith National Recreation Area.^[11]

Great Plains

The Great Plains include the Llano Estacado, the Panhandle, Edwards Plateau, Toyah Basin, and the Llano Uplift. It is bordered on the east by the Caprock Escarpment in the panhandle and by the Balcones Fault to the southeast. Cities in this region include Austin, San Angelo, Midland and Odessa, Lubbock, and Amarillo. The Hill Country is a popular name for the area of hills along the Balcones Escarpment and is a transitional area between the Great Plains and the Gulf Coastal Plains. With about 15 to 31 inches (380 to 790 mm) annual rainfall, the southern end of the Great Plains are gently rolling plains of shrub and grassland, and home to the dramatic Caprock Canyons and Palo Duro Canyon state parks.^[10] The largest concentration of playa lakes in the world (nearly 22,000) is on the Southern High Plains of Texas and Eastern New Mexico.

Texas's blackland prairies were some of the first areas farmed in Texas. Highly expansive clays with characteristic dark coloration, called the Houston Black series, occur on about 1.5 million acres (6,000 km²) extending from north of Dallas south to San Antonio. The Professional Soil Scientists Association of Texas has recommended to the State Legislature that the Houston Black series be designated the State soil. The series was established in 1902.^[13] National Parks in this area are the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park and the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.^[11]

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