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Texas (IPA: /ˈtɛksəs/) is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. Austin is the state capital. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, with an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km²) and a growing population of 23.9 million. Houston is the state's largest city. The Dallas/Fort Worth area is the largest metropolitan statistical area in Texas and the fourth-largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States.

Traveling east to west, the landscape of Texas gradually evolves from that of the Deep South into that of the desert Southwest, going from piney woods to semi-forests of oak and cross timbers, into rolling plains and prairie, then finally to desert in the Big Bend. These wide open spaces of the Texas prairie have lent currency to the phrase that "everything is bigger in Texas".^[7] Due to its long history as a center of the American cattle industry, Texas is associated throughout much of the world with the image of the cowboy.

Historically and culturally, Texas has close ties to the American South. However, having once been both a Spanish and Mexican possession, it can also be classified as a Southwestern state. While residents acknowledge these categories, many claim an independent "Texan" identity superseding regional labels.

Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas. It was then part of Mexico until 1836 when it became the independent Republic of Texas. In 1845 it joined the United States as the 28th state. The state's annexation was one of a chain of events that led to the Mexican-American War in 1846 and the U.S. Civil War.

In the early 1900s, oil discoveries led to an economic boom in the state. Texas has since economically diversified. It has a growing base in high technology, biomedical research and higher education. The state's gross state product is the second-highest in the nation.

Etymology

Texas state welcome sign

The state's name derives from táyshay, a word in the Caddoan language of the Hasinai, which means "friends" or "allies".^[2]^[8]^[9]

The word "Texas" has been incorporated into American English vernacular in many ways. Due to the state's large geographic size, the term "Texas-sized" is a metaphor for "big".^[10]^[11] The state's name is used in brands such as Texas Roadhouse and Texas Instruments. The abbreviated form of "Texas", "Tex", is used as a nickname for someone born and/or raised in the state, such as country music singer Tex Ritter. "Tex" is also a prefix for Texas-related words, including Tex-Mex or the restaurant chain Texadelphia.

History

Main article: History of Texas

The display of the "Six Flags" in Austin, Texas includes the flags of (left to right) Crown of Castile (Spain), the Fleur-de-lis of France, Mexico, the Confederate States of America, the Republic of Texas, and the United States of America.^[12]

Colonization


History of Texas
French Texas Spanish Texas Mexican Texas Republic of Texas Texas in the Civil War State of Texas

Main articles: Spanish Texas and Mexican Texas

Alonso Álvarez de Pineda made the first documented European sighting of Texas in 1519.^[13]^[14] On November 6, 1528, shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca became the first known European in Texas.^[15]^[16] In 1685 La Salle established the first European community in Texas, the French colony of Fort Saint Louis.^[17] The colony, located along Matagorda Bay, lasted only four years before succumbing to harsh conditions and hostile natives.^[18]

Due to the perceived French encroachment, Spain established its first presence in Texas in 1691 constructing of missions in East Texas.^[19] The missions failed quickly, and Spain did not resettle Texas until two decades had passed.^[20] Spain returned to East Texas in 1716, establishing missions and a presidio to maintain a buffer between New Spain and the territory of Louisiana.^[21]^[22] Two years later, the first European civilian settlement in Texas, San Antonio, was established.^[23]

Hostile native tribes and remoteness from New Spain discouraged settlers from moving to Texas and it remained one of New Spain's least populated provinces.^[24] San Antonio was a target for raids by the Lipan Apache.^[25] In 1749, the Spanish signed a peace treaty with the Apache,^[26] which resulted in raids by the enemies of the Apache, the Comanche, Tonkawa, and Hasinai tribes.^[27] The Comanche signed a treaty with Spain in 1785^[28] and later assisted in defeating the Lipan Apache and Karankawa tribes.^[29]^[30] An increased number of missions in the province allowed for a peaceful conversion of other tribes, and by the end of the 1700s only a few nomadic tribes had not been "Christianized".^[31]

The Louisiana Purchase by the United States led to a border dispute over Texas.^[32]^[33] The dispute was resolved in 1819, with the signing of the Adams-Onís Treaty recognizing the Sabine River as Texas's eastern boundary.^[34]

Stephen F. Austin

In 1821, after the Mexican War of Independence, the territory became a part of the new country.^[35] Texas became the northern section of Coahuila y Tejas in 1824. Mexico ended the Spanish policy of allowing only full-blooded Spaniards to settle Texas. On January 3, 1823, after obtaining authorization by Governor Antonio María Martínez, Stephen F. Austin began a colony of 297 Anglo-American families known as the "Old Three Hundred" along the Brazos River.^[36] By 1830, the 30,000 Anglo settlers in Texas outnumbered Tejanos six to one.^[37]

Republic

Main articles: Texas Revolution, Republic of Texas, and Texas Annexation

The Convention of 1832 and the Convention of 1833 were responses to rising unrest at policies of the Mexican government. Delegates feared the end of duty-free imports from the United States and the threat of ending slavery.^[38] In 1835, Antonio López de Santa Anna, President of Mexico, created a unified constitution for Mexico which created a centralized government with power concentrated in the President, and turned states into provinces with governors appointed from Mexico City.^[38] States around Mexico rebelled against this imposition, including Chihuahua, Zacatecas and Yucatan. Of note was the Centralista forces' brutal suppression of dissidents in Zacatecas.^[39] Texans also resented policies such as the forcible disarmament of settlers, and the expulsion of immigrants and legal landowners originally from the United States.

Republic of Texas. The present-day outlines of the U.S. states are superimposed on the boundaries of 1836–1845

On March 2, 1836, the Convention of 1836 signed a Declaration of Independence.^[40]^[41] On April 21, 1836, the Texans—led by General Sam Houston—won their independence at the Battle of San Jacinto. Santa Anna's capture led to the Treaties of Velasco. Mexico repudiated the treaties and vowed to reconquer Texas. Later in 1836, the Texans adopted a constitution that formally legalized slavery. The Republic of Texas included the area of the present state of Texas, and additional unoccupied territory to the west and northwest.^[39]

Most Texans wanted their Republic to be annexed into the United States. Events such as the Dawson Massacre and two recaptures of Béxar in Texas of 1842 added momentum to the desire for statehood.^[42] However, strong abolitionist opposition to adding a slave state blocked Texas's admission until pro-annexation James K. Polk won the election of 1844. On December 29, 1845, Texas was admitted to the U.S. as a constituent state of the Union.^[43] The Mexican–American War followed, with decisive victories by the U.S.^[44] Texas's boundaries were set at their present form after the Compromise of 1850. Land which later became half of present day New Mexico, a third of Colorado, and small portions of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, was ceded for the federal government's assumption of $10 million of the old republic's debt.^[45] Post-war Texas grew rapidly as migrants poured into the cotton lands of the state.^[46]

Civil war monument in Galveston, Texas

Civil War and Reconstruction

Main article: Texas in the American Civil War

The state was accepted as a charter member of the Confederate States of America on March 1, 1861.^[47]^[2] During the American Civil War, Texas was a "supply state" for the Confederate forces due to its distance from the front lines, contributing men, especially cavalry. Texan regiments fought in every major battle throughout the war.^[48] In mid-1863 the Union capture of the Mississippi River cut Texas supply lines to the eastern parts of the Confederacy. The last battle of the Civil War was fought in Texas at Palmito Ranch on May 13, 1865.^[49]

Texas descended into anarchy two months between the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia and the assumption of authority by Union General Gordon Granger. Violence also marked the early months of Reconstruction.^[50] Juneteenth commemorates the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865 in Galveston by General Gordon Granger, over 2-1/2 years after the original announcement.^[51]^[52] President Johnson, on August 20, 1866, declared that civilian government had been restored to Texas.^[53] Despite not meeting reconstruction requirements, on March 30, 1870 the Congress readmitted Texas into the Union.^[54] Social volatility continued as the state struggled with agricultural depression and labor issues.

Modern era

Spindletop

The first major oil well in Texas was Spindletop, south of Beaumont, on January 10, 1901. Other fields were later discovered nearby in East Texas, West Texas, and under the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting “Oil Boom” permanently transformed the economy of Texas.^[55] Oil production eventually averaged three million barrels of oil per day at its peak in 1972.^[56]

The economy, significantly improved since the civil war, was dealt a double blow by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. Migrants abandoned the worst hit sections of Texas during the Dust Bowl years. Especially from this period on, blacks left Texas in the Great Migration to get work in the Northern United States or California and to escape the oppression of segregation.^[57] With increased immigration from other sources, although the numbers of African Americans increased, their proportion of population decreased from 20.4 percent in 1900 to 12.4 percent in 1960.^[57]

From 1950 through the 1960s, Texas modernized and expanded its system of higher education. Under the leadership of Governor John B. Connally, the state created a long-range plan for higher education, a different distribution of resources, and a central state apparatus designed to manage state institutions more efficiently. These changes helped Texas universities receive federal research funds during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.^[58]

Geography

Main articles: Geography of Texas and List of geographical regions in Texas

El Capitán

Texas is located at the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which ends in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico. It is in the south-central part of the United States of America. The state has been categorized as part of the U.S. South and also part of the U.S. Southwest.

The Rio Grande, Red River and Sabine River are natural state borders, Oklahoma on the north, Louisiana and Arkansas on the east, & the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south. In the west and north, its borders with New Mexico and Oklahoma are not based on natural features of terrain. The state's Texas Panhandle has an eastern border with Oklahoma at 100° W, a northern border with Oklahoma at 36°30' N and a western border with New Mexico at 103° W. The state's western tip is in El Paso at the 32nd parallel north and the Rio Grande.^[45]

Because of its size and unique history, the regional affiliation of Texas is debatable. Depending on the source, it can be fairly considered either or both a Southern or Southwestern state. The vast geographic, economic, and cultural diversity within the state itself prohibits easy categorization of the whole state into a recognized region of the United States. The East, Central, and North Texas, regions have a stronger association with the American South than with the Southwest. Others, such as far West Texas and South Texas share more similarities with the latter. The upper Texas Panhandle is similar to the Midwestern United States and the South Plains parts of West Texas, is a blend of South and Southwest.^{citation needed}

Texas can be divided into five human geographical regions: North, East, Central, South, and West. Texas Almanac divides Texas into four physical geographical regions: Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and The Basin and Range Province.^{citation needed}

Geology

Main article: Geology of Texas

Shaded Relief Map of the Llano Estacado

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 here is a stable Mesoproterozoic craton which changes across a broad continental margin and transitional crust into true oceanic crust of the Gulf of Mexico. The oldest rocks in Texas date from the Mesoproterozoic and are about 1,600 million years old. These Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks underlie most of the state, and are exposed in three places: Llano uplift, Van Horn, and the Franklin Mountains, near El Paso. This is overlain by mostly sedimentary rocks. The oldest sediments were deposited on the flanks of a rifted continental margin, or passive margin that developed during Cambrian time. This margin existed until Laurasia and Gondwana collided in the Pennsylvanian era to form Pangea. This is the buried crest of the Appalachian Mountains—Ouachita Mountains zone of Pennsylvanian continental collision. This orogenic crest is today buried beneath the Dallas—Waco—Austin—San Antonio trend. During this time E. Texas was a region of high mountains and shallow seas covered W. Texas.^{citation needed}

The late Paleozoic mountains collapsed as rifting in the Jurassic era began to open the Gulf of Mexico. Pangea began to break up in the Triassic but seafloor spreading to form the Gulf of Mexico occurred only in the mid and late Jurassic. The shoreline shifted again to the eastern margin of the state and the Gulf of Mexico passive margin began to form. Today there are 9 miles (14 km) to 12 miles (19 km) of sediments buried beneath the Texas continental shelf and a large proportion of remaining US oil reserves are to be found here. At the start of its formation, the incipient Gulf of Mexico basin was restricted and seawater often evaporated completely to form thick evaporite deposits of Jurassic age. These salt deposits formed what are known as salt dome diapirs, and can be found in East Texas, along the Gulf coast.^[59]

East Texas outcrops consist of Cretaceous and Paleogene sediments with contain important deposits of Eocene lignite. Oil is found in the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian sediments in the north, Permian sediments in the west, Cretaceous sediments in the east, and along the Gulf coast and out on the Texas continental shelf. Oligocene volcanic rocks are found in far west Texas, in the Big Bend area. A blanket of Miocene sediments known as the Ogallala formation in the western high plains region is an important aquifer.^[60] Texas has no volcanoes and few earthquakes, being situated far from an active plate tectonic boundary.^[61]

Climate

Main article: Climate of Texas

2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm in South Texas

The large size of Texas and its location at the intersection of multiple climate zones gives the state very variable weather. Climatologists divide Texas into three main zones: the humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) of the eastern half of Texas, the temperate semi-arid (Köppen BSk) steppe climate of the northwestern part, including the Panhandle, and the subtropical steppe climate (nearly an arid desert climate, Köppen BSh) of the southern parts of West Texas, particularly around El Paso.^{citation needed}

The Panhandle of the state is colder in winter than North Texas, while the Gulf Coast has mild winters. Texas has wide variations in precipitation patterns. El Paso, on the western end of the state, averages as little as 8 inches (200 mm) of annual rainfall while Houston, on the southeast Texas averages as much as 54 inches (1,400 mm) per year.^[62] Dallas in the North Central region averages a more moderate 37 inches (940 mm) per year. Snowfall often falls in the winter months in the north. Maximum temperatures in the summer months average from the 80s °F (26 °C) in the mountains of West Texas and on Galveston Island to around 100 °F (38 °C) in the Rio Grande Valley. Night time summer temperatures range from the upper 50s °F (14 °C) in the West Texas mountains^[63] to 80 °F (27 °C) in Galveston.^[64]

Thunderstorms are very common in Texas, especially the eastern and northern portion of the state. Texas is part of the Tornado Alley section of the country. The state experiences the most tornadoes in the Union, an average of 139 a year. These strike most frequently in North Texas and the Panhandle.^[65] Tornadoes in Texas generally occur in the months of April, May, and June.^[66]

Texas emits the most greenhouse gases in the US.^[67]^[68] The state's annual carbon dioxide emissions are nearly 1.5 trillion pounds (680 billion kg). Texas would be the world's seventh-largest producer of greenhouse gases if it were an independent nation.^[68]^[69]^[70] The primary factors in Texas's greenhouse gas emissions is the state's large number of coal power plants and the state's refining and manufacturing industries which provides the bulk of the United States's petroleum products.^[68]

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Texas

The annual Houston International Festival spotlights a different culture each year

Texas Population Density Map

As of 2006, the state has an estimated population of 23,507,783, an increase of 2.5% from the prior year and 12.7% since the year 2000. The natural increase since the last census was 1,389,275 people, immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 801,576 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 451,910 people.^[2] As of 2004, the state had 3.5 million foreign-born residents (15.6 percent of the state population), of which an estimated 1.2 million are illegal immigrants. More than one-third of the foreign-born population in Texas and 5.4 percent of the total state population comes from unauthorized immigration.^{citation needed} Texas from 2000–2006 had the fastest growing illegal immigration rate in the nation.^[71] Texas also is one of the receiving states of black college graduates in the New Great Migration - the return of African Americans to the South.

Racial group and ethnic origins

As of the 2006 US Census estimates, the racial distribution in Texas are as follows:

69.8% White non-Hispanic
- 21.0% White Hispanic
- German (10.9%)
- English (7.2%)
- Scots-Irish (7.2%)
11.6% African American
3.3% Asian American
0.6% American Indian
13% other racial groups

35.7 total Hispanic or Latino.^[5]
- Mexican (25.3%)^{citation needed}

Much of the population of east, central, and north Texas have a white Protestant heritage, primarily descended from ancestors from Great Britain and Ireland.^{citation needed} Much of central and southeast-central Texas is inhabited by German descendants. African Americans, who historically made up one-third of the state population during the 19th century, are concentrated in the parts of East Texas where the cotton plantation culture was most prominent before the American Civil War, as well as in Dallas and Houston.^{citation needed} Because of a strong labor market, from 1995–2000, Texas is one of three states in the South that are receiving the high numbers of black college graduates in a New Great Migration.^[72] Recently, the Asian population in Texas has grown—primarily in Houston and Dallas.

After the European revolutions of 1848, German, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Czech and French immigration grew, and continued until World War I.^{citation needed} The influence of the diverse immigrants from Europe survives in the names of towns, styles of architecture, genres of music, and varieties of cuisine. German settlements formed in frontier Texas, particularly in Fredericksburg and New Braunfels.^{citation needed} Lavaca County is predominantly Czech.^{citation needed}

Over one-third of Texas residents are of Hispanic origin;^[5] many are recently arrived, while some Tejanos have ancestors with multigenerational ties to the 18th century in Texas. Hispanics dominate south, south-central, and west Texas, and are a significant proportion of residents in the San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas metropolitan areas. Immigrants, primarily from far southern Mexico and Central America, contribute heavily to the state's growth.^{citation needed} The influx of immigration is partially responsible for the state's having a relatively young population compared to the rest of the United States.^{citation needed}

American Indian tribes who once lived inside the boundaries of present-day Texas include Apache, Atakapan, Bidai, Caddo, Comanche, Cherokee, Kiowa, Tonkawa, Wichita, Hueco and the Karankawa of Galveston. Currently, there are three federally recognized Native American tribes that reside in Texas: the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe, and the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo.^[73]

Religion

Lakewood Church interior

Texas is a part of the socially conservative Evangelical Protestant, Bible Belt, and has the highest percentage of people with a religious affiliation in the United States.^[74] Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas is home to three major evangelical seminaries and several megachurches, including Fellowship Church, Potter's House and Prestonwood Baptist Church. Houston is home to the largest "church" in the nation, Lakewood Church. Lubbock, Texas has the most churches per capita in the nation.^[74]

In 2000,the religious demographics of Texas were:^[75]

Evangelical Protestant – 24.4%
Mainline Protestant – 8.1%
Roman Catholic – 21.0%
Orthodox – 0.1%
Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Muslim, others; 2.0%
Unclaimed – 44.5%

The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2000 were the Roman Catholic Church with 4,368,969; the Southern Baptist Convention with 3,519,459; and the United Methodist Church with 1,022,342.^[75] Also, there are approximately 400,000 Muslims in Texas.^[76]

Cities and towns

See also: List of cities in Texas, List of Texas metropolitan areas, and Population of Texas cities in 2000

Houston

San Antonio

As of 2000, six incorporated places in Texas had populations greater than 500,000, of which two are global cities: Houston and Dallas.^[77] Texas has a total of 25 metropolitan areas, with four having populations over 1 million and two over 5 million. Texas has three cities with populations exceeding 1 million: Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. This is the most cities of this size within one state.^[78] These three are also among the 10 largest cities of the United States. Austin, Fort Worth, and El Paso are also among the top 25 largest U.S. cities.^[79] The Texas Urban Triangle is a region defined by three interstate highways – I-35 to the west (Dallas-Fort Worth to San Antonio), I-45 to the east (Dallas to Houston), and I-10 to the south (San Antonio to Houston). The region contains most of the state's largest cities and metropolitan areas, as well as nearly 75 percent of Texas's total population.^[80]

Colonias

Colonias are rural, unincorporated settlements which often lack basic infrastructure and which are marked by poverty. As of 2007, Texas has the largest concentration of people, approximately 400,000, living in colonias in the U.S. ^[81] There are at least 2300 Texas colonias, located primarily along the state's 1,248-mile (2,008 km) border with Mexico.

Government and politics

The Texas Constitution, adopted in 1876, like many state constitutions, explicitly provides separation of powers. The state's Bill of Rights has provisions unique to Texas and is considerably longer than its federal counterpart.^[82]

State government

Main article: Government of Texas

See also: List of Texas state agencies

Texas State Capitol

Texas has a plural executive branch system which limits the power of the Governor. Except for the Secretary of State, all executive officers are elected independently making them directly answerable to the public not the Governor.^[83] Past executive branches have been split between parties. When Republican President George W. Bush served as Texas's governor, the state's Lieutenant Governor, Bob Bullock, was a Democrat. The executive branch positions consists of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Land Commissioner, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, the three-member Texas Railroad Commission, the State Board of Education, and the Secretary of State.^[83]

The bicameral Texas Legislature consists of the House of Representatives, with 150 members, and a Senate, with 31 members. The Speaker of the House leads the House, and the Lieutenant Governor leads the Senate.^[84] The Legislature meets in regular session biennially, but the Governor can call for special sessions as often as desired.^[85] The state's fiscal year is from the previous calendar year's September 1 through the current year August 31. Thus, FY 2008 is from September 1, 2007 through August 31, 2008.

Judicial system

Main article: Texas judicial system

The judicial system of Texas is one of the most complex in the United States, with many layers and overlapping jurisdictions. Texas has two courts of last resort: the Texas Supreme Court, for civil cases, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Except for some municipal benches, partisan elections select judges at all levels of the judiciary; the Governor fills vacancies by appointment.^[86]

Texas leads the nation in executions, 400, from 1982 to 2007.^[87] Only capital murder is eligible for the death penalty.

Known for their role in Texas law enforcement history, the Texas Ranger Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety continue to provide special law enforcement services to the state. Texas Game Wardens—law enforcement officers employed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department—are given the same level of authority as standard law enforcement officers.^{citation needed}

Politics

Main article: Politics of Texas

See also: Republican Party of Texas and Texas Democratic Party

Lyndon B. Johnson, Texan and 36th president of the United States

Like in other "Solid South" states, whites resented the Republican Party after the American Civil War. After regaining power near the end of Reconstruction, the Democratic Party held a monolithic political presence in Texas until the late 20th century. After the 1960s, Conservative Democrats in Texas began to endorse Republican presidential candidates.^{citation needed} When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, he reportedly said "We have lost the South for a generation".^[88] Scholars attribute the change to the success of Nixon's Southern Strategy. In 1978, Texas Republicans elected their first post-reconstruction governor and in 2003 they gained control of the state legislature.^{citation needed}

Today, Republicans control most of Texas's U.S. House of Representatives delegation, and both U.S. Senators. Of the 32 congressional districts in Texas, 19 seats are held by Republicans and 13 by Democrats. Texas Republicans in the U.S. Senate are Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn. Since 1994, Texans have not elected a Democrat to a statewide office. The state's Democratic presence is primarily minority groups and urban voters, particularly in Austin. Democrats and independents still hold positions in city governments.^{citation needed}

The Texas political atmosphere leans towards fiscal and social conservatism.^[89]^[90] Since 1980, most of Texas voters have supported Republican Presidential candidates. In 2000 and 2004, Republican George W. Bush won Texas with 60.1% of the vote. He was a "favorite son" as a recent Governor of the state. Austin is the state's most liberal or "populist" city. Houston is among the few urban areas that consistently vote Republican, but its metropolitan areas are very divided politically. Dallas remains approximately split. Counties along the Rio Grande often vote Democratic.^[91]^[92]

Administrative divisions

Map outlining 254 counties of Texas

See also: List of Texas counties and List of United States congressional districts#Texas

Texas has 32 congressional districts, the second-most after California. There are 254 counties—the most nationwide. Each county is run by a Commissioners' Court consisting of four elected commissioners and a county judge. County government is similar to a "weak" mayor-council system; the county judge has no veto authority, but votes along with the other commissioners. County elections are partisan.^{citation needed}

Texas does not allow consolidated city-county governments, nor does it have metropolitan governments. Cities and counties are permitted to enter "interlocal agreements" to share services. Further, counties are not granted home rule status; their powers are strictly defined by state law. The state does not have townships— areas within a county are either incorporated or unincorporated. Incorporated areas are part of a municipality. The county provides limited services to unincorporated areas. Municipalities are classified as either "general law" or "home rule". A municipality may elect home rule status once it exceeds 5,000 population with voter approval. Municipal elections in Texas are nonpartisan.^{citation needed}

Economy

The Johnson Space Center

Main article: Economy of Texas

Texas's large population, its abundance of natural resources, and diverse population and geography has led the state to have a large and highly diverse economy. Since the discovery of oil, the state's economy reflected the state of the petroleum industry. In recent times, urban centers of the state have diversified employing two-thirds of the population in 2005. Growth in the state's economy has led to problems associated with urban sprawl.^[93]

In the fourth quarter of 2006, Texas had a gross state product of $1.09 trillion, the second highest in the U.S.^[94]^[95] Gross state product per capita as of 2005 was $42,975. The state is home to the most Fortune 500 company headquarters in the United States.^[96]^[97]

In 2004, the Site Selection magazine ranked Texas as the most business friendly state in the nation. A big reason for this ranking is the state's three billion dollar, Texas Enterprise Fund.^[98] Texas's growth can be attributed to the availability of jobs, the low cost of housing, the lack of a personal state income tax, high quality of education, low taxation and limited regulation of business, a central geographic location, a limited government, favorable weather, and abundant natural resources.^{citation needed}

Agriculture and mining

A Texas longhorn

Texas is a productive agricultural state with the most farms both in number and acreage in the United States.^[99] Texas leads the nation livestock production.^[99] Cattle the state's most valuable agricultural product, but the state also leads nationally in production of sheep and goat products. Texas is king of cotton leading the nation in cotton production, its leading crop and second-most-valuable farm product.^[99] The state also is a large producer of cereal crops and produce.^[99] Texas also has a large commercial fishing industry. With mineral resources, Texas leads in creating cement, crushed stone, lime, salt, sand and gravel.^[99]

Energy

An oil well

See also: Deregulation of the Texas electricity market

According to the Energy Information Administration, Texans consume the most energy in the nation both in per capita and as a whole.^[100] Since 2002, Texas deregulated its electric service with mixed results.^{citation needed}

The Railroad Commission of Texas, contrary to its name, regulates the state's oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and surface coal and uranium mining. Until the 1970s, the commission had enormous control the price of petroleum because of its ability to regulate Texas's oil reserves. The founders of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) used the Texas agency as one of their models for petroleum price control.^[101]

The state has known petroleum deposits of about 5 billion barrels (790,000,000 m³), which makes up approximately one-fourth of the known U.S. reserves.^[100] Texas refineries can process 4.6 million barrels (730,000 m³) of oil a day.^[100] As wells are depleted in the eastern portions of the state, drilling in state has moved westward.^[99] Several petroleum companies are based in Texas such as: Conoco-Phillips, Exxon-Mobil, Halliburton, Valero, and Marathon Oil.

Texas is a leader in natural gas production producing one-fourth of the nation's supply.^[100]

The state is also a leader in renewable energy sources producing the most wind power nationwide.^[100]^[102]

Technology

Electronic Data Systems headquarters in Plano, Texas.

With large universities systems coupled with initiatives like TEF and the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, a wide array of different high tech industries have developed in Texas. The Austin area is nicknamed the "Silicon Hills" and the north Dallas area the "Silicon Prairie". High tech companies such as Dell, Inc., Texas Instruments, Perot Systems, AT&T, and Electronic Data Systems (EDS) are headquartered in Texas. As for emerging technologies, in 2008, FierceBiotech ranked Texas as one of the top five biotechnology states.^[103]

The crown jewel of Texas's aeronautics industry is the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, the center of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), located in Southeast Houston. Both Lockheed Martin's Aeronautics division and Bell Helicopter Textron are located in Fort Worth, Texas.^[104]^[105] The F-16 Fighting Falcon, the largest Western fighter program is produced in Fort Worth, and its successor, the F-35 Lightning II will also be produced in Fort Worth.^[106]

Commerce

Texas's affluence has led to a strong commercial sector consisting of retail, wholesale, banking and insurance, and construction industries. Examples of Fortune 500 companies that are not based on Texas traditional industries are: AT&T, Men's Warehouse, Landry's Restaurants, Kimberly-Clark, Blockbuster, Whole Foods Market, and Tenet Healthcare.

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