24/7 Us Locksmith Locations in Texas

Texas (/ˈtɛksəs/, also locally /ˈtɛksɪz/)[9] is a state in the South Central region of the United States. It is the second largest U.S. state by both area (after Alaska) and population (after California). Texas shares borders with the states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south and southwest, and has a coastline with the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast.

Houston is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth largest in the U.S., while San Antonio is the second-most populous in the state and seventh largest in the U.S. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and fifth largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country, respectively. Other major cities include Austin, the second-most populous state capital in the U.S., and El Paso. Texas is nicknamed the "Lone Star State" for its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the state's struggle for independence from Mexico. The "Lone Star" can be found on the Texas state flag and on the Texas state seal.[10] The origin of Texas's name is from the word táyshaʼ, which means "friends" in the Caddo language.[11]

Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, Texas contains diverse landscapes common to both the U.S. Southern and the Southwestern regions.[12] Although Texas is popularly associated with the U.S. southwestern deserts, less than ten percent of Texas's land area is desert.[13] Most of the population centers are in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests, and the coastline. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, and finally the desert and mountains of the Big Bend.

The term "six flags over Texas"[note 1] refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim and control the area of Texas. France held a short-lived colony. Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming the Republic of Texas. In 1845, Texas joined the union as the 28th state.[14] The state's annexation set off a chain of events that led to the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U.S. in early 1861, and officially joined the Confederate States of America on March 2 of the same year. After the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation.

Historically, four major industries shaped the Texas economy prior to World War II: cattle and bison, cotton, timber, and oil.[15] Before and after the U.S. Civil War, the cattle industry—which Texas came to dominate—was a major economic driver for the state, and created the traditional image of the Texas cowboy. In the later 19th century, cotton and lumber grew to be major industries as the cattle industry became less lucrative. It was ultimately, though, the discovery of major petroleum deposits (Spindletop in particular) that initiated an economic boom which became the driving force behind the economy for much of the 20th century. Texas developed a diversified economy and high tech industry during the mid-20th century. As of 2015, it is second in the United States of most Fortune 500 company headquarters with 54.[16] With a growing base of industry, the state leads in many industries, including tourism, agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace, and biomedical sciences. Texas has led the U.S. in state export revenue since 2002, and has the second-highest gross state product. If Texas were a sovereign state, it would have the 10th-largest economy in the world.

Etymology

The name Texas, based on the Caddo word táyshaʼ (/tʼajʃaʔ/) "friend", was applied, in the spelling Tejas or Texas,[17][18][19][1] by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, specifically the Hasinai Confederacy,[20] the final -s representing the Spanish plural.[21] The Mission San Francisco de los Tejas was completed near the Hasinai village of Nabedaches in May 1690, in what is now Houston County, East Texas.[22]

During Spanish colonial rule, in the 18th century, the area was known as Nuevas Filipinas ("New Philippines") and Nuevo Reino de Filipinas ("New Kingdom of the Philippines"),[23] or as provincia de los Tejas ("province of the Tejas"),[24] later also provincia de Texas (or de Tejas), ("province of Texas").[25][23] It was incorporated as provincia de Texas into the Mexican Empire in 1821, and declared a republic in 1836. The Royal Spanish Academy recognizes both spellings, Tejas and Texas, as Spanish-language forms of the name of the U.S. state of Texas.[26]

The English pronunciation with /ks/ is unetymological, contrary to the historical value of the letter x (/ʃ/) in Spanish orthography. Alternative etymologies of the name advanced in the late 19th century connected the Spanish teja "rooftile", the plural tejas being used to designate indigenous Pueblo settlements.[27] A 1760s map by Jacques-Nicolas Bellin shows a village named Teijas on the Trinity River, close to the site of modern Crockett.[27]

History

Main article: History of Texas

Pre-European era

Part of a series on the

History of Texas

Texas flag map.svg

Timeline

Pre-Columbian Texas

Early Spanish explorations 1519–

French Texas 1684–1689

Spanish Texas 1690–1821

Mexican Texas 1821–1836

Republic of Texas 1836–1845

Statehood 1845–1860

Civil War Era 1861–1865

Reconstruction 1865–1899

State of Texas

Flag of Texas.svg Texas portal

vte

Further information: Pre-Columbian Mexico

Texas lies between two major cultural spheres of Pre-Columbian North America: the Southwestern and the Plains areas. Archaeologists have found that three major indigenous cultures lived in this territory, and reached their developmental peak before the first European contact. These were:[28] the Ancestral Puebloans from the upper Rio Grande region, centered west of Texas; the Mississippian culture, also known as Mound Builders, which extended along the Mississippi River Valley east of Texas; and the civilizations of Mesoamerica, centered south of Texas. Influence of Teotihuacan in northern Mexico peaked around AD 500 and declined over the 8th to 10th centuries.

When Europeans arrived in the Texas region, several different cultures of Native peoples, divided into many smaller tribes, were living there. They were Caddoan, Atakapan, Athabaskan, Coahuiltecan, and Uto-Aztecan. The Uto-Aztecan Puebloan peoples lived neared the Rio Grande in the western portion of the state, the Athabaskan-speaking Apache tribes lived throughout the interior, the Caddoans controlled much of the Red River region and the Atakapans were mostly centered along the Gulf Coast. At least one tribe of Coahuiltecans, the Aranama, lived in southern Texas. This entire culture group, primarily centered in northeastern Mexico, is now extinct. It is difficult to say who lived in the northwestern region of the state originally. By the time the region came to be explored, it belonged to the fairly well-known Comanche, another Uto-Aztecan people who had transitioned into a powerful horse culture, but it is believed that they came later and did not live there during the 16th century. It may have been claimed by several different peoples, including Uto-Aztecans, Athabaskans, or even Dhegihan Siouans.[citation needed]

No culture was dominant in the present-day Texas region, and many peoples inhabited the area.[29] Native American tribes who lived inside the boundaries of present-day Texas include the Alabama, Apache, Atakapan, Bidai, Caddo, Aranama, Comanche, Choctaw, Coushatta, Hasinai, Jumano, Karankawa, Kickapoo, Kiowa, Tonkawa, and Wichita.[30][31]

Early Native American tribal territories

The region was primarily controlled by the Spanish for the first couple centuries of contact, until the Texas Revolution. They were not particularly kind to their native populations—even less so with the Caddoans, who were not trusted as their culture was split between the Spanish and the French. When the Spanish briefly managed to conquer the Louisiana colony, they decided to switch tactics and attempt being exceedingly friendly to the Indians, which they continued even after the French took back the colony. After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the United States inherited this odd circumstance. The Caddoans preferred the company of Americans and almost the entire population of them migrated into the states of Louisiana and Arkansas. The Spanish felt jilted after having spent so much time and effort and began trying to lure the Caddo back, even promising them more land. Seemingly without actually knowing how they came by it, the United States (who had begun convincing tribes to self-segregate from whites by selling everything and moving west ever since they gained the Louisiana Purchase) faced an overflow of native peoples in Missouri and Arkansas and were able to negotiate with the Caddoans to allow several displaced peoples to settle on unused lands in eastern Texas. They included the Muscogee, Houma Choctaw, Lenape and Mingo Seneca, among others, who all came to view the Caddoans as saviors, making those peoples highly influential.[32][33]

Whether a Native American tribe was friendly or warlike was critical to the fates of European explorers and settlers in that land.[34] Friendly tribes taught newcomers how to grow indigenous crops, prepare foods, and hunt wild game. Warlike tribes made life difficult and dangerous for Europeans through their attacks and resistance to the newcomers.[34]

During the Texas Revolution, the U.S. became heavily involved. Prior treaties with the Spanish forbade either side from militarizing its native population in any potential conflict between the two nations. At that time, several sudden outbreaks of violence between Caddoans and Texans started to spread. The Caddoans were always clueless when questioned, The Texan and American authorities in the region could never find hard evidence linking them to it and often it was so far-flung from Caddoan lands, it barely made any sense. It seems most likely that these were false-flag attacks meant to start a cascading effect to force the natives under Caddoan influence into armed conflict without breaking any treaties—preferably on the side of the Spanish. While no proof was found as to who the culprit was, those in charge of Texas at the time attempted multiple times to publicly blame and punish the Caddoans for the incidents with the U.S. government trying to keep them in check. Furthermore, the Caddoans never turned to violence because of it, excepting cases of self-defense.[32]

By the 1830s, the U.S. had drafted the Indian Removal Act, which was used to facilitate the Trail of Tears. Fearing retribution of other native peoples, Indian Agents all over the eastern U.S. began desperately trying to convince all their native peoples to uproot and move west. This included the Caddoans of Louisiana and Arkansas. Following the Texas Revolution, the Texans chose to make peace with their Native peoples but did not honor former land claims or agreements. This began the movement of Native populations north into what would become Indian Territory—modern-day Oklahoma.[32]

Colonization

Main articles: New France, Louisiana (New France), French colonization of Texas, French and Indian War, Treaty of Paris (1763), New Spain, Spanish Texas, Seminole Wars, Adams–Onís Treaty, Mexican War of Independence, Treaty of Córdoba, First Mexican Empire, Mexican Texas, Provisional Government of Mexico (1823–24), 1824 Constitution of Mexico, First Mexican Republic, Siete Leyes, and Centralist Republic of Mexico

The first historical document related to Texas was a map of the Gulf Coast, created in 1519 by Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda.[35] Nine years later, shipwrecked Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his cohort became the first Europeans in what is now Texas.[36][37] Cabeza de Vaca reported that in 1528, when the Spanish landed in the area, "half the natives died from a disease of the bowels and blamed us."[38] Cabeza de Vaca also made observations about the way of life of the Ignaces Natives of Texas:

They went about with a firebrand, setting fire to the plains and timber so as to drive off the mosquitos, and also to get lizards and similar things which they eat, to come out of the soil. In the same manner they kill deer, encircling them with fires, and they do it also to deprive the animals of pasture, compelling them to go for food where the Indians want.[39]

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado describes his 1541 encounter:

Two kinds of people travel around these plains with the cows; one is called Querechos and the others Teyas; they are very well built, and painted, and are enemies of each other. They have no other settlement or location than comes from traveling around with the cows. They kill all of these they wish and tan the hides, with which they clothe themselves and make their tents, and they eat the flesh, sometimes even raw, and they also even drink the blood when thirsty. The tents they make are like field tents, and they set them up over poles they have made for this purpose, which come together and are tied at the top, and when they go from one place to another they carry them on some dogs they have, of which they have many, and they load them with the tents and poles and other things, for the country is so level, as I said, that they can make use of these, because they carry the poles dragging along on the ground. The sun is what they worship most.[40]

European powers ignored the area until accidentally settling there in 1685. Miscalculations by René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle resulted in his establishing the colony of Fort Saint Louis at Matagorda Bay rather than along the Mississippi River.[41] The colony lasted only four years before succumbing to harsh conditions and hostile natives.[42]

In 1690 Spanish authorities, concerned that France posed a competitive threat, constructed several missions in East Texas.[43] After Native American resistance, the Spanish missionaries returned to Mexico.[44] When France began settling Louisiana, mostly in the southern part of the state, in 1716 Spanish authorities responded by founding a new series of missions in East Texas.[45] Two years later, they created San Antonio as the first Spanish civilian settlement in the area.[46]

Nicolas de La Fora's 1771 map of the northern frontier of New Spain clearly shows the Provincia de los Tejas.[47]

Hostile native tribes and distance from nearby Spanish colonies discouraged settlers from moving to the area. It was one of New Spain's least populated provinces.[48] In 1749, the Spanish peace treaty with the Lipan Apache angered many tribes,[49] including the Comanche, Tonkawa, and Hasinai.[50] The Comanche signed a treaty with Spain in 1785 and later helped to defeat the Lipan Apache and Karankawa tribes.[51][52] With more numerous missions being established, priests led a peaceful conversion of most tribes. By the end of the 18th century only a few nomadic tribes had not converted to Christianity.[53]

Stephen F. Austin was the first American empresario given permission to operate a colony within Mexican Texas.

Mexico in 1824. Coahuila y Tejas is the northeasternmost state.

When the United States purchased Louisiana from France in 1803, American authorities insisted the agreement also included Texas. The boundary between New Spain and the United States was finally set at the Sabine River in 1819, at what is now the border between Texas and Louisiana.[54] Eager for new land, many United States settlers refused to recognize the agreement. Several filibusters raised armies to invade the area west of the Sabine River.[55] Marked by the War of 1812, some men who had escaped from the Spanish held (Old) Philippines had immigrated to and also passed through Texas (New Philippines)[56] and reached Louisiana where Philippine exiles aided the United States in the defense of New Orleans against a British invasion, with Filipinos in the Saint Malo settlement assisting Jean Lafitte in the Battle of New Orleans.[57] In 1821, the Mexican War of Independence included the Texas territory, which became part of Mexico.[58] Due to its low population, the territory was assigned to other states and territories of Mexico; the core territory was part of the state of Coahuila y Tejas, but other parts of today's Texas were part of Tamaulipas, Chihuahua, or the Mexican Territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.[59]

Hoping more settlers would reduce the near-constant Comanche raids, Mexican Texas liberalized its immigration policies to permit immigrants from outside Mexico and Spain.[60] Under the Mexican immigration system, large swathes of land were allotted to empresarios, who recruited settlers from the United States, Europe, and the Mexican interior. The first grant, to Moses Austin, was passed to his son Stephen F. Austin after his death.

Austin's settlers, the Old Three Hundred, made places along the Brazos River in 1822.[61] Twenty-three other empresarios brought settlers to the state, the majority of whom were from the United States.[62] The population of Texas grew rapidly. In 1825, Texas had about 3,500 people, with most of Mexican descent.[63] By 1834, the population had grown to about 37,800 people, with only 7,800 of Mexican descent.[64] Most of these early settlers who arrived with Austin and soon after were persons less than fortunate in life, as Texas was devoid of the comforts found elsewhere in Mexico and the United States during that time. Early Texas settler David B. Edwards described his fellow Texans as being "banished from the pleasures of life".[65]

Many immigrants openly flouted Mexican law, especially the prohibition against slavery. Combined with United States' attempts to purchase Texas, Mexican authorities decided in 1830 to prohibit continued immigration from the United States.[66] Illegal immigration from the United States into Mexico continued to increase the population of Texas anyway.[67] New laws also called for the enforcement of customs duties angering native Mexican citizens (Tejanos) and recent immigrants alike.[68]

The Anahuac Disturbances in 1832 were the first open revolt against Mexican rule, and they coincided with a revolt in Mexico against the nation's president.[69] Texians sided with the federalists against the current government and drove all Mexican soldiers out of East Texas.[70] They took advantage of the lack of oversight to agitate for more political freedom. Texians met at the Convention of 1832 to discuss requesting independent statehood, among other issues.[71] The following year, Texians reiterated their demands at the Convention of 1833.[72]

Republic

Main articles: Texas Revolution, Convention of 1836, Texas Declaration of Independence, Treaties of Velasco, and Republic of Texas

Within Mexico, tensions continued between federalists and centralists. In early 1835, wary Texians formed Committees of Correspondence and Safety.[73] The unrest erupted into armed conflict in late 1835 at the Battle of Gonzales.[74] This launched the Texas Revolution, and over the next two months the Texians defeated all Mexican troops in the region.[75] Texians elected delegates to the Consultation, which created a provisional government.[76] The provisional government soon collapsed from infighting, and Texas was without clear governance for the first two months of 1836.[77]

Surrender of Santa Anna. Painting by William Henry Huddle, 1886.

During this time of political turmoil, Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna personally led an army to end the revolt.[78] The Mexican expedition was initially successful. General José de Urrea defeated all the Texian resistance along the coast culminating in the Goliad massacre.[79] Santa Anna's forces, after a thirteen-day siege, overwhelmed Texian defenders at the Battle of the Alamo. News of the defeats sparked panic among Texas settlers.[80]

The Republic of Texas with present-day borders superimposed

The newly elected Texian delegates to the Convention of 1836 quickly signed a declaration of independence on March 2, forming the Republic of Texas. After electing interim officers, the Convention disbanded.[81] The new government joined the other settlers in Texas in the Runaway Scrape, fleeing from the approaching Mexican army.[80] After several weeks of retreat, the Texian Army commanded by Sam Houston attacked and defeated Santa Anna's forces at the Battle of San Jacinto.[82] Santa Anna was captured and forced to sign the Treaties of Velasco, ending the war.[83] The Constitution of the Republic of Texas prohibited the government from restricting slavery or freeing slaves, and required free people of African descent to leave the country.[84]

While Texas had won its independence, political battles raged between two factions of the new Republic. The nationalist faction, led by Mirabeau B. Lamar, advocated the continued independence of Texas, the expulsion of the Native Americans, and the expansion of the Republic to the Pacific Ocean. Their opponents, led by Sam Houston, advocated the annexation of Texas to the United States and peaceful co-existence with Native Americans. The conflict between the factions was typified by an incident known as the Texas Archive War.[85] With wide popular support, Texas first applied for annexation to the United States in 1836, but its status as a slaveholding country caused its admission to be controversial and it was initially rebuffed. This status, and Mexican diplomacy in support of its claims to the territory, also complicated Texas's ability to form foreign alliances and trade relationships.[86]

The Comanche Indians furnished the main Native American opposition to the Texas Republic, manifested in multiple raids on settlements.[87] Mexico launched two small expeditions into Texas in 1842. The town of San Antonio was captured twice and Texans were defeated in battle in the Dawson massacre. Despite these successes, Mexico did not keep an occupying force in Texas, and the republic survived.[88] The cotton price crash of the 1840s depressed the country's economy.[86]

Statehood

Main articles: Texas annexation, Admission to the Union, List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union, Mexican–American War, and Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Captain Charles A. May's squadron of the 2nd Dragoons slashes through the Mexican Army lines. Resaca de la Palma, Texas, May 1846

As early as 1837, the Republic of Texas made several attempts to negotiate annexation with the United States.[89] Opposition within the republic from the nationalist faction, along with strong abolitionist opposition within the United States, slowed Texas's admission into the Union. Texas was finally annexed when the expansionist James K. Polk won the election of 1844.[90] On December 29, 1845, the U.S.Congress admitted Texas to the U.S. as a constituent state of the Union.[91]

The population of the new state was quite small at first, and there was a strong mix between the English-speaking American settlers who dominated in the state's eastern/northeastern portions and the Spanish-speaking former Mexicans (Tejanos) who dominated in the state's southern and western portions. Statehood brought many new settlers. Because of the long Spanish presence in Mexico and various failed colonization efforts by the Spanish and Mexicans in northern Mexico, there were large herds of Longhorn cattle that roamed the state. Hardy by nature, but also suitable for slaughtering and consumption, they represented an economic opportunity many entrepreneurs seized upon, thus creating the cowboy culture for which Texas is famous.

After Texas's annexation, Mexico broke diplomatic relations with the United States. While the United States claimed Texas's border stretched to the Rio Grande, Mexico claimed it was the Nueces River leaving the Rio Grande Valley under contested Texan sovereignty.[91] While the former Republic of Texas could not enforce its border claims, the United States had the military strength and the political will to do so. President Polk ordered General Zachary Taylor south to the Rio Grande on January 13, 1846. A few months later Mexican troops routed an American cavalry patrol in the disputed area in the Thornton Affair starting the Mexican–American War. The first battles of the war were fought in Texas: the Siege of Fort Texas, Battle of Palo Alto and Battle of Resaca de la Palma. After these decisive victories, the United States invaded Mexican territory, ending the fighting in Texas.[92]

After a series of United States victories, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the two-year war. In return, for US$18,250,000, Mexico gave the U.S. undisputed control of Texas, ceded the Mexican Cession in 1848, most of which today is called the American Southwest, and Texas's borders were established at the Rio Grande.[92]

The Compromise of 1850 set Texas's boundaries at their present form. U.S. Senator James Pearce of Maryland drafted the final proposal where Texas ceded its claims to land which later became half of present-day New Mexico,[93] a third of Colorado, and small portions of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming to the federal government, in return for the assumption of $10 million of the old republic's debt.[93] Post-war Texas grew rapidly as migrants poured into the cotton lands of the state.[94]

They also brought or purchased enslaved African Americans, whose numbers tripled in the state from 1850 to 1860, from 58,000 to 182,566.[95]

Civil War to Late 19th century

Main articles: Ordinance of Secession, Confederate States of America, and Texas in the American Civil War

Texas was at war again after the election of 1860. At this time, blacks comprised 30 percent of the state's population, and they were overwhelmingly enslaved.[96] When Abraham Lincoln was elected, South Carolina seceded from the Union. Five other Deep South states quickly followed. A state convention considering secession opened in Austin on January 28, 1861. On February 1, by a vote of 166–8, the convention adopted an Ordinance of Secession from the United States. Texas voters approved this Ordinance on February 23, 1861. Texas joined the newly created Confederate States of America on March 4, 1861 ratifying the permanent C.S. Constitution on March 23.[1][97]

Not all Texans favored secession initially, although many of the same would later support the Southern cause. Texas's most notable Unionist was the state Governor, Sam Houston. Not wanting to aggravate the situation, Houston refused two offers from President Lincoln for Union troops to keep him in office. After refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy, Houston was deposed as governor.[98]

While far from the major battlefields of the American Civil War, Texas contributed large numbers of men and equipment to the rest of the Confederacy.[99] Union troops briefly occupied the state's primary port, Galveston. Texas's border with Mexico was known as the "backdoor of the Confederacy" because trade occurred at the border, bypassing the Union blockade.[100] The Confederacy repulsed all Union attempts to shut down this route,[99] but Texas's role as a supply state was marginalized in mid-1863 after the Union capture of the Mississippi River. The final battle of the Civil War was fought at Palmito Ranch, near Brownsville, Texas, and saw a Confederate victory.[101][102]

Texas descended into anarchy for two months between the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia and the assumption of authority by Union General Gordon Granger. Violence marked the early months of Reconstruction.[99] Juneteenth commemorates the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston by General Gordon Granger, almost two and a half years after the original announcement.[103][104] President Johnson, in 1866, declared the civilian government restored in Texas.[105] Despite not meeting reconstruction requirements, Congress resumed allowing elected Texas representatives into the federal government in 1870. Social volatility continued as the state struggled with agricultural depression and labor issues.[106]

Like most of the South, the Texas economy was devastated by the War. However, since the state had not been as dependent on slaves as other parts of the South, it was able to recover more quickly. The culture in Texas during the later 19th century exhibited many facets of a frontier territory. The state became notorious as a haven for people from other parts of the country who wanted to escape debt, war tensions, or other problems. Indeed, "Gone to Texas" was a common expression for those fleeing the law in other states. Nevertheless, the state also attracted many businessmen and other settlers with more legitimate interests as well.[107]

The cattle industry continued to thrive, though it gradually became less profitable. Cotton and lumber became major industries creating new economic booms in various regions of the state. Railroad networks grew rapidly as did the port at Galveston as commerce between Texas and the rest of the U.S. (and the rest of the world) expanded. As with some other states before, the lumber industry quickly expanded in Texas and was its largest industry before the beginning of the 20th century.[108]

Early to mid-20th century

Spindletop, the first major oil gusher

In 1900, Texas suffered the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history during the Galveston hurricane.[109] On January 10, 1901, the first major oil well in Texas, Spindletop, was found south of Beaumont. Other fields were later discovered nearby in East Texas, West Texas, and under the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting "oil boom" transformed Texas.[110] Oil production eventually averaged three million barrels per day at its peak in 1972.[111]

In 1901, the Democratic-dominated state legislature passed a bill requiring payment of a poll tax for voting, which effectively disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites and Latinos. In addition, the legislature established white primaries, ensuring minorities were excluded from the formal political process. The number of voters dropped dramatically, and the Democrats crushed competition from the Republican and Populist parties.[112][113] The Socialist Party became the second-largest party in Texas after 1912,[114] coinciding with a large socialist upsurge in the United States during fierce battles in the labor movement and the popularity of national heroes like Eugene V. Debs. The socialists' popularity soon waned after their vilification by the United States government for their opposition to U.S. involvement in World War I.[115][116]

The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl dealt a double blow to the state's economy, which had significantly improved since the Civil War. 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.[96] In 1940, Texas was 74% Anglo, 14.4% black, and 11.5% Hispanic.[117]

World War II had a dramatic impact on Texas, as federal money poured in to build military bases, munitions factories, POW detention camps and Army hospitals; 750,000 young men left for service; the cities exploded with new industry; the colleges took on new roles; and hundreds of thousands of poor farmers left the fields for much better-paying war jobs, never to return to agriculture.[118][119] Texas manufactured 3.1 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking eleventh among the 48 states.[120]

Texas modernized and expanded its system of higher education through the 1960s. The state created a comprehensive plan for higher education, funded in large part by oil revenues, and a central state apparatus designed to manage state institutions more efficiently. These changes helped Texas universities receive federal research funds.[121]

Mid-20th to early 21st century

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.[122]

Beginning around the mid-20th century, Texas began to transform from a rural and agricultural state to one urban and industrialized.[123] The state's population grew quickly during this period, with large levels of migration from outside the state.[123] As a part of the Sun Belt, Texas experienced strong economic growth, particularly during the 1970s and early 1980s.[123] Texas's economy diversified, lessening its reliance on the petroleum industry.[123] By 1990, Hispanics and Latin Americans overtook blacks to become the largest minority group in the state.[123]

During the late 20th century, the Republican Party replaced the Democratic Party as the dominant party in the state, as the latter became more politically liberal and as demographic changes favored the former.[123] Beginning in the early 21st century, metropolitan areas including Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Austin became centers for the Texas Democratic Party in statewide and national elections as liberal policies became more accepted in urban areas.[124][125][126][127]

From the mid-2000s to 2019, Texas gained an influx of business relocations and regional headquarters from companies in California.[128][129][130][131] Texas became a major destination for migration during the early 21st century and was named the most popular state to move for three consecutive years.[132] Another study in 2019 determined Texas's growth rate at 1,000 people per day.[133]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the first confirmed case of the virus in Texas was announced on March 4, 2020.[134] On April 27, 2020, Governor Greg Abbott announced phase one of re-opening the economy.[135] Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in autumn 2020, Abbott and other U.S. governors refused to enact further lockdowns.[136][137] In November 2020, Texas was selected as one of four states to test Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine distribution.[138] As of February 2, 2021, there had been over 2.4 million confirmed cases in Texas, with at least 37,417 deaths.[139]

During February 13–17, 2021, the state faced a major weather emergency as Winter Storm Uri hit the state, as well as most of the Southeastern and Midwestern United States.[140][141] Historically high power usage across the state caused the state's power grid to become overworked and ERCOT (the main operator of the Texas Interconnection grid) declared an emergency and began to implement rolling blackouts across Texas.[142][143][144] Over 3 million Texans were without power and over 4 million were under boil notices.[145]

Geography

Main article: Geography of Texas

Sam Rayburn Reservoir

Texas Hill Country

Texas is the second-largest U.S. state, after Alaska, with an area of 268,820 square miles (696,200 km2). Though 10% larger than France, almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, and more than twice the size of the United Kingdom, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 39th-largest.[146]

Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers. The Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south. The Red River forms a natural border with Oklahoma and Arkansas to the north. The Sabine River forms a natural border with Louisiana to the east. The 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. El Paso lies on the state's western tip at 32° N and the Rio Grande.[93]

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.[147] One classification system divides Texas, in order from southeast to west, into the following: Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and Basin and Range Province.[148]

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-hardwood forest. The Cross Timbers region and Caprock Escarpment are part of the Interior Lowlands.[148]

Steinhagen Reservoir

The Great Plains region in Central Texas 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 Range Province. The most varied of the regions, this area includes Sand Hills, the Stockton Plateau, desert valleys, wooded mountain slopes and desert grasslands.[149]

Texas has 3,700 named streams and 15 major rivers,[150][151] with the Rio Grande as the largest. Other major rivers include the Pecos, the Brazos, Colorado, and Red River. While Texas has few natural lakes, Texans have built more than a hundred artificial reservoirs.[152]

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 state into a recognized region of the United States. Notable extremes range from East Texas which is often considered an extension of the Deep South, to Far West Texas which is generally acknowledged to be part of the interior Southwest.[153]

Geology

Main article: Geology of Texas

Palo Duro Canyon

Franklin Mountains State Park

Big Bend National Park

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 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.[154]

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. Sedimentary rocks overlay most of these ancient 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 subperiod 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.[155]

The late Paleozoic mountains collapsed as rifting in the Jurassic period 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's passive margin began to form. Today 9 to 12 miles (14 to 19 km) of sediments are buried beneath the Texas continental shelf and a large proportion of remaining US oil reserves are 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 salt dome diapirs, and are found in East Texas along the Gulf coast.[156]

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 Gulf coast and out on the Texas continental shelf contain oil. 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.[157] Located far from an active plate tectonic boundary, Texas has no volcanoes and few earthquakes.[158]

Wildlife

See also: List of mammals of Texas, List of birds of Texas, List of reptiles of Texas, and List of amphibians of Texas

A wide range of animals and insects live in Texas. It is the home to 65 species of mammals, 213 species of reptiles and amphibians, and the greatest diversity of bird life in the United States—590 native species in all.[159] At least 12 species have been introduced and now reproduce freely in Texas.[160]

Texas plays host to several species of wasps, including an abundance of Polistes exclamans,[161] and is an important ground for the study of Polistes annularis.[162]

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.[163]

Climate

Main article: Climate of Texas

Köppen climate types in Texas

The large size of Texas and its location at the intersection of multiple climate zones gives the state highly variable weather. The Panhandle of the state has colder winters 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 8.7 inches (220 mm) of annual rainfall,[164] while parts of southeast Texas average as much as 64 inches (1,600 mm) per year.[165] Dallas in the North Central region averages a more moderate 37 inches (940 mm) per year.[166]

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 falls south of San Antonio or on the coast only in rare circumstances. Of note is the 2004 Christmas Eve snowstorm, when 6 inches (150 mm) of snow fell as far south as Kingsville, where the average high temperature in December is 65 °F.[167]

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, but most areas of Texas see consistent summer high temperatures in the 90 °F (32 °C) range.[citation needed]

Night-time summer temperatures range from the upper 50s °F (14 °C) in the West Texas mountains to 80 °F (27 °C) in Galveston.[168][169]

The table below consists of averages for August (generally the warmest month) and January (generally the coldest) in selected cities in various regions of the state.

In 2019, non-Hispanic whites represented 41.2% of Texas's population, reflecting a national demographic shift.[220][221][222] Blacks or African Americans made up 12.9%, American Indians or Alaska Natives 1.0%, Asian Americans 5.2%, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders 0.1%, some other race 0.2%, and two or more races 1.8%. Hispanics or Latin Americans of any race made up 39.7% of the estimated population.[223]

In 2015 non-Hispanic whites made up 11,505,371 (41.9%) of the population, followed by Black Americans at 3,171,043 (11.5%); other races 1,793,580 (6.5%); and Hispanics and Latinos (of any race) 10,999,120 (40.0%).[207] At the 2010 United States census, the racial composition of Texas was the following:[224] White American 70.4 percent, (Non-Hispanic whites 45.3 percent), Black or African American 11.8 percent, American Indian 0.7 percent, Asian 3.8 percent (1.0 percent Indian, 0.8 percent Vietnamese, 0.6 percent Chinese, 0.4 percent Filipino, 0.3 percent Korean, 0.1 percent Japanese, 0.6 percent other Asian), Pacific Islander 0.1 percent, some other race 10.5 percent, and two or more races 2.7 percent. In addition, 37.6 percent of the population was Hispanic or Latino (of any race) (31.6 percent Mexican, 0.9 percent Salvadoran, 0.5 percent Puerto Rican, 0.4 percent Honduran, 0.3 percent Guatemalan 0.3 percent Spaniard, 0.2 percent Colombian, 0.2 percent Cuban).[225] In 2011, 69.8% of the population of Texas younger than age 1 were minorities (meaning they had at least one parent who was not non-Hispanic white).[226]

Welcome sign in Praha

As of 1980 German, Irish, and English Americans have made the three largest European ancestry groups in Texas.[227] German Americans made up 11.3 percent of the population and number over 2.7 million members. Irish Americans made up 8.2 percent of the population and number over 1.9 million. There are roughly over 600,000 French Americans, 472,000 Italian Americans, 369,161 Scottish Americans, and 288,610 Polish Americans residing in Texas; these four ethnic groups made up 2.5 percent, 2.0 percent, 1.5 percent, and 1.0 percent of the population respectively. In the 1980 United States census the largest ancestry group reported in Texas was English with 3,083,323 Texans citing they were of English or mostly English ancestry, making them 27 percent of the state at the time.[227] Their ancestry primarily goes back to the original thirteen colonies (the census of 1790 gives 48% of the population of English ancestry, together with 12% Scots and Scots-Irish, 4.5% other Irish, and 3% Welsh, for a total of 67.5% British and Irish; 13% were German, Swiss, Dutch, and French Huguenots; 19% were African American),[228] thus many of them today identify as "American" in ancestry, though they are of predominantly British stock.[229][230] In 2012 there were nearly 200,000 Czech Americans living in Texas, the largest number of any state.[231]

El Paso was founded by Spanish settlers in 1659.

Hispanics and Latinos are the second-largest groups in Texas after non-Hispanic European Americans. More than 8.5 million people claim Hispanic or Latin American ethnicity. This group forms over 37 percent of Texas's population. People of Mexican descent alone number over 7.9 million, and made up 31.6 percent of the population. The vast majority of the Hispanic/Latino population in the state is of Mexican descent, the next two largest groups are Salvadorans and Puerto Ricans. There are more than 222,000 Salvadorans and more than 130,000 Puerto Ricans in Texas. Other groups with large numbers in Texas include Hondurans, Guatemalans, Nicaraguans and Cubans, among others.[232][233] The Hispanics in Texas are more likely than in some other states (such as California) to identify as white; according to the 2010 U.S. census, Texas is home to 6,304,207 White Hispanics and 2,594,206 Hispanics of "some other race" (usually mestizo).

African Americans are the racial minority in Texas. Their proportion of the population has declined since the early 20th century after many left the state in the Great Migration. Blacks of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin made up 11.5 percent of the population in 2015; blacks of non-Hispanic origin formed 11.3 percent of the populace. African Americans of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin numbered at roughly 2.7 million individuals, increasing in 2018 to 3,908,287.[223]

Native Americans are a smaller minority in the state. Native Americans made up 0.5 percent of Texas's population and number over 118,000 individuals as of 2015.[234] Native Americans of non-Hispanic origin made up 0.3 percent of the population and number over 75,000 individuals. Cherokee made up 0.1 percent of the population, and numbered over 19,400. In contrast, only 583 identified as Chippewa.

Asian Americans are a sizable minority group in Texas. Americans of Asian descent formed 4.5 percent of the population in 2015.[234] They total more than 1.2 million individuals. Over 200,000 Indian Americans make Texas their home. Texas is also home to more than 187,000 Vietnamese and 136,000 Chinese. In addition to 92,000 Filipinos and 62,000 Koreans, there are 18,000 Japanese Americans living in the state. Lastly, more than 111,000 people are of other Asian ancestry groups, such as Cambodian, Thai, and Hmong. Sugar Land, a city within the Houston metropolitan area, and Plano, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area, both have high concentrations of ethnic Chinese and Korean residents. The Houston and Dallas areas,[235][236][237][238] and to a lesser extent, the Austin metropolitan area,[239] all contain substantial Vietnamese communities.

Americans with origins from the Pacific Islands are the smallest minority in Texas. According to the 2019 American Community Survey, only 21,484 Texans are Pacific Islanders.[240] The city of Euless, a suburb of Fort Worth, contains a sizable population of Tongan Americans, at nearly 900 people, over one percent of the city's population. Killeen has a sufficient population of Samoans and Guamanian,[241] and people of Pacific Islander descent surpass one percent of the city's population.

Multiracial individuals are also a visible minority in Texas. People identifying as multiracial form 2.9 percent of the population, and number over 800,000 people.[240] Over 80,000 Texans claim African and European heritage. People of European and American Indian ancestry number over 108,800. People of European and Asian ancestry number over 57,600. People of African and Native American ancestry were even smaller in number at 15,300.

German trek on its way to New Braunfels

German descendants inhabit much of central and southeast-central Texas. Over one-third of Texas residents are of Hispanic origin; while many have recently arrived, some Tejanos have ancestors with multi-generational ties to 18th century Texas. The African American population in Texas is increasing due to the New Great Migration.[242][243] In addition to the descendants of the state's former slave population, many African American college graduates have come to the state for work recently in the New Great Migration.[242] Since the early 21st century, the Asian population in Texas has grown—primarily in Houston and Dallas. Other communities with a significantly growing Asian American population is in Austin, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and the Sharyland area next McAllen, Texas. Three federally recognized Native American tribes reside in Texas: the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe, and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo.[31]

In 2010, 49% of all births were Hispanics; 35% were non-Hispanic whites; 11.5% were non-Hispanic blacks, and 4.3 percent were Asians/Pacific Islanders.[244] Based on U.S. Census Bureau data released in February 2011, for the first time in recent history, Texas's white population is below 50% (45%) and Hispanics grew to 38%. Between 2000 and 2010, the total population growth by 20.6%, but Hispanics and Latin Americans growth by 65%, whereas non-Hispanic whites grew by only 4.2%.[245] Texas has the fifth highest rate of teenage births in the nation and a plurality of these are to Hispanics or Latinos.[246]

Languages

Most common non-English languages

Language Population

(as of 2010)[247]

Spanish 29.21%

Vietnamese 0.75%

Chinese 0.56%

German 0.33%

Tagalog 0.29%

French 0.25%

Korean and Urdu (tied) 0.24%

Hindi 0.23%

Arabic 0.21%

Niger-Congo languages 0.15%

The most common accent or dialect spoken by natives throughout Texas is sometimes referred to as Texan English, which itself is a sub-variety of a broader category of American English known as Southern American English.[248][249] Creole language is spoken in some parts of East Texas.[250] In some areas of the state—particularly in the large cities—Western American English and General American English, is increasingly common. Chicano English—due to a growing Hispanic population—is widespread in South Texas, while African-American English is especially notable in historically minority areas of urban Texas.

At the 2019 American Community Survey's estimates, 64.4% of the population spoke only English, and 35.6% spoke a language other than English.[251] Roughly 30% of the total population spoke Spanish. Approximately 50,742 Texans spoke French or a French-creole language. German and other West Germanic languages were spoken by 47,098 residents; Russian, Polish, and other Slavic languages by 27,956; Korean by 31,581; Chinese 22,616; Vietnamese 81,022; Tagalog 43,360; and Arabic by 26,281 Texans.[252]

At the census of 2010, 65.8% (14,740,304) of Texas residents age 5 and older spoke only English at home, while 29.2% (6,543,702) spoke Spanish, 0.75 percent (168,886) Vietnamese, and Chinese (which includes Cantonese and Mandarin) was spoken by 0.56% (122,921) of the population over five.[247] Other languages spoken include German (including Texas German) by 0.33% (73,137), Tagalog with 0.29% (64,272) speakers, and French (including Cajun French) was spoken by 0.25% (55,773) of Texans.[247] Reportedly, Cherokee is the most widely spoken Native American language in Texas.[253] In total, 34.2% (7,660,406) of Texas's population aged five and older spoke a language at home other than English as of 2006.[247]

Religion

Religious affiliation (2014)[254]

Christian

77%

Catholic

23%

Protestant

50%

Other Christian

1%

Unaffiliated

18%

Jewish

1%

Muslim

1%

Buddhist

1%

Other faiths

1%

The majority of Texas's population have been and remain predominantly Christian, influenced by Spanish Catholic and American Protestant colonialism and missionary work (77%).[255][256] Texas's large Christian population is also influenced due to its location within the Bible Belt.[257] The following largest groups were the irreligious (18%), nothing in particular (13%), Judaism (1%), Islam (1%), Buddhism (1%) and Hinduism and other religions at less than 1 percent each.

The largest Christian denomination as of 2014 is the Catholic Church (23%). The largest Catholic jurisdictions in Texas are the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, the dioceses of Dallas, Fort Worth, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio. In Protestantism, Evangelicals form the largest theological branch (31%) followed by Mainline Protestants (13%) and historically African American Protestant churches (6%). Baptists formed the largest Evangelical Protestant group in Texas (14%); they made up the second largest Mainline Protestant group behind Methodists (4%). Nondenominational and interdenominational Christians were the second largest Evangelical group (7%) followed by Pentecostals (4%). The largest Evangelical Baptists in the state were the Southern Baptist Convention (9%) and independent Baptists (3%). The Assemblies of God made the largest Evangelical Pentecostal denomination at the 2014 study. Among Mainline Protestants, the United Methodist Church was the largest denomination (4%). American Baptist Churches USA comprised the second largest Mainline Protestant group (2%).

According to the Pew Research Center, the largest historically African American Christian denominations are the National Baptist Convention (USA) and the Church of God in Christ. Black Methodists and other Christians made up less than 1 percent each of the Christian demographic. Other Christians made up 1 percent of the total Christian population, and the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox formed less than 1 percent of the statewide Christian populace. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the largest nontrinitarian Christian group in Texas alongside the Jehovah's Witnesses.[255]

Non-Christian faiths accounted for 4% of the religious population in 2014.[255] Adherents of many other religions reside predominantly in the urban centers of Texas. Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism were tied as the second largest religion as of 2014. In 1990, the Islamic population was about 140,000 with more recent figures putting the current number of Muslims between 350,000 and 400,000 as of 2012.[258] The Jewish population was around 128,000 in 2008.[259] In 2020, the Jewish population grew to over 176,000.[260] Around 146,000 adherents of religions such as Hinduism and Sikhism lived in Texas as of 2004.[261] Texas is the fifth-largest Muslim-populated state in the country.[262] Of the unaffiliated, an estimated 2% were atheists and 3% agnostic.

Economy

Main article: Economy of Texas

See also: Texas locations by per capita income

A geomap depicting income by county as of 2014

As of 2019, Texas had a gross state product (GSP) of $1.9 trillion, the second highest in the U.S.[263] Its GSP is greater than the GDPs of Brazil, Canada, Russia, South Korea and Spain, which are the world's 9th-, 10th-, 11th-, 12th- and 13th-largest economies, respectively.[264] The state's median household income is $59,206. Texas's economy is the second-largest of any country subdivision globally, behind California.

Texas's large population, an abundance of natural resources, thriving cities and leading centers of higher education have contributed to a large and diverse economy. Since oil was discovered, the state's economy has reflected the state of the petroleum industry. In recent times, urban centers of the state have increased in size, containing two-thirds of the population in 2005. The state's economic growth has led to urban sprawl and its associated symptoms.[265]

As of May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the state's unemployment rate was 13 percent.[266]

In 2010, Site Selection Magazine ranked Texas as the most business-friendly state in the nation, in part because of the state's three-billion-dollar Texas Enterprise Fund.[267] Texas has the joint-highest number of Fortune 500 company headquarters in the United States, along with California.[268][269] In 2010, there were 346,000 millionaires in Texas, constituting the second-largest population of millionaires in the nation.[270][271] In 2018, the number of millionaire households increased to 566,578.[272]

Taxation

Texas has a "low taxes, low services" reputation.[273] According to the Tax Foundation, Texans' state and local tax burdens rank among the lowest in the nation, 7th lowest nationally; state and local taxes cost $3,580 per capita, or 8.4 percent of resident incomes.[274] Texas is one of seven states that lack a state income tax.[274][275]

Instead, the state collects revenue from property taxes (though these are collected at the county, city, and school district level; Texas has a state constitutional prohibition against a state property tax) and sales taxes. The state sales tax rate is 6.25 percent,[274][276] but local taxing jurisdictions (cities, counties, special purpose districts, and transit authorities) may also impose sales and use tax up to 2 percent for a total maximum combined rate of 8.25 percent.[277]

Texas is a "tax donor state"; in 2005, for every dollar Texans paid to the federal government in federal income taxes, the state got back about $0.94 in benefits.[274] To attract business, Texas has incentive programs worth $19 billion per year (2012); more than any other U.S. state.[278][279]

Agriculture and mining

Cotton modules after harvest in West Texas

An oil well

Brazos Wind Farm

Electronic Data Systems headquarters in Plano

Texas has the most farms and the highest acreage in the United States. The state is ranked No. 1 for revenue generated from total livestock and livestock products. It is ranked No. 2 for total agricultural revenue, behind California.[280] At $7.4 billion or 56.7 percent of Texas's annual agricultural cash receipts, beef cattle production represents the largest single segment of Texas agriculture. This is followed by cotton at $1.9 billion (14.6 percent), greenhouse/nursery at $1.5 billion (11.4 percent), broilers at $1.3 billion (10 percent), and dairy products at $947 million (7.3 percent).[281]

Texas leads the nation in the production of cattle, horses, sheep, goats, wool, mohair and hay.[281] The state also leads the nation in production of cotton which is the number one crop grown in the state in terms of value.[280][282][283] The state grows significant amounts of cereal crops and produce.[280] Texas has a large commercial fishing industry. With mineral resources, Texas leads in creating cement, crushed stone, lime, salt, sand and gravel.[280]

Texas throughout the 21st century has been hammered by drought. This has cost the state billions of dollars in livestock and crops.[284]

Energy

See also: Deregulation of the Texas electricity market and Economy of Texas § Energy

Ever since the discovery of oil at Spindletop, energy has been a dominant force politically and economically within the state.[285] If Texas were its own country it would be the sixth largest oil producer in the world according to a 2014 study.[286]

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 controlled 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.[287]

Texas has known petroleum deposits of about 5 billion barrels (790,000,000 m3), which makes up about one-fourth of the known U.S. reserves.[288] The state's refineries can process 4.6 million barrels (730,000 m3) of oil a day.[288] The Port Arthur Refinery in Southeast Texas is the largest refinery in the U.S.[288] Texas also leads in natural gas production, producing one-fourth of the nation's supply.[288] Several petroleum companies are based in Texas such as: Occidental Petroleum,[289] ConocoPhillips,[290] ExxonMobil,[291] Halliburton,[292] Marathon Oil,[293] Tesoro,[294] Valero Energy,[295] and Western Refining.[296]

According to the Energy Information Administration, Texans consume, on average, the fifth most energy (of all types) in the nation per capita and as a whole, following behind Wyoming, Alaska, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Iowa.[288]

Unlike the rest of the nation, most of Texas is on its own alternating current power grid, the Texas Interconnection. Texas has a deregulated electric service. Texas leads the nation in total net electricity production, generating 437,236 MWh in 2014, 89% more MWh than Florida, which ranked second.[297][298] As an independent nation, Texas would rank as the world's eleventh-largest producer of electricity, after South Korea, and ahead of the United Kingdom.[citation needed]

The state is a leader in renewable energy commercialization; it produces the most wind power in the nation.[288][299] In 2014, 10.6% of the electricity consumed in Texas came from wind turbines.[300] The Roscoe Wind Farm in Roscoe, Texas, is one of the world's largest wind farms with a 781.5 megawatt (MW) capacity.[301] The Energy Information Administration states the state's large agriculture and forestry industries could give Texas an enormous amount biomass for use in biofuels. The state also has the highest solar power potential for development in the U.S.[288]

Technology