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Texas
About the Great State of Texas
Texas is a state located in the United States of America. The 28th U.S. state, Texas joined the United States in 1845. Its postal abbreviation is TX.
The state name derives from a word in a Caddoan language of the Hasinai, táysha? (or tejas, as the Spaniards spelled it), meaning friends or allies. Spanish explorers mistakenly applied the word to the people and their location.
With an area of 696,241 km2 and a population of 22.5 million, Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous 48 states in area. (Alaska is the largest U.S. state in area and California is the most populous.) Texas has historically had a "larger than life" reputation, especially in cowboy films.
| Capital | Austin |
| Largest City | Houston |
| Governor (2005) | Rick Perry (R) |
| Area - Total - Land - Water - % water |
696,241 km² (2nd) 678,907 km² 17,333 km² 2.5% |
| Population - Total (2000) - Density |
20,851,820 (2nd) 30.75 /km² (28th) |
| Admittance into Union - Date - Order |
December 29, 1845 28th |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 Mountain: UTC-7/-6 (part of west Texas) |
| Latitude Longitude |
25°50'N to 36°30'N 93°31'W to 106°38'W |
| Width Length Elevation - Highest - Mean - Lowest |
1,065 km 1,270 km Guadalupe Peak, 2,667 m 520 m 0 m |
| ISO 3166-2 | US-TX |
| State nickname | Lone Star State |
| Official Languages | None. English and Spanish are de facto. |