Texas

Texas became the 28th state on December 29, 1845. Texas is located south of Oklahoma, east of New Mexico, west of Louisiana and Arkansas, and north of Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico.

Texas is the second largest state in the United States covering 261,914 square miles. It's even bigger than Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin combined. Texas has five regions which are The Gulf Coastal Plains, The Prairie Plains, The Rolling Plains, The Basin and Range region and The Great Plains.

The Gulf Coastal Plains is mostly forest with oak, pine, sweet gum, and other trees. The Prairie Plains is a very hilly and bumpy area. The Rolling Plains is a hilly area west of the Prairie Plains. The elevation increases as it starts to approach The Great Plains. The Great Plains reaches westward from The Prairie Plains and The Rolling Plains into New Mexico. It forms a series of treeless plains that extend northward to Canada. The Great Plains also rise from an altitude of about 70 feet (213 meters) in the east to over 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) above sea level to the west The Basin and Range region is mostly mountainous.

The average temperature in Texas in January is 46 degrees F .The average temperature in July is 83 degrees F. The Basin and Range region, the state's hottest area averages 60 degrees F in January and 85 degrees F in July. In the Panhandle, where temperatures are cooler, January's average temperature is 35 F degrees and July's is 79 degrees F. Texas is struck by more tornados than any other state. Tornados hit mostly in northern Texas. Texas' average rainfall every year is 27 inches.

Texas is one of the world's greatest petroleum storehouses. It has 1,200 different types of soil. Texas has 227,000 farms, far more than any other state. Cotton is it's leading crop. Texas ranks first for electric power production. Some natural resources in Texas are asphalt, coal, limestone, magnesium, oil, salt, sand, and sulfur.

There were approximately 20,851,820 people living in Texas according to the census of 2000. 70% of the population in Texas lives within 200 miles of Austin. In 1820, Austin Moses, a Missouri banker, asked Spanish officials in Mexico to let him settle the area know as Texas. The government granted his request, but sadly, he died before he could organize a colony of Americans. His son, Stephen F. Austin, carried out the plan and brought 300 families who were called the Empresarios people. In 1821, Austin's group established its first settlement at Washington-on-the-Brazos and Columbus in southeast Texas. Austin, Texas which is the capital of Texas was named after Moses Austin and his son Stephen. When