Texas lies in the south-central
part of the United States of America and borders New Mexico on the west, Oklahoma
on the north, and Louisiana and Arkansas on the east.
After Mexican independence in 1821, Texas became part of Mexico and in 1824 became
the northern section of Coahuila y Tejas.
On March 2, 1836, the "Convention of 1836" signed the Texas "Declaration
of Independence," declaring Texas an independent nation.
On April 21, 1836 the Texans won their independence when they defeated the Mexican
forces of Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto.
In 1845, Texas was admitted to the United States as a constituent state of the
Union.
During the Civil War, Texas seceded from the Union and joined the Confederate
States of America.
In 1870, the United States Congress readmitted Texas into the Union. |
Texas remained largely rural
until World War II, with cattle ranching, oil, and agriculture as its main industries.
Today, Texas has a total of 254 counties, by far the most counties of any state,
and Its economy relies largely on information technology, oil and natural gas,
energy exploration and energy trading, agriculture, and manufacturing.
The state passed New York in the 1990s to become the second-largest U.S. state
in population (after California).
Texas is the only state in the U.S. to have three cities with populations exceeding
one million, Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas, which are also among the 10 largest
cities of the United States.
Four ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Texas in honor of
the state.
The Texas state flower is the bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis). |
