| About 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. 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.)
Location
Texas borders New Mexico on the west, Oklahoma on the
north (across the Red River), and Louisiana (across
the Sabine River) and Arkansas on the east. To the southwest,
across the Rio Grande, Texas borders the Mexican states
of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas.
To the southeast of Texas lies the Gulf of Mexico.
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Texas has five
major topographic regions:
- The Coastal Plain, from the Gulf
of Mexico inland to about San Antonio and just southeast
of Austin
- The Hill Country and Edwards Plateau,
a hilly rocky area in central Texas bordered on the
east by the Balcones Fault zone and Blackland Prairie
- The Great Plains region extends
into northern Texas, including the Llano Estacado
and the Panhandle High Plains
- The North Central Plains
- The Trans-Pecos Desert, a subdivision
of the Chihuahuan Desert, in extreme western Texas,
west of the Pecos River
County Government
Texas has a total of 254 counties, by far the most counties
of any state. Each county is run by a "commissioners court"
consisting of four elected commissioners (one from each
of four precincts drawn based on population) and a "county
judge" elected from all the voters of the county. The
county judge does not have authority to veto a decision
of the commissioners court, s/he votes along with the
commissioners. In smaller counties, the county judge actually
does perform judicial duties, but in larger counties the
judge's role is limited to serving on the commissioners
court. Certain officials such as the sheriff and tax collector
are elected separately by the voters and state law specifies
their salaries, but the commissioners court determines
their office budgets. Counties also have much less legal
power than municipalities, for instance, counties in Texas
do not have zoning power or eminent domain power (except
in very rare circumstances).
Municipal
Government
Texas does not have townships; areas within a county are
either "incorporated" (i.e., part of a city, though the
city may contract with the county for needed services)
or "unincorporated" (i.e., not part of a city, in these
areas the county has authority for law enforcement and
road maintenance). Cities are classified as either "general
law" or "home rule". A city may elect "home rule" status
(i.e., draft an independent city charter) once it exceeds
5,000 population and the voters agree to home rule. Otherwise,
it is classified as "general law" and has very limited
powers. One example of the difference in the two structures
regards annexation. General law cities cannot annex adjacent
unincorporated areas without the property owner's consent;
home rule cities may annex without consent, but must provide
essential services within a specified period of time or
the property owner may file suit to be deannexed.
School and Special Districts
In addition to cities and counties, Texas has numerous
"special districts". The most common is the independent
school district, which (with one exception) has a board
of trustees that is independent of any other governing
authority. School district boundaries are not coaligned
with city or county boundaries; it is not uncommon for
a school district to cover one or more counties or for
a large city to be served by several school districts.
Other special districts include water supply, public hospitals,
and community colleges.
Living in Texas
People of Texas
Demographics
The people of Texas, historically often known as Texians,
are now generally referred to as Texans. As of 2004,
the state had a population of 22,490,022. The state
has 3,450,500 foreign-born residents (15.6% of the state
population), of which an estimated 1.2 million are illegal
aliens (illegal aliens account for more than one-third
of the foreign-born population in Texas and 5.4% of
the total state population). The state's population
grew 5.5 million between 1990 and 2004, a growth of
32.4%
Ethnic origins
More than one-third of Texas residents are of Hispanic
origin and may be of any racial groups. Some are recent
arrivals from Mexico, Central America, or South America,
while others, known as Tejanos, have ancestors who have
lived in Texas since before Texan independence, or at
least for several generations. Tejanos are the largest
ancestral group in southern Duval County. Perhaps numerically
Mexican-Texans dominate south, south-central, and west
Texas and are a significant part of the work force of
cities of Dallas and Houston.
Other population groups in Texas also exhibit great
diversity. Frontier Texas saw settlements of Germans,
particularly in Fredericksburg and New Braunfels. In
fact, the largest family in Texas today is of German
descent. After the European revolutions of 1848, German,
Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Czech and French immigration
grew, and continued until World War I. The influence
of the diverse immigrants from Europe survives in the
names of towns, styles of architecture, genres of music,
and varieties of cuisine. Texans of German descent dominate
much of central and southeast-central Texas and one
county in the area, Lavaca, is predominately Czech.
In recent years, the Asian population in Texas has grown,
especially in Houston and in Dallas. People from mainland
China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia
India, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Pakistan and other
countries have settled in Texas.
In August 2005, it was announced by the United States
Census that Texas has become the fourth minority-majority
state in the nation (after Hawaii, New Mexico, and California).[1]
According to the Texas state Data Center, if current
trends continue, Hispanics will become a majority in
the state by 2030.
 Moving
to Texas? More info about Texas area's:
Plano | Garland
| Irving | Grand
Prairie | Mesquite | Desoto
| Duncanville | Dallas
| Paris | Greenville
| Mount Pleasant | Texarkana
| New Boston | Atlanta
| Longview | Marshall
| Henderson | Tyler
| Jacksonville | Athens
| Palestine | Crockett
| Trinity | Lufkin
| Nacogdoches | Jasper
| Arlington | Euless
| Weatherford | Fort
Worth | North Richland
Hills | Denton | Keller
| Gainesville | Wichita
Falls | Vernon | Iowa
Park | Stephenville
| Graham | Bridgeport
| Killeen | Temple
| Copperas Cove | Waco
| Woodway | Hewitt
| Mexia | Brownwood
| Brady | Coleman
| San Angelo | Sonora
| Ozona | Houston
| Spring | Humble
| Conroe | Huntsville
| Katy | Sugar
Land | Missouri City
| Pasadena | Baytown
| Pearland | Galveston
| Beaumont | Port
Arthur | Orange | Vidor
| Bryan | College
Station | Brenham | Victoria
| Port Lavaca | Cuero
| Laredo | Kerrville
| Boerne | New
Braunfels | Seguin | Beeville
| San Antonio | Corpus
Christi | Kingsville
| Alice | Brownsville
| Mission | Mcallen
| Edinburg | Round
Rock | San Marcos | Georgetown
| Austin | Eagle
Pass | Del Rio | Uvalde
| La Grange | Smithville
| Giddings | Amarillo
| Plainview | Pampa
| Hereford | Childress
| Floydada | Quanah
| Lubbock | Levelland
| Lamesa | Abilene
| Snyder | Sweetwater
| Odessa | Midland
| Big Spring | San
Elizario | Canutillo |
Fabens | El
Paso
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