Texas began as a word meaning friend, spoken by the Caddo people who first inhabited the land that would become the second-largest state in the United States. The name Texas derives from the Caddo word taysha, meaning friend or allies, and was applied by Spanish explorers to the Hasinai Confederacy in the 18th century. Before European contact, three major Indigenous cultures thrived in the region: the Ancestral Puebloans in the west, the Mississippian mound builders to the east, and Mesoamerican civilizations to the south. These groups developed complex societies long before the first Spanish ship appeared on the Gulf Coast in 1519. When Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and his companions shipwrecked in 1528, they found a land where half the native population had died from a mysterious bowel disease, which they blamed on their own presence. The Spanish later established missions among the Caddo, but most conversions failed due to the Caddo's lack of interest in Christianity. The region remained one of New Spain's least populated provinces until the 19th century, when American settlers began arriving in large numbers. The first historical document related to Texas was a map of the Gulf Coast created by Alonso Álvarez de Pineda in 1519, marking the beginning of European awareness of the territory. The Spanish name for the area evolved from Nueva Filipinas to Provincia de los Tejas, reflecting the changing political landscape of the region. By 1821, when Mexico gained independence from Spain, Texas became part of the Mexican Empire, setting the stage for a dramatic transformation that would reshape North America.
Revolution And Republic
The Texas Revolution erupted from tensions between American settlers and the Mexican government, culminating in the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna personally led an army to crush the revolt, defeating Texian forces at the Goliad massacre and besieging the Alamo for thirteen days. News of these defeats sparked panic among Texas settlers, who fled in what became known as the Runaway Scrape. The newly elected Texian delegates signed a declaration of independence on the 2nd of March 1836, forming the Republic of Texas. Sam Houston commanded the Texian Army, which defeated Santa Anna's forces at the Battle of San Jacinto just weeks later. Santa Anna was captured and forced to sign the Treaties of Velasco, ending the war. 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. Political battles raged between two factions: the nationalist faction led by Mirabeau B. Lamar, who advocated for continued independence and the expulsion of Native Americans, and the faction led by Sam Houston, who favored annexation to the United States and peaceful coexistence with Native tribes. The conflict between these factions was typified by the Texas Archive War, a dramatic incident where the state archives were moved to prevent their capture by Lamar's forces. Despite applying for annexation in 1836, Texas's status as a slaveholding country caused its admission to be controversial, and it was initially rebuffed. The Republic survived Mexican expeditions in 1842, including the capture of San Antonio twice and the Dawson massacre, but Mexico did not maintain an occupying force. The cotton price crash of the 1840s depressed the country's economy, but the Republic endured until its official annexation in 1845.
Texas re-entered war following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, when Black people comprised 30 percent of the state's population and were overwhelmingly enslaved. A state convention considering secession opened in Austin on the 28th of January 1861, and on February 1, by a vote of 166, 8, the convention adopted an Ordinance of Secession. Texas voters approved this Ordinance on the 23rd of February 1861, and joined the Confederate States of America on the 4th of March 1861. Sam Houston, the state's most notable Unionist, refused to swear an oath of allegiance to the Confederacy and was deposed from office. While far from the major battlefields of the American Civil War, Texas contributed large numbers of soldiers and equipment. The state's border with Mexico became known as the backdoor of the Confederacy, allowing trade to bypass the Union blockade. The final battle of the Civil War was fought at Palmito Ranch near Brownsville, resulting in a Confederate victory. 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. Juneteenth commemorates the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston by General Granger, almost two and a half years after the original announcement. President Johnson declared the civilian government restored in Texas in 1866, and Congress resumed allowing elected Texas representatives into the federal government in 1870. The state's economy was devastated by the war, but since Texas had not been as dependent on slaves as other parts of the South, it recovered more quickly. The culture in Texas during the later 19th century exhibited many facets of a frontier territory, becoming a haven for people fleeing debt, war tensions, or other problems. The phrase Gone to Texas became common for those escaping the law in other states, though the state also attracted businessmen and settlers with legitimate interests. The cattle industry continued to thrive, though it gradually became less profitable, while cotton and lumber became major industries creating new economic booms in various regions.
Oil And Modernization
The fortunes of Texas turned dramatically in 1901 with the discovery of the first major oil well at Spindletop, south of Beaumont. This event initiated an economic boom that became the driving force behind the economy for much of the 20th century. Oil production averaged three million barrels per day at its peak in 1972. The Railroad Commission of Texas regulated the state's oil and gas industry, and 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 used the Texas agency as one of their models for petroleum price control. As of the 1st of January 2021, Texas has proved recoverable petroleum reserves of about 21 billion barrels of crude oil, representing 44 percent of the known U.S. reserves. The state's refineries can process 4.5 million barrels of oil a day, with the Port Arthur Refinery in Southeast Texas being the largest refinery in the United States. Texas is also a leader in natural gas production at 9.5 billion cubic feet per day, some 32 percent of the nation's production. The state has of gas reserves which is 23 percent of the nation's gas reserves. Many petroleum companies are based in Texas, including ConocoPhillips, EOG Resources, ExxonMobil, Halliburton, and Valero Energy. The discovery of oil transformed Texas from a rural agricultural state into an urban and industrialized powerhouse. The state's economy diversified, lessening its reliance on the petroleum industry, and by 1990, Hispanics and Latino Americans overtook Blacks to become the largest minority group. Texas has the largest Black population with over 3.9 million, and the state's population grew quickly during the mid-20th century, with large levels of migration from outside the state. As part of the Sun Belt, Texas experienced strong economic growth, particularly during the 1970s and early 1980s. The state's economy is the second-largest of any country subdivision globally, behind California, with a gross state product of $2.664 trillion as of 2024.
Landscapes And Climate
Texas is the second-largest U.S. state by area, after Alaska, and the largest state within the contiguous United States, covering 268,597 square miles. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 39th-largest. The state has 10 climatic regions, 14 soil regions, and 11 distinct ecological regions. The Gulf Coastal Plains region wraps around the Gulf of Mexico on the southeast section of the state, with vegetation consisting 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 Great Plains region in Central Texas spans through the state's panhandle and Llano Estacado to the state's hill country near Lago Vista and Austin, 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, including Sand Hills, the Stockton Plateau, desert valleys, wooded mountain slopes, and desert grasslands. Texas has 3,700 named streams and 15 major rivers, with the Rio Grande as the largest. The state has wide variations in precipitation patterns, with El Paso on the western end averaging 8.2 inches of annual rainfall, while parts of southeast Texas average as much as 50 inches per year. Dallas in the North Central region averages a more moderate 35 inches per year. 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. The state experiences the most tornadoes in the United States, an average of 139 a year, which strike most frequently in North Texas and the Panhandle. Some of the most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history have seriously impacted Texas, including the 1900 Galveston hurricane, which killed an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 people, making it the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Hurricane Harvey in 2017 caused an estimated $198.6 billion in damage, surpassing the cost of Hurricane Katrina.
People And Politics
The resident population of Texas was 29,145,505 in the 2020 census, a 15.9 percent increase since the 2010 census. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population was 31,290,831 as of the 1st of July 2024, an increase of 7.4 percent since the 2020 census. Texas is the second-most populous state in the United States after California and the only other U.S. state to surpass a total estimated population of 30 million people as of the 2nd of July 2022. In 2015, Texas had 4.7 million foreign-born residents, about 17 percent of the population and 21.6 percent of the state workforce. The major countries of origin for Texan immigrants were Mexico, India, El Salvador, Vietnam, and China. Of immigrant residents, 35.8 percent were naturalized U.S. citizens. In 2014, there were an estimated 1.7 million undocumented immigrants in Texas, making up 35 percent of the total Texas immigrant population and 6.1 percent of the total state population. Texas's Rio Grande Valley has seen significant migration from across the U.S., Mexico border, with many Central Americans, including unaccompanied minors traveling alone from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, reaching the state. Two-thirds of all Texans live in major metropolitan areas such as Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio. The state has three cities with populations exceeding one million: Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. These three rank among the 10 most populous cities of the United States. As of 2020, six Texas cities had populations greater than 600,000. Austin, Fort Worth, and El Paso are among the 20 largest U.S. cities. Texas has four metropolitan areas with populations greater than a million, with the Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas numbering about 7.5 million and 7 million residents as of 2019, respectively. Three interstate highways, I-35 to the west, I-45 to the east, and I-10 to the south, define the Texas Urban Triangle region, which contains most of the state's largest cities and metropolitan areas as well as 17 million people, nearly 75 percent of Texas's total population. The state has 254 counties, more than any other state, each running on a Commissioners' Court system consisting of four elected commissioners and a county judge elected at large from the entire county.
Faith And Culture
Since the coming of Spanish Catholic and American Protestant missionary societies, colonial and present-day Texas has become a predominantly Christian state, with 75.5 percent of the population identifying as such according to the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020. Among its majority Christian populace, the largest Christian denomination as of 2014 has been the Catholic Church, per the Pew Research Center at 23 percent of the population, although Protestants collectively constituted 50 percent of the Christian population in 2014. In the 2020 study by the Public Religion Research Institute, the Catholic Church's membership increased to encompassing 28 percent of the population identifying with a religious or spiritual belief. At the 2020 Association of Religion Data Archives study, there were 5,905,142 Catholics in the state. The largest Catholic jurisdictions in Texas are the Archdiocese of Galveston, Houston, the dioceses of Dallas and Fort Worth, and the Archdiocese of San Antonio. Being part of the strongly, socially conservative Bible Belt, Protestants as a whole declined to 47 percent of the population in the 2020 study by the Public Religion Research Institute. Predominantly-white Evangelical Protestantism declined to 14 percent of the Protestant Christian population. Mainline Protestants in contrast made up 15 percent of Protestant Texas. Hispanic or Latino American-dominated Protestant churches and historically Black or African American Protestantism grew to a collective 13 percent of the Protestant population. Evangelical Protestants were 31 percent of the population in 2014, and Baptists were the largest Evangelical tradition, with Southern Baptists making up 9 percent of the population. The largest Evangelical Baptists in the state were the Southern Baptist Convention and independent Baptists. The Assemblies of God USA was the largest Evangelical Pentecostal denomination in 2014. Among Mainline Protestants, the United Methodist Church was the largest denomination, and the American Baptist Churches USA comprised the second-largest Mainline Protestant group. Non-Christian faiths accounted for 4 percent of the religious population in 2014, and 5 percent in 2020 per the Pew Research Center and Public Religion Research Institute. Adherents of many other religions reside predominantly in the urban centers of Texas, including Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, which were tied as the second largest religion as of 2014 and 2020. In 2014, 18 percent of the state's population were religiously unaffiliated, with an estimated 2 percent being atheists and 3 percent agnostic. In 2020, the Public Religion Research Institute noted the largest non-Christian groups were the irreligious, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, and other religions at less than 1 percent each.
Economy And Innovation
As of 2024, Texas had a gross state product of $2.664 trillion, the second highest of any U.S. state. Its GSP is greater than the GDP of Brazil, the world's 8th-largest economy. The state ranks 22nd among U.S. states with a median household income of $64,034, while the poverty rate is 14.2 percent, making Texas the state with 14th highest poverty rate. Texas's economy is the second-largest of any country subdivision globally, behind California. The state'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. As of May 2025, the unemployment rate was 4.1 percent. In 2010, Site Selection Magazine ranked Texas as the most business-friendly state, in part because of the state's three-billion-dollar Texas Enterprise Fund. As of 2024, it has the second-highest number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the United States, with 52 companies. In 2010, there were 346,000 millionaires in Texas, the second-largest population of millionaires in the nation. In 2018, the number of millionaire households increased to 566,578. Texas has a reputation for a low tax, with state and local tax burdens being seventh-lowest nationally. Texas is one of seven states that lack a state income tax, collecting revenue from property taxes and sales taxes. The state sales tax rate is 6.25 percent, but local taxing jurisdictions may also impose sales and use tax up to 2 percent for a total maximum combined rate of 8.25 percent. Texas receives more federal spending than it pays in federal taxes, receiving $1.21 for each dollar paid to the federal government. To attract business, Texas has incentive programs worth $19 billion per year, more than any other U.S. state. The state has the most farms and the highest acreage in the United States, ranked for revenue generated from total livestock and livestock products, and ranked for total agricultural revenue, behind California. 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. The state leads the nation in the production of cattle, horses, sheep, goats, wool, mohair, and hay. The state also leads the nation in production of cotton, which is the number one crop grown in the state in terms of value. Texas is a leader in renewable energy commercialization, producing the most wind power in the nation. In 2014, 10.6 percent of the electricity consumed in Texas came from wind turbines. The Roscoe Wind Farm in Roscoe, Texas, is one of the world's largest wind farms with a 781.5 megawatt capacity. The state also has the highest solar power potential for development in the U.S. With large university systems coupled with initiatives like the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, a wide array of different high-tech industries have developed in Texas. The Austin area is nicknamed the Silicon Hills, and the north Dallas area the Silicon Prairie. Many high-tech companies are located in or have their headquarters in Texas, including Dell, Inc., Borland, Forcepoint, Indeed.com, Texas Instruments, Perot Systems, Rackspace, and AT&T. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is located in Southeast Houston, and both SpaceX and Blue Origin have their test facilities in Texas. Fort Worth hosts both Lockheed Martin's Aeronautics division and Bell Helicopter Textron, building the F-16 Fighting Falcon and its successor, the F-35 Lightning II.