Portal:Texas

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The Texas Portal

Flag of Texas

Texas is a state in the South and Southwest regions of the United States of America. With an area of 268,581 square miles (695,622 km²) and a population of 22.8 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. The state name derives from a word in a Caddoan language of the Hasinai, táyshaʔ, tecas (or tejas, as the Spaniards spelled it), meaning "those who are friends," friends or allies.

Texas joined the United States in 1845 as the 28th state, after nearly a decade of being the Republic of Texas—an independent country. Texas historically had a "larger than life" reputation, especially in cowboy films. The term "Texas sized" is used to describe something larger than average, and large geographic areas are often described in terms of the size of Texas. It is the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which ends in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico. It is in the south-central part of the United States of America. It is considered to form part of the U.S. South and also part of the U.S. Southwest.

Texas centennial half dollar commemorative obverse.jpg

In 2005 Texas had a gross state product of $982.4 billion, the second highest in the U.S. 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. They are larger than any other cities in the Southern United States. Austin, El Paso, and Fort Worth are in the top 25 largest U.S. cities.

Selected article

Texas State Cemetery.jpg

The Texas State Cemetery is a cemetery located on about 22 acres (8.9 ha) just east of downtown Austin, the capital of Texas. Originally the burial place of Texas Revolutionary general and Vice-President of the Republic of Texas Edward Burleson, it was expanded into a Confederate cemetery during the Civil War. Later it was expanded to include the graves of prominent Texans and their spouses.

The cemetery is divided into two sections. The smaller one contains around 300 graves of prominent Texans, while the larger has over 2,000 marked graves of Confederate veterans and widows. There is room in the Cemetery for 7,500 interments and the Cemetery is about half full; meaning, people who are eligible for burial have chosen their plots. The Cemetery is NOT a military cemetery.

Selected biography

MrsJohnson.png

Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson, known commonly as Lady Bird Johnson, (born December 22, 1912), is the widow of Lyndon B. Johnson and was First Lady of the United States from 1963-1969. She was born in Karnack, Texas to Minnie Patillo-Taylor (1868-1918) and T.J. Taylor. Her nickname of "Lady Bird" originated while she was an infant. A nursemaid commented on her, "She's as pretty as a ladybird." She graduated from Marshall Senior High School in Marshall, Texas and studied journalism and art at St. Mary's Episcopal School for Girls and the University of Texas at Austin.

She married Lyndon Baines Johnson on November 17, 1934 at Saint Mark's Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas. They had two daughters, Lynda Bird Johnson, wife of Charles S. Robb, and Luci Baines Johnson, who married Pat Nugent and Ian Turpin.

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HET Dome.jpg
Credit: Eric S. Kounce
View of the HET Dome at the McDonald Observatory.

Spotlight city

Amarillo Texas Downtown.jpg

Amarillo is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city had a total population of 173,627 (though a July 1, 2005 estimate placed the city's population at 183,021). The Amarillo metropolitan area, however, has an estimated population of 236,113 in four counties.

The city once self-proclaimed as the "Helium Capital of the World" for having one of the country's most productive helium fields. The city is also known as "The Yellow Rose of Texas" and most recently "Rotor City, USA" for its V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft assembly plant.

State symbols

Flower Bluebonnet Bluebonnets

Northern Mockingbird

Motto Friendship
Nickname The Lone Star State
Tree Pecan
Bird Mockingbird

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Flag of Texas.svg You are invited to participate in WikiProject Texas, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Texas.

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Eagle Point, Caprock Canyons State Park

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