Texas State Guide

Texas is a state in both the Southern and Western regions of the United States of America. The state name derives from a word in the Caddoan language of the Hasinai: táysha?, tecas, or tejas (Spanish spelling); meaning "those who are friends", "friends", or"allies".

Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 and existed as the independent Republic of Texas for nearly a decade. It joined the United States in 1845 as the 28th state. With an area of 268,581 square miles (695,622 km²) and a population of 22.8 million, Texas is second to Alaska in area, and second to California in population.

Texas State Guide - History

Texas boasts that "Six Flags" have flown over its soil: the Fleur-de-lis of France, the national flags of Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America and the United States of America.

Native Americans in Texas

Native American tribes who once lived inside the boundaries of present-day Texas include Apache, Atakapan, Bidai, Caddo, Comanche, Cherokee, Kiowa, Tonkawa, Wichita, Huaco and the Karankawa of Galveston. Currently, there are three federally recognized Native American tribes which reside in Texas: the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, and the Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo of Texas.

European and American settlement

On November 6, 1528, shipwrecked Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca became the first known European in Texas; in 1537, he wrote about his experiences in a work called La relación ("The Relation").Prior to 1821, Texas was part of the Spanish dominions of New Spain. Moses Austin bought 200,000 acres (800 km²) of land of his choice. In 1821, Texas became part of Mexico and in 1824 became the northern section of Coahuila y Tejas. On January 3, 1823, Stephen F. Austin began a colony of 300 American families along the Brazos River. This group became known as the "Old Three Hundred." The "Conventions" of 1832 and 1833 responded to rising unrest at the policies of the ruling Mexican government.

War for Independence

In 1835, Antonio López de Santa Anna, President of Mexico, proclaimed a unified constitution for all Mexican territories, including Texas. North American settlers in Texas announced they intended to secede from Mexico rather than be forced to the new Mexican constitution and instead, asked for consideration under the original 1824 Mexican Constitution which allowed: freedom of religion, freedom of thought and the press and also enslavement, which Mexico had abolished under this new constitution. Other policies that irritated the Texans included the forcible disarmament of Texan settlers, and the expulsion of immigrants and legal land owners originally from the United States. The example of the Centralista forces' suppression of dissidents in Zacatecas also inspired fear of the Mexican government.

On March 2, 1836, the Convention of 1836 signed a 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. A factor in the defeat of Santa Anna's army at San Jacinto was the time the Texas Army got to gather itself, thanks to a small group of defenders at The Alamo and General Sam Houston's strategy of giving up land until he had rallied an army. Santa Anna was captured and signed the Treaties of Velasco, which gave Texas firm boundaries; Mexico repudiated the treaties, considered Texas a breakaway province, and vowed to reconquer it. However, the Mexican political system was so unstable that it was never able to make good on its threats. Later in 1836, the Texans adopted a constitution that formally legalized slavery in Texas. The Republic of Texas included all the area now included in the state of Texas, and additional unoccupied territory to the west & northwest.

Annexation and Statehood

Texans strongly wanted annexation to the United States. Mexico threatened war if this happened. Great Britain tried to maintain Texas independence (as a counterweight to the United States), maintained a Texas Embassy in London, and tried to convince Mexico to stop threatening war. Texas was fast-growing but still poor, and was almost incapable of self-defense up through at least the Dawson Massacre and two recaptures of Béxar in Texas of 1842. This only helped to strengthen the resolve of Texas to join the United States. However, American politics intruded; strong Northern opposition to adding another slave state blocked annexation until the election of 1844 was won on a pro-annexation platform by James K. Polk. On December 29, 1845, Texas was admitted to the United States as a constituent state of the Union. The Mexican–American War followed, with decisive American victories. Texas grew rapidly as migrants poured into the rich cotton lands.

Civil War and Reconstruction

During the American Civil War, the Texas legislature authorized secession from the United States on February 1, 1861 and was accepted as a state by the provisional government of the Confederate States of America on March 1, 1861. Texas was most useful for supplying hardy soldiers for Confederate forces (veterans of the Mexican-American War), and in cavalry. As a whole, Texas was mainly a "supply state" for the Confederate forces until mid 1863, when the Union capture of the Mississippi River made large movements of men or cattle impossible. Texas regiments fought in every major battle throughout the war.

The last battle of the Civil War, The Battle of Palmito Ranch, was fought in Texas, on May 12, 1865, well after Lee's surrender on April 9, 1865 at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Texas descended into near-anarchy during the two months between the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia and the assumption of authority by (Union) General Gordon Granger, as Confederate forces demobilized or disbanded and government property passed into private hands through distribution or plunder.

Juneteenth commemorates the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865 in Galveston, Texas, by General Gordon Granger; nearly 1-1/2 years after the original announcement of January 1, 1863. On March 30, 1870, although Texas did not meet all the requirements, the United States Congress readmitted Texas into the Union.

Texas in Prosperity, Depression, and War: 1914–1945

The first major oil well in Texas was drilled at Spindletop, the little hill south of Beaumont, on the morning of January 10, 1901. Other oil fields were later discovered nearby in East Texas, in West Texas and under the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting “Oil Boom” permanently transformed the economy of Texas. Oil production eventually averaged three million barrels of oil per day at its peak in 1972.

The economy, which had experienced significant recovery since the Civil War, was dealt a double blow by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

Immediately preceding and during World War II, existing military bases in Texas were expanded and numerous new training bases were built, especially for Naval and Military Aviation training. Many Americans and allied troops (including Free French Air Forces) came to Texas as part of the military mobilization.

Texas modernizes: 1945—

From 1950 through the 1960s, Texas modernized and dramatically expanded its system of higher education. Under the leadership of Governor John B. Connally, the state produced a long-range plan for higher education, a more rational distribution of resources, and a central state apparatus that managed state institutions with greater efficiency. Because of these changes, Texas universities received federal funds for research and development during the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations.

Texas State Guide - Geography

The geography of Texas spans a wide range of features and timelines. Texas 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.

The Rio Grande, Red River and Sabine River all provide natural state lines where Texas borders Oklahoma on the north, Louisiana and Arkansas on the east, and New Mexico and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south.

By residents, the state is generally divided into North Texas, East Texas, South Texas, and West Texas, but according to the Texas Almanac, Texas has four major physical regions: Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and The Basin and Range Province. This is the difference between human geography and physical geography.

Some regions of Texas are associated with the South more than the Southwest (primarily East Texas and North Texas), while other regions share more similarities with the Southwest than the South (primarily West Texas and South Texas). The Texas Panhandle and South Plains regions don't fit either category; they seem to have more in common with parts of the Midwestern United States. The size of Texas prohibits easy categorization of the entire state wholly in any recognized region of the United States; geographic, economic, and even cultural diversity between regions of the state preclude treating Texas as a region in its own right.

Texas State Guide - Geology

Texas is the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which ends in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico. It is mostly sedimentary rocks, with east Texas underlain by a Cretaceous and younger sequence of sediments, the trace of ancient shorelines east and south until the active continental margin of the Gulf of Mexico is met. This sequence is built atop the subsided crest of the Appalachian Mountains – Ouachita Mountains – Marathon Mountains zone of Pennsylvanian continental collision, which collapsed when rifting in Jurassic time opened the Gulf of Mexico. West from this orogenic crest, which is buried beneath the Dallas, Waco, Austin, San Antonio trend, the sediments are Permian and Triassic in age. Oil is found in the Cretaceous sediments in the east, the Permian sediments in the west, and along the Gulf coast and out on the Texas continental shelf. A few exposures of Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks are found in the central and western parts of the state, and Oligocene volcanic rocks are found in far west Texas, in the Big Bend area. A blanket of Miocene sediments known as the Ogallala formation in the western high plains region is an important aquifer. Texas has no active or dormant volcanoes and few earthquakes, being situated far from an active plate tectonic boundary. (The Big Bend area is the most seismically active; however, the area is sparsely populated and suffers minimal damages and injuries, and no known fatalities have been attributed to a Texas earthquake.)

Texas State Guide - Climate

The large size of the state of Texas and its location at the intersection of several climate zones gives the state highly variable weather. The Panhandle of the state is cooler in the winter than North Texas or the gulf coast. Different regions of Texas experience vastly different precipitation patterns: El Paso averages as little as 7.8 inches of rain per year while the average annual precipitation is 59 inches in Orange, Texas.] Moderate snowfall often falls in the winter months in the north. Maximum temperatures in the summer months average from the 80s °F in the mountains of West Texas and on Galveston Island to around 100 °F in the Rio Grande Valley. Nighttime summer temperatures range from the upper 50s °F in the West Texas mountains to 80 °F in Galveston.

Thunderstorms are more common in the eastern and northern part of the state, although they are far from rare elsewhere in the state. Tornadoes are common in Texas, with the state averaging around 139 a year, more than any other state. Tornadoes are most frequent in the northern half of the state from April-July, although tornadoes can happen anywhere in the state, except perhaps for the Big Bend area.

Texas State Guide - Law and Government

State law and government

Republican Rick Perry has served as Governor of Texas since December 2000, when George W. Bush vacated the office to assume the Presidency. Two Republicans represent Texas in the U.S. Senate: Kay Bailey Hutchison (since 1993) and John Cornyn (since 2002). Texas has 32 representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives: 21 Republicans and 11 Democrats.

The Texas Constitution, adopted in 1876, is the second oldest state constitution still in effect. As with many state constitutions, it explicitly provides for the separation of powers and incorporates its bill of rights directly into the text of the constitution (as Article I). The bill of rights is considerably lengthier and more detailed than the federal Bill of Rights, and includes some provisions unique to Texas.

The executive branch consists of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Land Commissioner, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, the three-member Texas Railroad Commission, the State Board of Education, and the Secretary of State. The comptroller decides if expected state income is sufficient to cover the proposed state budget. Except for the secretary of state—who is appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate—each of these officials is elected (the three Railroad Commission members are voted at-large; the State Board of Education members are voted in single-member districts). There are also many state agencies and numerous boards and commissions. Partly because of many elected officials, the governor's powers are quite limited in comparison to other state governors or the U.S. President. In popular lore and belief the lieutenant governor, who heads the Senate and appoints its committees, has more power than the governor. The governor commands the state militia and can veto bills passed by the Legislature and call special sessions of the Legislature (this power is exclusive to the governor and can be exercised as often as desired). The governor also appoints members of various executive boards and fills judicial vacancies between elections.

The Legislature of Texas, like the legislature of every other state except Nebraska, is bicameral (that is, it has two chambers). The House of Representatives has 150 members, while the Senate has 31. The speaker of the house, currently Tom Craddick (R-Midland) leads the House, and the lieutenant governor (currently Republican David Dewhurst) leads the state Senate. The Legislature meets in regular session only once every two years. The Legislature cannot call itself into special session; only the governor may call a special session, and may call as many sessions as often as desired.

The judicial system of Texas has a reputation as one of the most complex in the United States, with many layers and many overlapping jurisdictions. Texas has two courts of last resort: the Texas Supreme Court, which hears civil cases, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Except in the case of some municipal benches, partisan elections choose all of the judges at all levels of the judiciary; the governor fills vacancies by appointment.

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. County government is similar to the "weak" mayor-council system; the county judge has no veto authority, but votes along with the other 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.

All county elections are partisan.

Counties do not have home rule authority; their powers and limits are specifically defined by the state government.

Unlike other states, Texas does not allow for consolidated city-county governments, nor does it have a form of metropolitan government (the Councils of Government which exist are not governmental entities but voluntary associations of other local governments). Cities and counties (as well as other political entities) are permitted to enter "interlocal agreements" to share services (as an example, a city and a school district may enter into agreements with the county whereby the county bills for and collects property taxes for the city and school district; thus, only one tax bill is sent instead of three).

Municipal government

Texas does not have townships—areas within a county are either incorporated or unincorporated. Incorporated areas are part of a city, though the city may contract with the county for needed services. Unincorporated areas are 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 (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.

Municipal elections in Texas are nonpartisan in the sense that candidates do not appear on the ballot on party lines, and do not run as party tickets. However, a candidate's party affiliation is usually known or can be discerned with minimal effort (as the candidate most likely has supported other candidates on partisan tickets). In some instances, an informal citizen's group will support a slate of candidates that it desires to see elected (often in opposition to an incumbent group with which it disagreed on an issue). However, each candidate must be voted on individually.

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 generally aligned with city or county boundaries; it is common 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 Groundwater Conservation Districts (regulatory agencies), river authorities, water supply districts (for irrigation or municipal supply), public hospitals, road districts, and community colleges.

As with municipal elections in Texas, board members or trustees are elected on a nonpartisan basis or may be appointed.

Texas State Guide - Politics

Regardless of party affiliation, Texas politics are dominated by fiscal and social conservatism.

The Texan political climate is currently dominated by the Republican Party, which has strong majorities in the Texas Senate and House of Representatives. Every executive branch official elected statewide is Republican, as is every member of Texas's two courts of last resort; no Democrat has won a statewide election since 1994. The majority of the state's delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives is Republican, as are both U.S. Senators. A notable exception to this trend is the Travis County District Attorney, Ronnie Earle, a Democrat elected by the people of Travis County who has served since 1978 with statewide authority and responsibility for legally prosecuting political mischief. Ronnie Earle is nationally known for leveling charges against Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, which were dismissed in court, and against Representative Tom DeLay, which have not yet been resolved. The Travis County District Attorney is uniquely empowered by the Texas Constitution; most states grant this authority to the more broadly elected position of Attorney General.

Note: The congressional districts in Texas were redrawn in 2003 by the Republican-dominated legislature. Districts are usually drawn after the national census every 10 years, but an impasse in the Texas Legislature resulted in the districts being drawn by the courts in 2001. The legislature, with controversial help from U.S. Congressman Tom DeLay, redrew the districts after the Republicans gained a larger share of the legislature. A court challenge to the legality of the non-Census-timed redistricting was upheld by the Republican-dominated Texas Supreme Court; the United States Supreme Court remanded the map to a three-judge federal panel to redraw the 23rd District, which it ruled unconstitutionally diluted Hispanic voting strength in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The court otherwise upheld the rest of the districts on the map in question and noted that after a map meets all legal rules and laws, one drawn by the state's elected officials is preferred over one drawn by federal judges. The Democratic challengers of the map had pointed to an early 1990's map drawn by federal judges as one that should be kept in use.

Like other Southern states, Texas historically was a one-party state of the Democratic Party. The Democrats controlled a majority in the Texas House and in the state's Congressional delegation until the 2002 and 2004 elections, respectively. One of the most famous Texans was a Democrat: Lyndon Baines Johnson served in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, and as vice-president and president of the United States. Another famous Texas Democrat was longtime speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn.

Texas State Guide - Law Enforcement

The justice system in Texas has a reputation for strict sentencing. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, of the 21 counties in the United States where more than a fifth of the residents are prison inmates, 10 are in Texas.

Texas leads the nation in executions by far, with 377 executions from 1976 to 2006. The second-highest ranking state is Virginia, with 94. Only capital murder (equivalent to such terms as "murder with malice aforethought" in other states) is eligible for the death penalty. Prior to 2005, the alternate sentence was life with the possibility of parole after 40 calendar years; a 2005 law change changed the alternate sentence to life without parole.

A 2002 Houston Chronicle poll of Texans found that when asked "Do you support the death penalty?", 69.1% responded that they did, 21.9% did not support, and 9.1% were not sure or gave no answer.

Well-known for their role in the history of Texas law enforcement, the Texas Rangers continue today to provide special law enforcement services to the state.

Texas State Guide - Military

Texas is home to numerous major military installations, with bases in nearly every corner of the state. All the services have operational and training missions in Texas, despite the lack of a major United States Marine Corps installation. In addition to active duty forces, there are a wide variety of reserve units and guard units. The guard units are collectively known as the "Texas Military Forces."

The Texas Military Forces includes the Texas Army National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard and the Texas State Guard, the state militia. The headquarters of the Texas Military Forces is at Camp Mabry in Austin.

Texas State Guide - Economy

In 2005 Texas had a gross state product of $982.4 billion, the second highest in America after California, after recently surpassing New York state. Gross state product per capita as of 2005 was $42,975. Texas's growth is often attributed to the availability of jobs, the low cost of housing (housing values in the Dallas and Houston areas, while generally rising, have not risen at the astronomical rates of other cities such as San Francisco), the lack of a personal state income tax, low taxation and limited regulation of business, a geographic location in the center of the country, limited government (the Texas Legislature meets only once every two years), favorable climate in many areas of the state, and vast, plentiful supplies of oil and natural gas. Texas has 4.6 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves.

Texas remained largely rural until World War II, with cattle ranching, oil, and agriculture as its main industries. Cattle ranching (though important) was never Texas's chief industry – before the oil boom back to the period of the first Anglo settlers, the chief industry was cotton farming (as in most of the South).

In 1926, San Antonio had over 120,000 people, the largest population of any city in Texas. After World War II, Texas became increasingly industrialized. Its economy today relies largely on information technology, oil and natural gas, fuel processing, electric power, agriculture, and manufacturing. The major segment of the economy depends largely on the region involved – for example, the timber industry is a major portion of the East Texas economy but a non-factor elsewhere, while aerospace and defense manufacturing is primarily centered within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

The state has two major economic centers: Dallas and Houston. Houston stands at the center of the petrochemical and biomedical research trades while Dallas functions as the center of the aerospace/defense manufacturing and information technology labor market in Texas. Other major cities include San Antonio, Austin, Brownsville, Lubbock, Amarillo, Abilene, Bryan-College Station, Beaumont, McAllen, Tyler, Odessa and Midland. Other important cities include Killeen (home to Fort Hood, the largest military post in the U.S.) and the cities of El Paso, Eagle Pass, and Laredo (these have particular significance due to their location on the border with Mexico, making them important trade points).

As of 2006, Texas, for the first time, has more Fortune 500 company headquarters (56) than any other state (California has 55; ironically, it was due to the move of Fluor from California to Texas). This has been attributed to both the growth in population in Texas and the rise of oil prices in 2005, which resulted in the growth in revenues of many Texas oil drilling and processing companies.

Texas is the largest international exporter among the 50 American states, with international merchandise exports totaling $117.2 Billion in 2004. In 2002, the Port of Houston was 6th among the top sea ports in the world in terms of total cargo volume; Air Cargo World rated Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as "the best air cargo airport in the world".

Texans pride themselves in a history of tradition, yet they seek new social and technological developments also. Round Rock is the headquarters of Dell and the surrounding area is known as "Silicon Hills". Dallas is a famously cosmopolitan metropolis and the birthplace of the integrated circuit, Houston is a global leader in the energy industry. The cultures of San Antonio and El Paso retain their Mexican heritage while Fort Worth maintains its western heritage. With a nod to its diversity and its past as a former sovereign nation, the state tourism slogan is "Texas: It's like a whole other country.®" (The slogan is used only in domestic advertising, a different slogan is used for marketing to Latin American countries.)

Texas is one of the top filmmaking states in the United States, just after California and New York. In the past 10 years alone (1995-2004), more than $2.75 billion has been spent in Texas for film and television production. The Texas Film Commission was founded for free services to filmmakers, from location research to traveling.

Since 2003, Texas state officials have been committed to developing the economy of Texas with various initiatives such as the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, which invest money into developing Texas business.

Texas State Guide - Demographics

The center of population of Texas is located in Bell County, in the town of Holland.

As of 2005, the state has an estimated population of 22.8 million—an increase of 388,419 (1.7%) from the prior year and an increase of 2 million (9.6%) since the year 2000. In all three subcategories—natural (births less deaths), net immigration, and net migration—Texas has seen an increase in population. The natural increase since the last census was 1,155,182 people (1,948,398 births minus 793,216 deaths), immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 663,161 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 218,722 people. The state passed New York in the 1990s to become the second-largest U.S. state in population (after California).

As of 2004, the state has 3.5 million foreign-born residents (15.6% of the state population), of which an estimated 1.2 million are illegal immigrants (illegal immigrants account for more than one-third of the foreign-born population in Texas and 5.4% of the total state population).

Census data reports 7.8% of Texas's population as under 5 years old, 28.2% under 18, and 9.9% over 64 years. Females made up 50.4% of the population.

Texas State Guide - Culture

Due to immigration in the United States history, the culture of Texas has been a melting pot of different cultures around the world. Texas is a diverse and an international place to live, in part because of its many academic institutions and strong biomedical, energy, manufacturing and aerospace industries.

Texas also has an influx of people from the central United States moving in to find jobs. Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska and the Dakotas have experienced a "brain drain" as their university graduates move to other states to find employment.

There are many popular events held in Texas celebrating cultures of Texans. The annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo that is held over 20 days from late February through early March. The event begins with trail rides that originate from several points throughout the state, all of which convene at Reliant Park for a barbecue cook-off. The rodeo includes typical rodeo events, as well as concert performances from major artists and carnival rides. The Fort Worth Livestock Show and Rodeo lasts three weeks in late January and early February. It has many traditional rodeos, but also a cowboy rodeo, and a Mexican rodeo in recent years that have a large fan base for each. The State Fair of Texas is held in Dallas each year at Fair Park. The OU-Texas football game is played at the Cotton Bowl near Fair Park during the State Fair.

Texas has a vibrant live music scene in Austin boasting more music venues per capita than any other U.S. city, befitting the city's official slogan as The Live Music Capital of the World. Austin's music revolves around the many nightclubs on 6th Street and an annual film, music, and multimedia festival known as South by Southwest. The longest-running concert music program on American television, Austin City Limits, is videotaped on The University of Texas at Austin campus. Austin City Limits and Waterloo Records run the Austin City Limits Music Festival, an annual music and art festival held at Zilker Park in Austin.

Texas State Guide - Sports

Texas is known for its love of American football and is noted for the intensity with which people follow high school and college football teams—oftentimes dominating over all else for the purposes of socializing and leisure. School districts in Texas are sometimes criticized for the amount of money spent on their sports programs and facilities. For example, the turf of the football field at Duncanville High School cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Such facilities and programs can garner a school attention, however. Duncanville's largest basketball court, the Sandra Meadows Memorial Arena, was named in 2004 as one of the top ten places to watch basketball by USA Today. In May of 2005, Sports Illustrated also named the high school's sports program as one of the top 25 in the nation.

Baseball is also very popular in Texas, with Major League Baseball, with the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are equally popular in the state, as North Texas, West Texas, and the Pandhandle residents are predominantly Rangers fans, while Southeast Texas, Central Texas, and South Texas is predominantly inhabited by Astros fans. Minor league baseball is also closely followed.

Other popular sports in Texas include golf (which can be played year-round because of the South's mild climate), basketball (the state has three NBA teams, the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, and Dallas Mavericks), fishing, and auto racing. Lacrosse, originally played by some of the indigenous tribes, is a visible sport and growing. Soccer is a popular participatory sport—especially among children—but as a spectator sport, it does not yet have a large following despite two Texan teams in Major League Soccer. Hockey has been a growing participatory sport in the Dallas/Fort Worth area since the Minnesota North Stars became the Dallas Stars in 1993. Minor league pro hockey has become quite popular in the last decade; Texas is home to eight of the Central Hockey League's seventeen teams. Texas is also home to the Houston Aeros and San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League and the Texas Wildcatters of the ECHL.

Texas State Guide - Cities and Metropolitan Areas

Largest metropolitan areas

Texas has 25 metropolitan areas defined by the United States Census Bureau. Ranked by population of metro areas, the three largest Texas metro areas are Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. The two largest (Dallas and Houston) are ranked among the top 10 metropolitan areas of the United States. Dallas and Houston are also two of 11 U.S. world-class cities as defined by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC). with both also ranking among the top global cities.

The following table lists population figures for the five largest metropolitan areas, in rank of population. Population figures are as of the 2005 U.S. Census estimates.

Based on census data, as of June 2003, there is are specific data classifications, a new one being that of a “Metropolitan Division.” Texas has two metropolitan divisions within the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington MSA. The term metropolitan division is used to refer to a county or group of counties within a metropolitan area that has a population core of at least 2.5 million. While a metropolitan division is a subdivision of a larger metropolitan area, it often functions as a distinct social, economic, and cultural area within the larger region.

Largest cities

Ranked by population of cities (incorporated municipalities), the six largest cities in Texas are Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth, and El Paso.

Texas is the only state in the U.S. to have three cities with populations exceeding one million: Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio; 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 and Fort Worth are in the top 20 largest U.S. cities. Nearly half of the state's 20 most populous cities are suburbs.

Houston is world-renowned for its energy (particularly oil) and aeronautics industries, and for its ship channel. The city has a vibrant visual and performing arts scene as Houston is one of the five U.S. cities that offer world-class, year-round resident companies in all major performing arts.

Dallas is known globally as a center for telecommunications, computer technology, banking, and transportation. The city is the core of the largest inland metropolitan area in the nation and lacks any direct link to the sea—Dallas's prominence despite this comes from its historical importance as a center for the oil and cotton industries, its position along numerous railroad lines, and its powerful industrial and financial tycoons.

Texas State Guide - Healthcare and Scientific Research

Houston is the seat of the internationally-renowned Texas Medical Center, which contains the world's largest concentration of research and healthcare institutions.

There are 42 member institutions in the Texas Medical Center—all are non-profit organizations, and are dedicated to the highest standards of patient and preventive care, research, education, and local, national, and international community well-being. These institutions include 13 renowned hospitals and two specialty institutions, two medical schools, four nursing schools, and schools of dentistry, public health, pharmacy, and virtually all health-related careers. It is where one of the first, and still the largest, air emergency services was created—a very successful inter-institutional transplant program was developed—and more heart surgeries are performed there than anywhere else in the world.

Some of the academic and research health institutions are Baylor College of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is widely considered one of the world’s most productive and highly-regarded academic institutions devoted to cancer patient care, research, education and prevention.

Other healthcare and medical research centers in the state are the South Texas Medical Center in San Antonio and the UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Texas has two Biosafety Level 4 laboratories: one at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, and the other at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in San Antonio, the first privately owned BSL-4 lab in the United States.

In May 2006, Texas initiated the program "code red" in response to the report that Texas, at 25.1%, has the largest number of un-insured population of any state.

Texas State Guide - Colleges and Universities

The University of Texas System (UT), established by the Texas Constitution in 1876, consists of nine academic universities and six health institutions. UT System institutions enrolled a total of 182,752 students in fall 2004 making it one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation. In 2004, the University of Texas at Austin, which is the largest institution in the UT System and in the state of Texas, maintained an enrollment of 50,377 students. The University of Texas at Austin was once the largest institution in the United States, but it is now one of the top three largest by population and is the nation's 46th ranked university. Seven doctoral programs at UT Austin rank in the top 10 in the nation and 22 degree programs rank in the top 25, according to a comprehensive study of the quality of graduate schools conducted by the United States National Research Council. Four of the seven medical schools of Texas are within the University of Texas System. In 2004, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas was ranked the 12th highest ranking medical school in the United States, with four of Texas's 11 Nobel laureates.

The Texas A&M University System, established by the 1871 Texas legislature, is the second largest state university system of higher learning in Texas. Its flagship institution, Texas A&M University located in College Station, opened in 1876 and is the state's oldest public institution of higher education. Funded research generally exceeds that of all other Texas universities including UT Austin, and Texas A&M ranks among the top ten national universities in research. It is the second largest university in the state of Texas and also one of the top 10 largest schools in the nation. The University of Texas's rivalry with Texas A&M dates back to the late 19th century.

Baylor University, chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas, is the oldest university in Texas operating under its original charter. It purports to be the largest Baptist university in the world, having an enrollment of over 14,000 students. Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the Association of Southern Baptist Colleges and Schools. The 735-acre campus is located just southeast of downtown Waco, roughly bounded by Interstate 35, Speight Avenue, Eighth Street and the Brazos River.

The University of Houston System is the largest urban state system of higher education in the Gulf Coast, which has four universities with three located in Houston. Its flagship institution is the University of Houston (UH), which is the only doctoral degree granting extensive research institution in Houston and is the third largest in the state of Texas with an enrollment of over 36,000. The interdisciplinary research conducted at UH breaks new ground in such vital areas as superconductivity, space commercialization, biomedical engineering, economics, education, petroleum exploration and management. UH is also home to over 40 research centers and institutes. Amongst the most prestigious of the University of Houston's colleges is the University of Houston Law Center. The UH Law Center's Health Law and Policy Institute is ranked number one in the nation while the Intellectual Property Law Program is ranked fifth, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Houston is the location of a well known prestigious private institution, Rice University, which boasts one of the largest financial endowments of any university in the world. The small undergraduate student body is among the nation's most select and one of the highest percentages of National Merit Scholarship winners. Rice University maintains a variety of research facilities and laboratories. Rice is also associated with the Houston Area Research Center, a consortium supported by Rice, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and the University of Houston.

Another liberal arts college in Houston is the University of St. Thomas. Founded by the Basilian Order in 1947, the University has become one of the premier Roman Catholic universities in the world, renowned for its theology and philosophy departments. Former UST president Archbishop J. Michael Miller currently serves in the Roman Curia as the prefect of Catholic universities throughout the world. The campus is also home to some major historic buildings, such as the Link-Lee Mansion (once the largest house in Texas) and Hughes House (the childhood home of Howard Hughes).

Houston is also home to Texas Southern University, the first historically black college and university to house a law school; it was also the first state-supported institution in the city of Houston. Over the years, the university's educational facilities and programs expanded, and many of its graduates began to achieve local, regional, and national recognition for their influence in politics, education, business, technology, medicine, and the arts. Its pioneering spirit continues today.

The Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex has the fourth-largest university in the state—the University of North Texas—along with two UT System institutions—The University of Texas at Dallas and The University of Texas at Arlington, as well as private universities such as Southern Methodist University, which has the Metroplex's largest law school, University of Dallas, and Texas Christian University.

San Antonio is home to many colleges and universities, such as The University of Texas at San Antonio, the second-largest institution of the University of Texas System, which is expanding to become a premiere research university. Other universities in the city are the University of Texas Health Science Center, Trinity University, St. Mary's University, University of the Incarnate Word, and Our Lady of the Lake University.

Other major public universities in Texas include Texas State University-San Marcos (formerly Southwest Texas State University) and Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Article Source: Wikipedia