| Texas, the Lone Star State, is the second-largest state in the United States both in land mass and population. It is 267,000 square miles and is larger than any country in Europe. To put the size of Texas in perspective, you can set out from Amarillo in your car and drive south for 15 hours and still not reach the Mexico border.
Three of the nation’s 10 largest cities are in Texas: Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. Texas today is as much a leader of high-tech industries as it is an agricultural and ranching state. Second only to Alaska in land area, it leads all other states in such categories as oil, cattle, sheep and cotton.
Texas is divided into seven geographical regions: Texas Panhandle Plains, Texas Piney Woods, Texas Big Bend Country, Texas Prairies and Lakes, South Texas Plains, Texas Hill Country and Texas Gulf Coast.
Millions of tourists visit Texas and spend well over $44 billion annually. Points of interest include: the Gulf Coast resort area, the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Alamo in San Antonio, and the Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains National Park.
| 
