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. Spanish explorers mistakenly applied the word to the people and their location. Texas joined the United States in 1845 as the 28th state, after nearly 10 years as 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.  In 2005 Texas had a gross state product of $982.4 billion, the second highest in America 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. King Ranch, located in south Texas between Corpus Christi, Texas and Brownsville, Texas, is one of the world's largest ranches (larger than Rhode Island). It is the largest ranch in the United States. The 825,000 acre (3,340 km²) ranch, founded in 1853 by Captain Richard King and Gideon K. Lewis, sprawls across six Texas counties, including most of Kenedy County. The ranch was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961. King Ranch also raises quarter horses, cutting horses and thoroughbreds and produced the 1946 Triple Crown winner Assault and 1950 Kentucky Derby winner, Middleground. They also owned a share of La Troienne, the greatest broodmare of the Twentieth Century. In addition, the King Ranch company also operates a local museum, maintains other property concerns and works with Texas A&M University to perform agricultural research and development. In 1997, Ford Motor Company added a King Ranch edition to their F-series Super Duty truck line, complete with the King Ranch cattle brand logo. Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 332,969 (though a July 1, 2004 estimate placed the city's population at 359,467). Arlington is the seventh-largest city in the state and the fifty-first largest city in the United States. Arlington is home to the Texas Rangers, Ameriquest Field in Arlington, the theme parks Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor, future home to the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium, and is approximately 12 miles east of Fort Worth and 20 miles west of Dallas. It is coterminous with Kennedale, Grand Prairie, Mansfield and Fort Worth. The city also completely surrounds the smaller communities of Dalworthington Gardens and Pantego. | | |  Big Tex, mascot of the Texas State Fair |
 Eagle Point, Caprock Canyons State Park |
