Texas (IPA: /'t?ks?s/) is a state located in the American South and Southwest regions of the United States of America. With an area of 261,797 square miles (678,051 km²) and a population of 23.5 million in 254 counties, the state is second-largest in both area and population. About half the state's population resides in Dallas–Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas.

The state's name derives from táysha?, a word in the Caddoan language of the Hasinai, which means "friends" or "allies".Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 and existed as the independent Republic of Texas for nearly a decade. In 1845, it joined the United States as the 28th state. Along with Vermont, California, and Hawaii, Texas is one of only four states that were independent nations before becoming a constituent state of the U.S.

Texas is internationally known for its energy and aeronautics industries, and for the ship channel at the Port of Houston—the largest in the U.S. in international commerce and the sixth-largest port in the world. The state is home to the most Fortune 500 companies and has the second-largest economy in the U.S. The Texas Medical Center in Houston contains the world's largest concentration of research and healthcare institutions.

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

American Indian tribes who once lived inside the boundaries of present-day Texas include Apache, Atakapan, Bidai, Caddo, Comanche, Cherokee, Kiowa, Tonkawa, Wichita, Hueco 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.

Texans wanted annexation to the United States. Texas was fast-growing, but still poor and had great difficulty maintaining self-defense. Events such as the Dawson Massacre and two recaptures of Béxar in Texas of 1842 helped add momentum to the desire for statehood. 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 29 December 1845, Texas was admitted to the U.S. as a constituent state of the Union. The Mexican–American War followed, with decisive American victories. Soon after, Texas grew rapidly as migrants poured into the cotton lands.Just prior to the American Civil War, elected delegates met in convention and, in an act whose legality was later upheld by the Texas Legislature, authorized secession from the U.S. on 1 February 1861 by a thundering majority. Texas voters later overwhelmingly approved the measure in referendum, and the state was accepted as a charter member by the provisional government of the Confederate States of America on 1 March 1861. Partly due to its distance from the front lines of the war, a major role for Texas was to supply hardy soldiers for Confederate forces (veterans of the Mexican–American War), especially in cavalry. Although Texan regiments fought in every major battle throughout the war

Texas was largely considered 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. The last battle of the Civil War was fought in Texas, at Palmito Ranch, on 12 May 1865, well after Lee's surrender on 9 April 1865 at Appomattox Court House in 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 19 June 1865 in Galveston by General Gordon Granger; nearly 1-1/2 years after the original announcement of 1 January 1863.President Johnson, on 20 August 1866, declared that civilian government had been restored to Texas On 30 March 1870, although Texas did not meet all the requirements, the United States Congress readmitted Texas into the Union.

The first major oil well in Texas was drilled at Spindletop, a little hill south of Beaumont, on the morning of 10 January 1901. Other oil fields were later discovered nearby in East Texas, 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 American Civil War, was dealt a double blow by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

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 designed to manage state institutions more efficiently. Because of these changes, Texas universities received federal funds for research and development during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations

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, New Mexico on the west, 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, Central 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 with the Southwest (primarily East Texas, Central Texas, and North Texas), while other regions share more similarities with the Southwest (primarily far West Texas and South Texas). The upper Texas Panhandle and the South Plains parts of West Texas do not easily fit into either category. The former has much in common with the Midwestern United States, while the latter, originally settled primarily by anglo Southerners, yet with a notable Hispanic population, is somewhat of a blend of South and Southwest.

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.      WE LOVE YOU BILL

Here are a few pictures of us.

Ally & Summer. Dynamic duo

Savannah's first big carnival. She won every animal they had.

Billdaddy and The Allycat. What a team LOL

Baby Savannah , three hours after being born. She is truly a blessing in our lives as were all of my children. Children, God's greatest gift.

Hello Thomas,

Great choice.

Congrats to you William, Bravo, we love you, your very special never ever forget it!!!!

God Bless you and your family.

Merry Christmas William.

Love you-

Kathy Hamilton