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Geography of Texas
The geography of Texas is diverse and large. Occupying about 7% of the total water and land area of the U.S., it is the second largest state after Alaska, and is the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which end in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico. Texas is in the South Central United States of America, and is considered to form part of the U.S. South and also part of the U.S. Southwest.
By residents, the state is generally divided into North Texas, East Texas, Central Texas, South Texas, West Texas and, sometimes, the Panhandle and Upper Gulf Coast, but according to the Texas Almanac, Texas has four major physical regions: Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and Basin and Range Province. This has been cited as the difference between human geography and physical geography, although the fact that Texas was granted the prerogative to divide into as many as five U.S. states may be a historical motive for Texans defining their state as containing exactly five regions.
Some regions in Texas are more associated with the American Southeast (primarily East Texas, Central Texas, and North Texas). The Panhandle is part of the Great Plains and is considered by many to have more in common with parts of the Midwest than either the South or Southwest. Geographically and culturally, El Paso is closer to New Mexico or Arizona than it is to Austin or to East Texas. The size of Texas prohibits easy categorization of the entire state wholly in any recognized region of the United States, and even cultural diversity among regions of the state makes it difficult to treat Texas as a region in its own right.
Texas covers a total area of 268,581 square miles (695,622 km2). The longest straight-line distance is from the northwest corner of the panhandle to the Rio Grande river just below Brownsville, 801 miles (1,289 km). The greatest east–west distance is 773 miles (1,244 km) from the extreme eastward bend in the Sabine River in Newton County to the extreme western bulge of the Rio Grande just above El Paso. The largest continental state is so expansive that El Paso, in the western corner of the state, is closer to San Diego, California, than to the Houston/Beaumont area, near the Louisiana state line; while Orange, on the border with Louisiana, is closer to Jacksonville, Florida, than it is to El Paso. Texarkana, in the northeastern corner of the state, is about the same distance from Chicago, Illinois, as it is from El Paso, and Dalhart, in the northwestern corner of the state, is closer to the state capitals of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming than it is to Austin, its own state capital.
The geographic center of Texas is about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Brady in northern McCulloch County. Guadalupe Peak, at 8,749 feet (2,666.7 m) above sea level, is the highest point in Texas, the lowest being sea level where Texas meets the Gulf of Mexico. Texas has five state forests and 120 state parks totalling over 605,000 acres (2,450 km2). There are 3,700 named streams and 15 major river systems flowing through 191,000 miles (307,000 km) of Texas, supporting over 212 reservoirs.
With 10 climatic regions, 14 soil regions, and 11 distinct ecological regions, regional classification becomes problematic with differences in soils, topography, geology, rainfall, and plant and animal communities.
Much of the 367-mile (591 km) Gulf coastline of Texas is paralleled by the Texas barrier islands, many of which enclose a series of estuaries where the state's rivers mix with water from the Gulf of Mexico. These water bodies include some of the largest and most ecologically productive coastal estuaries in the United States and contribute significantly to the ecological and economic resources of Texas.
The Gulf Coastal Plains extends from the Gulf of Mexico inland to the Balcones Fault and the Eastern Cross Timbers. This large area stretches from the cities of Paris to San Antonio to Del Rio but shows a large variety in vegetation. Ranging from 20 to 58 inches (510 to 1,470 mm) of annual rainfall, this is a nearly level, drained plain dissected by streams and rivers flowing into coastal estuaries and marshes. Windblown sands and dunes, grasslands, oak mottes and salt marshes make up the seaward areas. National Parks include Big Thicket National Preserve, Padre Island National Seashore and the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site.
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Geography of Texas
The geography of Texas is diverse and large. Occupying about 7% of the total water and land area of the U.S., it is the second largest state after Alaska, and is the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which end in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico. Texas is in the South Central United States of America, and is considered to form part of the U.S. South and also part of the U.S. Southwest.
By residents, the state is generally divided into North Texas, East Texas, Central Texas, South Texas, West Texas and, sometimes, the Panhandle and Upper Gulf Coast, but according to the Texas Almanac, Texas has four major physical regions: Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and Basin and Range Province. This has been cited as the difference between human geography and physical geography, although the fact that Texas was granted the prerogative to divide into as many as five U.S. states may be a historical motive for Texans defining their state as containing exactly five regions.
Some regions in Texas are more associated with the American Southeast (primarily East Texas, Central Texas, and North Texas). The Panhandle is part of the Great Plains and is considered by many to have more in common with parts of the Midwest than either the South or Southwest. Geographically and culturally, El Paso is closer to New Mexico or Arizona than it is to Austin or to East Texas. The size of Texas prohibits easy categorization of the entire state wholly in any recognized region of the United States, and even cultural diversity among regions of the state makes it difficult to treat Texas as a region in its own right.
Texas covers a total area of 268,581 square miles (695,622 km2). The longest straight-line distance is from the northwest corner of the panhandle to the Rio Grande river just below Brownsville, 801 miles (1,289 km). The greatest east–west distance is 773 miles (1,244 km) from the extreme eastward bend in the Sabine River in Newton County to the extreme western bulge of the Rio Grande just above El Paso. The largest continental state is so expansive that El Paso, in the western corner of the state, is closer to San Diego, California, than to the Houston/Beaumont area, near the Louisiana state line; while Orange, on the border with Louisiana, is closer to Jacksonville, Florida, than it is to El Paso. Texarkana, in the northeastern corner of the state, is about the same distance from Chicago, Illinois, as it is from El Paso, and Dalhart, in the northwestern corner of the state, is closer to the state capitals of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming than it is to Austin, its own state capital.
The geographic center of Texas is about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Brady in northern McCulloch County. Guadalupe Peak, at 8,749 feet (2,666.7 m) above sea level, is the highest point in Texas, the lowest being sea level where Texas meets the Gulf of Mexico. Texas has five state forests and 120 state parks totalling over 605,000 acres (2,450 km2). There are 3,700 named streams and 15 major river systems flowing through 191,000 miles (307,000 km) of Texas, supporting over 212 reservoirs.
With 10 climatic regions, 14 soil regions, and 11 distinct ecological regions, regional classification becomes problematic with differences in soils, topography, geology, rainfall, and plant and animal communities.
Much of the 367-mile (591 km) Gulf coastline of Texas is paralleled by the Texas barrier islands, many of which enclose a series of estuaries where the state's rivers mix with water from the Gulf of Mexico. These water bodies include some of the largest and most ecologically productive coastal estuaries in the United States and contribute significantly to the ecological and economic resources of Texas.
The Gulf Coastal Plains extends from the Gulf of Mexico inland to the Balcones Fault and the Eastern Cross Timbers. This large area stretches from the cities of Paris to San Antonio to Del Rio but shows a large variety in vegetation. Ranging from 20 to 58 inches (510 to 1,470 mm) of annual rainfall, this is a nearly level, drained plain dissected by streams and rivers flowing into coastal estuaries and marshes. Windblown sands and dunes, grasslands, oak mottes and salt marshes make up the seaward areas. National Parks include Big Thicket National Preserve, Padre Island National Seashore and the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site.