Geography of Texas

Introduction to Geography of Texas

Texas, a state in the south-central United States. It extends from the Gulf of Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley northward into the heart of the Great Plains.

To many people, the name Texas brings to mind dry, barren plains dotted by occasional cattle herds and oil wells. In reality, there is great scenic variety, ranging from thick pine forests and long sandy beaches to beautiful mountains and canyons. There is as much variety in the state's economy as in its scenery. Cattle and oil are still very important in Texas, but they are now only part of a highly diversified economy that is dominated by manufacturing. Texas cities that had long been primarily market and oil-refining centers are now industrial and financial capitals of a multistate area.

Despite the many changes that have taken place, Texans maintain a traditional pride in their state and its colorful history. They sometimes tend to think of Texas as a separate country. This feeling is at least partly due to the vastness and diversity of the state, its numerous resources, and a spirit of independence that goes back to the days of the Republic of Texas.

Texas in brief

Physical Geography

Texas occupies parts of four physiographic regions of the United States. From east to west they are the Gulf Coastal Plain, the Central Lowlands, the Great Plains, and the Basin and Range.

The Gulf Coastal Plain, extending from Mexico to Florida, covers eastern and southern Texas. It roughly parallels the Gulf of Mexico and consists of a series of lowlands separated by hilly areas. The area along the coast consists of several long, narrow islands and peninsulas lying parallel to the mainland. Inland, the surface is at first flat, but it becomes more hilly toward the interior. The fertile, rolling Black Prairie belt, farthest west in the Gulf Coastal Plain, is one of the most densely populated and productive areas in the state.

The Central Lowlands, an interior region reaching as far north as Canada, is known in Texas as the North Central Plains. This area of rolling and hilly land lies west of the Black Prairie and north of the Colorado River. Its western boundary is the Cap Rock Escarpment, which rises 200 to 1,000 feet (60 to 300 m) above its base on the plains.

The Great Plains is a vast elevated region extending from Canada to Texas just east of the Rocky Mountains. In the Texas Panbandle, the state's northern extension between New Mexico and Oklahoma, the plains are about 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above sea level. This area, called the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain, is flat and almost featureless except for its eastern margin, which is marked by a number of deep canyons. The most spectacular is Palo Duro Canyon, on a tributary of the Red River.

To the south is the Edwards Plateau. It lies at an average elevation of nearly 2,500 feet (760 m), and the surface is more rolling. Many valleys and canyons have been carved along the southern and eastern edges of this plateau. The hill country west of Austin is a popular tourist area and has numerous guest ranches.

The Basin and Range region, or Trans-Pecos, as it is known in Texas, is situated west of the Pecos River and the Stockton Plateau. It is a continuation of a series of mountain ranges and intervening basins extending southward from the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico. Highest among the ranges is the Guadalupe Mountains. Here is Guadalupe Peak, at 8,749 feet (2,667 m) the highest point in Texas. To the south are the Davis Mountains, with peaks up to 8,500 feet (2,590 m). The Chisos Mountains are in the Big Bend country, so named for the great northward turn made by the Rio Grande. Big Bend National Park was established here to preserve the area's natural beauty.

All streams and rivers in Texas drain to the Gulf of Mexico. The Red and Canadian rivers are part of the Mississippi River system, but all other rivers in the state flow directly into the Gulf. The Rio Grande, although the state's longest river, receives very little water from Texas as it flows along the 1,300-mile (2,100-km) international border. Its principal Texas tributary is the Pecos River. The longest river completely within the state is the Brazos, more than 800 miles (1,300 km) in length.

Many localities in Texas rely on wells for their water. Continuously increasing demands from agriculture and industry have threatened to exceed available supplies of well water. Streams and rivers are being used more and more, but because of the highly variable rainfall in Texas, they are often undependable sources.

To provide reliable water supplies, many state and federal conservation projects have been undertaken throughout the state, especially in the east and northeast. Among the largest of these is Lake Texoma, on the Red River, which provides electric power and recreation areas as well as water storage for Texas and Oklahoma. Toledo Bend Reservoir on the Sabine River is a joint Texas-Louisiana project. Nearby are the Sam Rayburn Dam and Reservoir. Falcon and Amistad reservoirs, international projects on the Rio Grande, are designed to provide irrigation water for both Texas and Mexico.

Texas has a wide variety of climates, ranging from subtropical to continental. Eastern Texas and the Gulf Coast have a humid subtropical climate, with mild to cool winters, hot summers, and abundant rainfall distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Winters are mildest in the lower Rio Grande Valley, in the far south, where virtually no snow or freezes occur. January and July temperatures average 45° and 85° F. (7° and 29° C.) in Dallas; 52° and 83° F. (11° and 28° C.) in Houston; and 60° and 84° F. (16° and 29° C.) in Brownsville.

The climate in western Texas, north of the Balcones Escarpment, is a dry continental type. Winters are cold in the Panhandle, where frequent strong cold fronts move southward across the Great Plains. January and July averages for Amarillo are 36° and 79° F. (2° and 26° C.); for El Paso, 44° and 82° F. (7° and 28° C.); and for Del Rio, 51° and 87° F. (11° and 31° C.).

In general, the amount of precipitation decreases from east to west in Texas. Yearly totals in the east, near Beaumont, are close to 50 inches (1,270 mm). El Paso, in the far west, receives less than 8 inches (200 mm) a year. Total amounts throughout the state, however, are highly variable from year to year, and droughts are sometimes long and severe. Tornadoes occur at any time of the year in Texas, and hurricanes occasionally move in from the Gulf in summer or autumn, causing wind damage and flooding in eastern Texas.

Pine forests, mixed with a few such hardwoods as oak and hickory, lie between the Trinity and Sabine rivers; they provide most of the state's commercial timber production. West of the pine belt is a region of mixed hardwood forest, primarily blackjack and post oak, elm, and—along watercourses—pecan and walnut trees. A notable break in this woodland region is the Black Prairie belt, a grassland area with some timber along stream banks.

South of San Antonio is a region of brush, cactus, and mesquite trees. Similar vegetation is found in the Pecos River area. West of the Pecos, in the Basin and Range country, native plants are limited to low shrubs and grass, which grows in scattered patches. In the higher mountains, however, enough rain falls to support oaks and coniferous trees. Treeless grasslands occupy the Panhandle, while farther south on the Edwards Plateau increasing numbers of low trees and shrubs are found. Between the Great Plains and the Red River, in the Central Lowlands, is a prairie region with many patches of mesquite and scrub oak trees.

Economy

Texas has one of the largest and most diverse economies in the United States of America. Service industries account for the largest part of Texas’s gross domestic product. Until the beginning of the 20th century the economy of Texas was based on farming, ranching, and lumbering. Then, in 1901, large-scale production of petroleum began following discovery of the Spindletop oil field near Beaumont. Since then, the economy of Texas has become closely bound to the production and distribution of petroleum, petroleum products, and natural gas and to such related industries as petroleum refining and the making of petrochemicals.

Since roughly mid-century, diverse manufacturing industries have been established in the state. Especially notable are those in the electronic chemical, food-processing, machinery production and aerospace fields. Today, about 14 per cent of the nonagricultural labor force is engaged in manufacturing. Wholesale and retail trade, finance, the service industries, and government also employ large numbers of persons. The corporate headquarters of many of the country's largest companies are based in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas.

These changes in the Texas economy reflect the demand, both from within and from outside the state, for an ever-widening variety of products. Abundant resources, especially petroleum and natural gas, a large labor force, relatively low wages, and large amounts of investment capital have helped bring about these changes.

The natural wealth of Texas includes large mineral deposits, especially petroleum and natural gas; it also has fertile soils and rich grasslands. There are layers of rock containing beds of lignite that cover about 75,000 square miles (194,000 square kilometers), extending from Laredo to Texarkana. Iron ore is found in the eastern part of Texas. There are large asphalt deposits near Uvalde and potash is found in the Basin and Range Region. Molybdenum, titanium, and uranium are found in the southern and western parts of the state. There are also deposits of basalt, fluorite, fuller's earth and other clays, granite, helium, lead, marble, and talc to be found in Texas. Texas has more than 1,200 types of soil. Such variety enables farmers to grow many kinds of crops. There is a narrow belt along the state's Gulf Coast that has marshy soils, mixed with clays. Rich, heavy black land clays constitute a belt in the interior of the plains. The High Plains and the Rolling Plains are clays, clay loam, and sandy loam soils, whereas the Basin and Range Region has rough, stony mountain soils.

Texas ranks among the top five manufacturing states by value of total output. While some industry is found throughout the state, most is centered in two areas: the Gulf Coast and the Black Prairie belt. Commodities produced in Texas have a value added by manufacture of approximately $150 billion a year. No other state except California and Ohio employs more manufacturing workers than Texas. In terms of value added by manufacture, chemicals are Texas’s leading type of manufactured product. Benzene, ethylene, fertilizers, propylene, and resins are important chemical products. Texas’s chemical industry operates mainly in cities along the Gulf Coast.

Petroleum refining is still one of the major industries, but the largest in employment and value of production is the manufacture of chemicals, including petrochemicals. Petrochemical plants use refinery products as raw materials, and a complex network of pipelines connects refineries and petrochemical plants. Among the petrochemical products are synthetic rubber and fibers, plastics, detergents, and fertilizers.

Texas takes the first position among the states in oil refining. About 25 petroleum refineries operate throughout Texas. There are large refineries along the Gulf Coast in Baytown, Beaumont, Houston, Port Arthur, Texas City, and other port cities. One of the largest petroleum companies in the world, Exxon Mobil, has its headquarters in Irving.

The manufacture of transportation equipment is centered around Dallas-Fort Worth. Products include not only automobiles and trucks, but military and civil aircraft and boats and ships. Other important industries include manufacture of machinery, particularly construction and oil-field machinery; refrigeration and heating equipment, processed foods, computers, electrical and electronic equipment, primary metals, fabricated metal products, clothing, aluminum, cement and concrete, paper, stone, clay, and glass products; and printed and published materials. Machinery manufacturing is centered in areas such as Austin, Dallas, and Houston. The leading fabricated metal products made in Texas are industrial valves, machine shop products, and sheet metal. A major producer of electronic components and military communication systems, Texas Instruments, is based in Dallas and has plants in several Texas cities. Dell Inc. is a leading computer manufacturer and is based in Round Rock near Austin. The greatest income for the food-processing industry is provided by meat products. Baked goods, beverages, dairy products, preserved fruits and vegetables, and snack foods are important. There are many bakeries in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas. The leading beverage product is soft drinks.

The commercial forests of eastern Texas supply wood for paper mills and for a wide variety of manufactured items.

Community, business, and personal services are the leading service industry in Texas and contribute more to the gross state product than any other economic activity. These services include private health care, law firms, engineering companies, and repair shops. An important part of this industry group is the engineering companies that service oil and gas companies.

Next are the finance, insurance, and real estate service industries of Texas in terms of the gross domestic product. In most areas of Texas, the buying and selling of buildings and other property is an important part of the economy. The chief financial centers in the state are Dallas and Houston. Dallas forms the headquarters of many insurance companies.

The third most important service industry is trade, restaurants, and hotels. The wholesale trade of food products, motor vehicles, and petroleum products is significant in Texas. Retail businesses are automobile dealerships, clothing stores, department stores, gas stations, and grocery stores. The Dallas-Fort Worth area is the base for several major retailers, including the companies that own J. C. Penney, 7-Eleven, and RadioShack stores. Nearly three-fourths of the Texas’s hotel and motel income comes from the Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio areas.

Government services rank next among the service industry groups of Texas. This group includes the operation of public schools, public hospitals, and military bases. The public school system provides major employment in the state. The San Antonio area is home to Fort Sam Houston and several United States Air Force bases. The federal government operates the Johnson Space Center in the Houston area. Austin, the state capital is the base for State government offices.

In fifth position are transportation and communication. Trucking companies contribute most of the income for the transportation sector. There are many shipping companies that operate along the Gulf Coast. American Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Southwest Airlines have headquarters in Texas. The leading industries of the communications sector are telecommunications and publishing companies.

Texas is second in the nation after California in total value of agricultural output. About 80 per cent of the state is occupied by ranches and farms. Less than 15 per cent of the farmland is used for crops; the rest is used mostly for grazing livestock. Some of the ranches are extremely large, covering 150,000 to 1,000,000 acres (60,700 to 404,700 hectares). These large “spreads,” however, are far less common than in the past. There are large areas of irrigated cropland in the Panhandle and in the lower Rio Grande Valley.

The more than 200 crops raised in Texas account for about 35 per cent of the total agricultural income. In most years, the state ranks first in the production of cotton and wool and second in the production of grain sorghum. Cotton is grown in most Texas counties, but principally in the Lubbock area, the Black Prairie belt, and the lower Rio Grande Valley. Most of the crop is grown with the aid of irrigation. Texas cotton survives best on the coastal plain and in the Great Plains region. Jared Groce, sometimes known as the “Father of Texas Agriculture”, and other early settlers introduced commercial cotton growing. They planted cotton in the fertile valley of the Brazos River during the early 19th century. Cottonseed, used to make livestock feed and vegetable oil, is a valuable by-product. Corn, grain sorghum, hay, wheat, and rice are also major crops. Rice is produced in the coastal lowlands, and is entirely dependent on irrigation.

Corn is cultivated mainly in the Panhandle and in the Prairie Plains region. Most of the grain sorghum in the state is grown in the Panhandle and in South Texas. Grain sorghum and hay chiefly constitute as cattle feed. The eastern Gulf Coast is the main area for growing rice. Most of the large wheat farms are in northern Texas. Other field crops grown are oats, peanuts, potatoes, soybeans, sugar beets, and sugar cane.

Southern and eastern Texas is nationally famous for the production of fruits and vegetables, particularly winter and early spring varieties. The lower Rio Grande Valley grows grapefruit and oranges, as well as carrots, cabbage, honeydews and cantaloupes. The socalled Winter Garden area west of San Antonio and the area around Corpus Christi are also prominent fruit and vegetable sources. As temperatures in the valley usually remain warm during winter, crops can be grown all year round.

The leading source of agricultural income in the state's urban areas is greenhouse and nursery products, which include flowers, ornamental shrubs, and young trees. Texas leads in the annual income from greenhouse and nursery products.

Texas is one of the leading states in the production of nuts. The most important nuts harvested in the state are pecans. Pecan trees grow along rivers and streams throughout most of Texas, except in the High Plains and the Basin and Range Region.

In the Panhandle and in north-central Texas feed grains, wheat, and hay are major crops. Part of the grain is not harvested, but is left in the field for grazing.

Texas leads all other states in numbers of cattle, sheep, and goats. Cattle are raised throughout Texas, but primarily in the eastern half of the state. Sheep and goats are almost entirely limited to the Edwards and Stockton plateaus. No other state has as many sheep as Texas, and it leads the United States in wool production. Nearly all of the nation's production of mohair comes from Angora goats raised in Texas. Large numbers of poultry, including broilers and turkeys, are also raised in the state.

Texas's largest source of farm income comes from beef cattle, providing nearly half of the annual total. Texas leads the other states in the nation in number of beef cattle. Cattle can graze outdoors all year around due to the mild Texas winters. During the late 19th century, ranchers raised large herds of a breed of beef cattle called “Texas longhorns”. Breeds such as Herefords and Aberdeen-Angus gradually replaced the longhorns. Now, Texas longhorns are used chiefly for crossbreeding purposes and to produce low-fat beef.

The leading dairy farming area is the northeastern part of the state. There are many chicken and egg farms in eastern Texas. Most of Texas’s hog farms are in the central plains and Panhandle. Farmers also raise honey bees and horses.

Texas leads the country in value of mineral production, ranking first in crude petroleum and natural gas. Oil and gas provide the greatest part of the total mineral production by value. Around one-fifth of the oil produced in the United States comes from Texas. Almost every county in the state produces some oil or gas, but the heaviest output comes from fields in the Panhandle, the Gulf Coast, and other areas in the eastern part of the state. The leading oil-producing area in Texas is a belt that runs from Hockley County to Pecos County in west Texas. This area lies above an underground region called the Permian Basin, which contains vast deposits of oil and gas. Proven oil reserves rival those of Alaska as the largest in the nation.

Close to one-fourth of the natural gas produced in the United States comes from Texas. The leading counties in the state in natural gas production are Webb and Zapata counties in the south. There are large gas fields also in Panola and Wise counties and in the Panhandle. There are pipelines that carry Texas’s natural gas to major urban areas such as New York and Chicago.

Texas is also the leading producer of sulfur. Production is from underground domes and from natural gas and petroleum processing and refining operations. Magnesium, used principally for making light-weight alloys, is obtained by extraction from seawater and from underground brine. In the Panhandle are several processing plants that extract helium from natural gas.

Other minerals include coal, cement, salt, used primarily in the state's chemical industry; sand and gravel, lime, clays, crushed stone and gypsum. Some natural asphalt, used in road construction, is produced in Texas. There are limestone quarries that provide most of Texas's cement, crushed stone, and lime; the largest of these quarries lie near the major cities. Limestone, sand and gravel are used to manufacture concrete and construct roads. Sand and gravel are dredged from riverbeds and dug from pits. Coal is found in the surface mines in southern and eastern parts of Texas. The salt production in Texas is mostly in the Houston area.

The state’s utilities supply electric, gas and water service. It ranks first in the U.S.A. in electric power production. Nearly half of the electric power generated in Texas is produced from power plants that burn natural gas and more than one-third comes from plants that burn coal. The rest is mostly generated by nuclear plants.

By the value of its catch, Texas is among the nation's top five states. It has an annual fish catch that is valued at more than $165 million. Shrimp account for all but a tiny part of the catch's value; the rest comes mainly from other shellfish, especially oysters and blue crabs.. It is one of the leading states in the production of shrimp. Other fish that make up the catch are Atlantic croaker, black drum, groupers, and red snapper. Farm-raised catfish is also produced in Texas.

Texas has the largest network of primary and secondary roads in the United States. The primary system, which connects all major Texas cities, includes eight Interstate routes and many miles of other multilane divided highways. There are about 300,000 miles (483,000 kilometers) of roads and highways in Texas and about 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers) of the interstate highway system cross Texas. Railway mileage is also the largest of any state, but, as in most other states, has declined for many years. Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston are the chief railway hubs. The first railway in Texas was built in 1852 and 1853 between Harrisburg (now part of Houston) and Richmond. There are about 45 railway lines now that provide freight service in Texas.

Six major ports serve Texas. Houston, connected to the gulf by the 50-mile (80-km) Houston Ship Channel, is the state's largest port and ranks among the busiest ports in the country. Beaumont, Baytown, Corpus Christi, Texas City, Port Arthur, and Freeport also handle heavy cargo tonnages. Crude petroleum is overwhelmingly the leading import; refined petroleum products, chemicals, and grains are among the chief exports. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, paralleling the coast from Brownsville to the Sabine River and eastward, carries much cargo on barges and other shallow-draft vessels.

Dozens of domestic and foreign airlines provide scheduled air service in Texas. International airports at Houston, Austin, El Paso, San Antonio, and midway between Dallas and Fort Worth attract the largest number of carriers. The Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Airport is one of the busiest airports in the nation.

A Mexican named Jose Alvarez de Toledo printed Texas's first newspaper, Gaceta de Texas, in Nacogdoches in 1813. Today, there are more than 500 newspapers, of which about 85 are dailies. The largest circulations belong to the Austin American-Statesman, The Dallas Morning News, the El Paso Times, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Houston Chronicle, and the San Antonio Express-News. WRR, the first radio station in Texas, began broadcasting in Dallas in 1920 and the WBAP-TV (now KXAS-TV), the state's first television station, started in Fort Worth in 1948. There are about 900 radio stations and 110 television stations in Texas now.

The People

Whites made up 71 per cent of the population and blacks, 11.5 per cent. People of Hispanic origin, mainly from Mexico, accounted for 32 per cent of the population.

The state board of education is composed of one member elected from each congressional district. The board appoints a commissioner of education, with the consent of the governor and the senate, to serve for four years. Administration of the state school system is carried out by the Texas Education Agency, made up of the board of education, the commissioner of education, and the board of vocational education. School attendance is compulsory from age 7 to age 17.

In 1858 the state legislature established the University of Texas. However, appropriations for its support were diverted to frontier defense, and it did not open until 1883. The University of Texas now includes the main campus at Austin; medical schools at Galveston, Houston, and San Antonio; and branches at Arlington, Brownsville, Dallas, Edinburg, El Paso, Odessa, San Antonio, and Tyler.

The first state-supported institution of higher education in Texas to begin actual operation was the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A–M University). It opened at College Station in 1876. It has branches at Corpus Christi, Kingsville, and Canyon.

Government

Texas is governed under its fifth constitution, adopted in 1876 and frequently amended. An amendment to the Constitution needs to be approved by two-thirds of the members of each house of the state Legislature. Then, it must get the approval of a majority of the voters in a statewide election.

The chief executive of the state is the governor, who is elected for a four-year term and may be reelected an unlimited number of times. The lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller of public accounts, commissioner of agriculture, and commissioner of the general land office are elected for four years. The secretary of state is appointed by the governor for a four-year term.

The three members of the Railroad Commission of Texas are elected by the voters. The state's petroleum production is controlled by this group by deciding how much oil the Texas petroleum industry can pump each year.

The state legislature meets in odd-numbered years. It consists of a Senate of 31 members elected for four years and a House of Representatives of 150 members elected for two years. Both houses have meetings in odd-numbered years on the second Tuesday in January. The law requires that regular sessions be limited to 140 calendar days and special legislative sessions are allowed to last only 30 days.

The judicial branch of the government is made up of a supreme court, the highest civil court in Texas and several lower courts. The Supreme Court has a chief justice and eight justices. The judges of all state courts are elected. The Court of Criminal Appeals is the highest criminal court. It has nine judges, including a presiding judge. Members of both courts are elected to terms of six years each.

There is a court of appeals in each of the 14 Supreme Judicial districts in Texas. They all have a chief justice, a number of justices and are elected for six-year terms. The number of associate justices varies from 2 to 12. The District Courts are the chief trial courts. A district judge is elected to a four-year term by the voters of each judicial district. The county, municipal, justice of the peace, and criminal district courts are the other trial courts. Judges of all these courts, except municipal courts, are elected to four-year terms. Most municipal court judges are appointed to two-year terms.

Texas has 254 counties. A county commissioners court made up of the county judge and four commissioners governs each county. Administrative duties such as adopting the county budget and setting the county tax rate are performed by this court. County judges and commissioners are elected to four-year terms. The assessor-collector of taxes, the county attorney, the sheriff, and the treasurer are the other county officials. There are more than 1,200 incorporated cities, towns, and villages in Texas and more than 300 cities have home rule. All cities with populations of more than 5,000 are permitted to adopt home rule under the Texas Constitution. Many home-rule cities use either the council-manager or the commission-manager form of government and the other home-rule cities use the mayor-council system of government. It is represented in Congress by 2 senators and 32 representatives.

About half of the state's general revenue (income) is brought in by taxes. The rest mostly comes from federal grants and other U.S. government programs, and from charges for government services. The largest source of tax revenue is a retail sales tax on all items except food and medicine and a motor-fuel use tax is the second largest source of tax revenue. Other sources are a corporation-franchise tax and a tax on petroleum and natural gas production. Individual or corporate income taxes are not collected in Texas.

The Democratic Party historically controlled Texas politics. But in the late 20th century, the Republican Party began gaining strength. In 1978, Bill Clements became the first Republican to be elected governor since 1869. In 1998, George W. Bush became the first Republican governor to be elected to a second term and was elected president of the United States in 2000. Two U.S. presidents were born in Texas: Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Denison, and Lyndon B. Johnson was born near Stonewall.