Geography of Texas
Guiding Question Why is it important to understand geography?
Texas is the second-largest state in the United States, after Alaska. It has a total area of 266,807 square miles (691,030 sq km). The state is as large as New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Maine combined.
If you ask, "Where is Texas?" you are asking about the state's location. You might be referring to its absolute or its relative location. Texas is in the Western Hemisphere, which includes North America and South America. In North America, Texas is in the southwestern United States.
As you study Texas, ask yourself some important questions about the state's geography. The answers to these questions will help you understand major elements of a place's geography.
• Where is the place?
• What is the place like?
• How is the place the same as other places?
• How is it different from other places?
• How do the people who live there interact with their surroundings, or environment?
• How are those people linked with other people and other places?
• How does geography relate to the past, present, and future of that place?
The relative location of Texas, close to the Gulf of Mexico, has been important for the state's growth. The Gulf provides jobs to thousands of Texans. They work in the fishing, oil, tourist, and shipping industries.
Geography can help answer questions about what is special about a place. Physical elements are landforms, climate, plants, and animals. Human elements are language, religion, architecture, music, politics, and ways of life.
Geographers also look at the land and climate of a place. They want to understand how it became what it is today. Geographers study physical features, such as Hamilton Pool in Travis County. They consider how this natural, underground pool formed thousands of years ago. Due to erosion, a large cave collapsed, revealing the pool. Events that have shaped the land include volcanic activity, the movement of glaciers, and hurricanes.
Another important factor that geographers study is how people, ideas, and goods move. This helps explain how humans shape a place. For example, geographers might study how transportation systems in Texas help people, goods, and ideas move from place to place. These systems include roads, railways, and other structures.
Geographers study how people have changed the land and water of a place. For example, there was a terrible hurricane in 1900. Afterwards, Galveston built a seawall to protect the city from future storms.
The environment can affect human activities, too. The soil and the amount of rain in a place determine what crops people can grow. People need to understand the plants and animals. They also need to know about human and physical elements. If people know about these things, then they can figure out how to make plans for themselves, for their businesses, and for their government.
People and Places of Texas
Guiding Question What is special about the people and places of Texas?
Texas is a special place. It is home to hundreds of plants and animals. Although there are vast differences from one area of Texas to another, the people of Texas can enjoy many things about their own special part of the state.
More than 26 million people live in Texas, and it is expected to keep growing. It will also become more ethnically diverse. Today, Texans claim ties to countries on five continents. A few of these countries are Greece, Poland, Russia, Lebanon, Syria, China, and Vietnam.
What does this mean for Texas? A growing, diverse, and educated population is important to the state's economy because it gives employers many good workers. This gives an advantage to Texas companies.
Texas's largest cities grew in the eastern part of the state. People settled there first because of the fertile soil. More than 6.7 million people live in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area. Dallas started out as a cotton market and then grew when oil was found. Fort Worth started as an army post and then it became a cattle-shipping center. Arlington began as a frontier outpost, and today it is home to high-tech companies.
The cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Arlington have been spreading toward each other and are growing into one urban area. This area has many industries, such as oil refining, aircraft and electronics manufacturing, and food processing. The growth of these and other Texas cities has had good effects on the state's economy.
Texas also has small towns, farms, and ranches. In total, 12 percent of Texas's population lives in small, rural places like these.
Wherever Texans live, the state's huge transportation and communication networks link major urban areas and smaller towns. Texas's products and energy resources move throughout the United States on roads, on railroads, and in pipelines.
