Texas

Texas is a  located in the  and   regions of the. With an area of 261797 sqmi and a population of 23 million in 254 counties, the state is second-largest in both area and population. About half the state's population resides in and  metropolitan areas.

The state's name derives from , a word in the of the, which means "friends" or "allies". Texas declared its independence from in 1836 and existed as the independent  for nearly a decade. In 1845, it joined the United States as the 28th state. Texas is one of only four states that was an independent nation 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 &mdash;the largest in the U.S. in international commerce and the sixth-largest port in the world. The state is home to the most companies and has the second-largest economy in the U.S. The  in  contains the world's largest concentration of research and  institutions.

History
In addition to its own state flag, Texas boasts that "" have flown over its soil: the national flags of, the of , , the , the , and the.

tribes who once lived inside the boundaries of present-day Texas include, , , , , , , , , Hueco and the of Galveston. Currently, there are three federally recognized Native American tribes which reside in Texas: the Tribe of Texas, the  Traditional Tribe of Texas, and the  of Texas.

On, shipwrecked Spanish   became the first known European in Texas. Most of Texas was immediately claimed by Spain as part of the Spanish dominions of. France took advantage of Spain's failure to settle the land and, in 1685, established Fort St. Louis, also claiming most of Texas. The French colony at Fort St. Louis failed, however, due to harsh conditions and hostile natives. The first Spanish colonization did not come until a few years after the establishment of Fort St. Louis, as Spain was spurred by France to enforce its claims. The French claim was inherited by the United States as they bought the in 1803 and the Spanish claim was later inherited by Mexico during the  of 1821, setting the stage for the.

In the 1800s, two main ethnic groups settled the land: and Anglo Americans. By 1830, the 30,000 Anglo settlers in Texas outnumbered the Tejanos two to one. Smaller numbers of Europeans also came. bought 200000 acre of land of his choice, and moved to San Antonio in August of 1821. His son,, joined him. In 1821, Texas became part of the newly independent Republic of and, in 1824, became the northern section of. On, Stephen F. Austin began a colony of 300 Anglo American families known as the "" along the , after Austin was authorized to do so by Governor Antonio María Martínez and then successive Mexican officials as Mexico went through tumultuous political regime changes. Austin soon organized even more groups of immigrants, with authorization from the Mexican government. Meanwhile, more Tejanos were also settling in Texas, and as Antonio Menchaca writes in "Memoirs" in 1907, many Tejanos were already desirous of joining the United States. Tejanos were mostly full-blooded Spanish immigrants, few partly or entirely of American Indian heritage as most Mexicans south of the were.

The "Conventions" of 1832 and 1833 were a response to rising unrest at the policies of the ruling government, which included the end of duty free imports from the United States and the potential end to the special allowance for slavery in the state. Slavery had been abolished in Mexico with the independence. Spain's policy of allowing only full-blooded Spaniards to settle Texas also ended with independence. In 1835,, President of Mexico, proclaimed a unified constitution for all Mexican territories, including Texas. The new Constitution ended the republic and the federation, imposed a central style of government with power concentrated in the President, and turned states into provinces with governors appointed from Mexico City. Some states around Mexico rebelled against this imposition, including, and. s were also irritated by other policies including the forcible disarmament of Texan settlers, and the expulsion of immigrants and legal land owners originally from the United States. The example of the Centralista forces' suppression of dissidents in also inspired fear of the Mexican government.

On, the  signed a , declaring Texas an independent nation. On, the Texans&mdash;led by General &mdash;won their independence when they defeated the Mexican forces of Santa Anna at the. Santa Anna was captured and signed the, which gave Texas firm boundaries; Mexico repudiated the treaties, considered Texas a breakaway province, and vowed to reconquer it. Later in 1836, the Texans adopted a constitution that formally legalized slavery in Texas. The included the area of the present state of Texas, and additional unoccupied territory to the west and northwest.

Texans wanted to the. Texas was fast-growing, but still poor and had great difficulty maintaining self-defense. Events such as the 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. On, Texas was admitted to the U.S. as a constituent  of the Union. The followed, with decisive American victories. Soon after, Texas grew rapidly as migrants poured into the cotton lands.

Just prior to the, 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  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 on. 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  made large movements of men or cattle impossible. The last battle of the Civil War was fought in Texas, at, on , well after Lee's surrender on   at  in Virginia.

Texas descended into near-anarchy during the two months between the surrender of the and the assumption of authority by Union General, as Confederate forces demobilized or disbanded and government property passed into private hands through distribution or plunder. commemorates the announcement of the on   in Galveston by General Gordon Granger; nearly 1-1/2 years after the original announcement of. President Johnson, on, declared that civilian government had been restored to Texas  On  , although Texas did not meet all the requirements, the  readmitted Texas into the.

The first major oil well in Texas was drilled at, a little hill south of , on the morning of. Other oil fields were later discovered nearby in, , and under the. 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, was dealt a double blow by and the.

From 1950 through the 1960s, Texas modernized and dramatically expanded its system of higher education. Under the leadership of Governor, 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 and  administrations.

Geography
The geography of Texas spans a wide range of features and timelines. Texas is the southernmost part of the, which ends in the south against the folded of Mexico. It is in the south-central part of the United States of America. It is considered to form part of the and also part of the.

The, and  all provide natural state lines where Texas borders  on the north,  and  on the east,  on the west, and the  states of , , , and  to the south.

By residents, the state is generally divided into, , , , and , but according to the Texas Almanac, Texas has four major physical regions: , , , and. This is the difference between and.

Some regions of Texas are associated with the South more than with the Southwest (primarily, , and ), while other regions share more similarities with the Southwest (primarily far and ). The upper and the  parts of West Texas do not easily fit into either category. The former has much in common with the, 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.

Geology
Texas is the southernmost part of the, which ends in the south against the folded of Mexico. The here is a stable   which changes across a broad continental margin and transitional crust into true  of the. The oldest rocks in Texas date from the Mesoproterozoic and are about 1,600 million years old. These  and  rocks underly most of the state, and are exposed in three places:  uplift,, and the , near. This is overlain by mostly. The oldest sediments were deposited on the flanks of a rifted continental margin, or that developed during  time. This margin existed until Laurasia and Godwana collided in time to form. This is the buried crest of the &mdash;&mdash; zone of. This crest is today buried beneath the &mdash;&mdash;&mdash; trend. During this time E. Texas was a region of high mountains and shallow seas covered W. Texas.

The late mountains collapsed as  in  time began to open the Gulf of Mexico. Pangea began to break up in the but  to form the  occurred only in the mid and late. The shoreline shifted again to the eastern margin of the state and the Gulf of Mexico continental shelf began to build out. Today there are 9 mi to 12 mi of sediments buried beneath the Texas continental shelf and a large proportion of remaining US reserves are to be found here. At the start of its formation, the incipient Gulf of Mexico basin was restricted and seawater often evaporated completely to form thick deposits of  age. These salt deposits have buoyantly risen up through the passive margin sediments to form, which are very common in East Texas and along the Gulf coast and offshore.

East Texas outcrops consist of and  sediments. These sediments contain important deposits of which are increasingly used for generating. is found in the Mississippian ad Pennsylvanian sediments in the north, Permian sediments in the west, Cretaceous sediments in the east, and along the Gulf coast and out on the Texas. rocks are found in far west Texas, in the area. A blanket of sediments known as the Ogallala formation in the western high plains region is an important. Texas has no active or dormant volcanoes and few earthquakes, being situated far from an active boundary. (The area is the most seismically active; however, the area is sparsely populated and suffers minimal damages and injuries, and no known fatalities have been attributed to a Texas earthquake.)

Climate
The large size of the state of Texas and its location at the intersection of several gives the state highly variable weather. In general, though, there are three main climate zones: the (Koppen Cfa) of the eastern half of Texas, the temperate  (Koppen BSk) steppe climate of the northwestern part, including the Panhandle, and the subtropical steppe climate (nearly an  desert climate, Koppen BSh) of the southern parts of West Texas, particularly around El Paso.

The Panhandle of the state is cooler in the winter than North Texas or the Gulf Coast. Different regions of Texas experience vastly different precipitation patterns: El Paso averages as little as 7.8 in of rain per year while the average annual precipitation is 59 in in. Moderate snowfall often falls in the winter months in the north. Maximum temperatures in the summer months average from the 80s ° (26 °) in the mountains of West Texas and on to around 100 °F in the. Nighttime summer temperatures range from the upper 50s °F (12 °C) in the West Texas mountains to 80 °F in Galveston.

Thunderstorms are more common in the eastern and northern part of the state, although they are far from rare elsewhere in the state. Tornadoes are common in Texas, with the state averaging around 139 a year, more than any other state. Tornadoes are most frequent in the northern and central western half of the state from April-July, although tornadoes can happen anywhere in the state at any time of year.

Texas ranks first among the 50 states as the largest emitter of es. The state's annual carbon dioxide emissions are nearly 1.5 trillion pounds. Texas would be the world's seventh-largest producer of greenhouse gases if it were its own country, emitting more carbon dioxide than France, the United Kingdom, or Canada.

Government and politics
The &mdash;adopted in 1876&mdash;is the second-oldest state constitution still in effect. As with many, it explicitly provides for the separation of powers and incorporates its bill of rights directly into the text of the constitution (as Article I). The bill of rights is considerably lengthier and more detailed than the federal, and includes some provisions unique to Texas.

Political system
The executive branch consists of the Governor,, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Land Commissioner, Attorney General, Agriculture Commissioner, the three-member , the State Board of Education, and the Secretary of State. All of these positions are elected by the populace, with the exception of the Secretary of State, who is appointed by the Governor. The Comptroller decides if expected state income is sufficient to cover the proposed state budget. There are also many state agencies, and numerous boards and commissions. The Governor commands the state militia and can veto bills passed by the Legislature and call special sessions of the Legislature (this power is exclusive to the Governor and can be exercised as often as desired). The Governor also appoints members of various executive boards and fills judicial vacancies between elections.

The is bicameral. The House of Representatives has 150 members, while the Senate has 31. The speaker of the house, currently Tom Craddick (R–Midland) leads the House, and the Lieutenant Governor (currently Republican ) leads the state Senate. The Legislature meets in regular session only once every two years. The Legislature cannot call itself into special session; only the Governor may call a special session, and may call as many sessions as often as desired.

The has a reputation as one of the most complex in the United States, with many layers and many overlapping jurisdictions. Texas has two courts of last resort: the, which hears civil cases, and the. Except in the case of some municipal benches, partisan elections choose all of the judges at all levels of the judiciary; the Governor fills vacancies by appointment.

Republican has served as  since December 2000, when  vacated the office to assume the. Two Republicans represent Texas in the U.S. Senate: (since 1993) and  (since 2003). Texas has 32 representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives: 19 Republicans and 13 Democrats.

There are 32, the second-most after California. Districts are usually drawn after the national census every 10 years.

The held a monolithic political presence in Texas from the beginning of its statehood until the late 20th century. Like other ex- states, Texas harbored a deep resentment towards the for their engineering of  for years after the. Conservative Democrats held a virtual monopoly on elected offices in the state, but many began endorsing Republican presidential candidates as the national Democratic Party grew increasingly liberal. In 1978, the state elected its first Republican governor since Reconstruction. In 2003, Republicans achieved a majority in the for the first time. Today, the bulk of the Texan delegation is Republican, and both U.S. Senators are Republican as well. No Democrat has been elected to a statewide office in Texas since 1994. The state's base of Democratic voters is comprised primarily of African-Americans, Hispanics, and urban voters, particularly in.

The Texas political atmosphere tends towards and. Texas leads the country in the number of executions performed, and is one of the few states that permitted the execution of a person prior to the  prohibiting such. The state recently adopted a resolution defining marriage as between a man and a woman, and a long-standing law making a criminal offense was overturned in 2003 only after the intervention of the Supreme Court. The state capital,, is considered the state's bastion (though liberals in Texas tend to prefer the term "populist"), though Austin's suburbs generally follow the conservatism of the state at large. and are among the few urban areas that consistently vote Republican, but their metro areas themselves are very divided politically. However, these cities tend to favor a more socially tolerant, pro-business brand of Republicanism. In Houston, the election of conservative commentator to the  in 2006 sparked an outcry from the city's moderate Republican establishment.

Justice system
The justice system in Texas has a strict sentencing for criminals. Texas leads the nation in executions by far, with 400 executions from 1982 to 2007. Only is eligible for the death penalty. A bill making child rape a capital crime in some instances is currently under consideration. Prior to 2005, the alternate sentence was life with the possibility of parole after 40 calendar years; a 2005 law change changed the alternate sentence to life without parole.

Known for their role in the history of Texas law enforcement, the of the  continue today to provide special law enforcement services to the state. Texas Game Wardens&mdash;law enforcement officers working for the &mdash;are given the same amount of authority as any other law enforcement officer. It is a common myth that they are able to enter private property without a search warrant and search people or vehicles with no probable cause.

Administrative divisions
Texas has a total of 254 &mdash;the most of any state. Each county is run by a commissioners’ court consisting of four elected commissioners and a county judge elected from all the voters of the county. County government is similar to the "weak" system; the county judge has no veto authority, but votes along with the other commissioners. All county elections are.

Unlike other states, Texas does not allow for consolidated city-county governments, nor does it have a form of. Cities and counties are permitted to enter "interlocal agreements" to share services. Further, counties are not granted "home rule" status; their powers are strictly defined by state law and the Texas Constitution.

Texas does not have townships&mdash;areas within a county are either incorporated or unincorporated. Incorporated areas are part of a city, though the city may contract with the county for needed services. Unincorporated areas are not part of a city; in these areas, the county has authority for law enforcement and road maintenance. Cities are classified as either "general law" or "home rule". A city may elect home rule status (draft an independent city charter) once it exceeds 5,000 population and the voters agree to home rule. Otherwise, it is classified as general law and has very limited powers. All municipal elections in Texas are. Once a city elects home rule status, it keeps that status even if the population later falls below 5,000.

Economy
In 2006, Texas had a of $1.09 trillion, the  highest in the U.S. after, after recently surpassing New York state. per capita as of 2005 was $42,975. Texas leads the nation in number of beef, which usually exceed 16 million head. Cotton is the leading crop and the state's second-most-valuable farm product. Texas also leads in national production of grain sorghum, watermelons, cabbages, and spinach. Wheat, corn, and other grains are also important.

Texas's growth is often attributed to the availability of jobs, the low cost of housing (housing values in the Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio areas, while generally rising, have not risen at the astronomical rates of other cities such as San Francisco), the lack of a personal, low taxation and limited regulation of , a geographic location in the center of the country, limited government (the meets only once every two years), favorable climate in many areas of the state, and vast, plentiful supplies of oil and natural gas. The known petroleum deposits of Texas are about 8 billion barrels, which makes up approximately one-third of the known U. S. supply. Texas has 4.6 billion barrels of proven crude reserves. There are currently 33 billionaires residing in Texas today. Dallas has 11 billionaires, the most of any city in Texas.



Texas remained largely rural until, with , oil, and as its main industries. The sprawling 320,000 deeded (1,200 km²) La Escalera Ranch is located 20 miles south of,  is today one of the largest cattle  in  and the Southwestern United States. was never Texas's chief industry – before the oil boom back to the period of the first Anglo settlers, the chief industry was farming (as in most of the South). After, Texas became increasingly industrialized. Its economy today relies largely on information technology, oil and natural gas, fuel processing, electric power,, and manufacturing. The major segment of the economy depends largely on the region involved – for example, the is a major portion of the  economy but a non-factor elsewhere, while, the state's largest urban economic enclave stands at the center of the ,  research trades, and aerospace (particularly ). Meanwhile, Dallas houses the state's predominant manufacturing interests and the expansive  labor market.



Texas has more company headquarters (56) than any other state except New York, which has 57. This has been attributed to both the growth in population in Texas and the rise of oil prices in 2005, which resulted in the growth in revenues of many Texas oil drilling and processing companies.

In 2006, for the fifth year in a row, Texas was ranked as the number one state by export revenues. Texas exports for 2006 totaled $150.8 billion, which is $22.1 billion more than 2005 and represents a 17.2 percent increase. In 2002, the was 6th among the top sea ports in the world in terms of total cargo volume; Air Cargo World rated  as "the best air cargo airport in the world".

Texans pride themselves in a history of tradition, yet they also seek new social and technological developments. (an Austin suburb) is the headquarters of and the surrounding area is known as "Silicon Hills". Dallas is a famously cosmopolitan metropolis and the birthplace of the, and Houston is a global leader in the energy industry. The cultures of San Antonio and El Paso retain their Mexican heritage while Fort Worth maintains its western roots. With a nod to its diversity and its past as a sovereign nation, the state tourism slogan is "Texas: It's like a whole other country." Since 2003, Texas state officials have placed emphasis on developing the with various initiatives such as the  and the, which invest money into developing Texas business.

Texas is one of the top filmmaking states in the United States, just after and. is now one of the leading filmmaking locations in the country. During 1995-2004, more than $2.75 billion has been spent in Texas for film and television production. The was founded for free services to filmmakers, from location research to traveling.

Demographics
As of 2006, the state has an estimated population of 23,507,783, an increase of 579,275 (2.5%) from the prior year and an increase of 2,655,993 (12.7%) since the year 2000. In all three subcategories&mdash;natural (births less deaths), net, and net migration&mdash;Texas has seen an increase in population. The natural increase since the last census was 1,389,275 people (2,351,909 births minus 962,634 deaths), from outside the  resulted in a net increase of 801,576 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 451,910 people. The state passed New York in the 1990s to become the second-largest U.S. state in population (after California).

As of 2004, the state has 3.5 million foreign-born residents (15.6 percent of the state population), of which an estimated 1.2 million are s (illegal immigrants account for more than one-third of the foreign-born population in Texas and 5.4 percent of the total state population).

Race and ethnic origins
As of the 2005 US Census estimates, the racial distribution in Texas are as follows: 84.14% ; 12.09% or ; 3.62% ; 0.17%  or ; and 1.1%  or Alaskan Native. Persons of origin accounted for 35.31 percent of the population and may be of any race.

The largest reported ancestry groups in Texas include: (25.3%),  (10.9%),  (10.5%),   (7.2%), and  (7.2%). Descendants from some of these ancestry groups is underreported.

Much of east, central, and north Texas is inhabited by  heritage, primarily descended from ancestors from  and. Much of central and southeast-central Texas is inhabited by whites of German descent. African Americans, who historically made up one-third of the state population, are concentrated in those parts of East Texas where the cotton plantation culture was most prominent prior to the, as well as in Dallas and Houston.

Other population groups in Texas also exhibit great diversity. Frontier Texas saw settlements of, particularly in and. After the, German, , , , and  immigration grew, and continued until. The influence of the diverse from Europe survives in the names of towns, styles of architecture, genres of music, and varieties of cuisine. Lavaca County is predominantly.

More than one-third of Texas residents are of origin and may be of any racial group. Its population in Texas is increasing as more &mdash;primarily from far southern Mexico and Central America&mdash;look for work in Texas. Some are recent arrivals from Latin America, while others, known as in English, have ancestors who have lived in Texas since before Texan independence, or at least for several generations. Hispanics dominate south, south-central, and west Texas and are a significant part of the residents in San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas. The influx of illegal immigration is partially responsible for Texas having a population younger than the union average.

In recent years, the population in Texas has grown&mdash;primarily in Houston and Dallas. People with ancestry from, , , , , , and make up the largest Asian American groups in Texas.

Largest cities
The largest cities figure prominently in the economy, culture, and heritage of Texas, the American and. As of 2000, six incorporated places in Texas had populations greater than 500,000, which two are : Houston and Dallas. Texas has a total of, with four having populations over 1 million and two over 5 million.

Texas is the only state in the U.S. to have three cities with populations exceeding 1 million: Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas; which are also among the 10 largest cities of the. and Fort Worth are in the top 20 largest U.S. cities.



Culture
Due to immigration in the United States history, the culture of Texas has been a of different cultures around the world. Texas is a diverse and an international place to live, in part because of its many academic institutions and strong biomedical, energy, manufacturing and aerospace industries.

There are many popular events held in Texas celebrating cultures of Texans. The annual is held over 20 days from late February through early March. The event begins with trail rides that originate from several points throughout the state, all of which convene at for a barbecue cook-off. The rodeo includes typical rodeo events, as well as concert performances from major artists and carnival rides. The World’s first rodeo was held in on. The in  lasts three weeks in late January and early February. It has many traditional rodeos, but also a cowboy rodeo, and a Mexican rodeo in recent years that have a large fan base for each. The is held in  each year at Fair Park.

Texas has a vibrant live in  boasting more music venues per capita than any other U.S. city, befitting the city's official slogan as The Live Music Capital of the World. Austin's music revolves around the many s on and an annual, music, and  festival known as. The longest-running concert music program on American television, , is videotaped on campus or in Zilker Park. and run the, an annual music and art festival held at  in Austin.

Over the past couple of decades, evolved into what has been billed as the "Nashville of ." The have provided a forum to create greater awareness and appreciation for Tejano music and culture.

Arts and theatre
Known for the vibrancy of its and, the &mdash;a 17-block area in the heart of &mdash;is ranked second in the country behind  in the number of theatre seats in a concentrated downtown area with 12,948 seats for live performances and 1,480 movie seats.

is also one of only five cities in the United States with permanent professional resident companies in all of the major performing arts disciplines (the, the , the , and ). is widely recognized as the nation's third most important city for contemporary (formerly the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth), founded in 1892, is the oldest art museum in Texas. The city is also home to the, the , the , the , and the downtown. The of  is home to several arts venues. Notable venues in the district include the, the , , and the.

Also within Dallas is the notable district which originally became popular during the 1920s and 1930s as the prime  and  hotspot in the. The name is thought to have originally derived from local tongues saying "Deep Elm", but that came out as "Deep Ellum". Artists such as, , Huddie "" Ledbetter, and played in original Deep Ellum clubs like The Harlem and The Palace. Today, Deep Ellum is home to hundreds of artists who live in lofts and operate in studios throughout the district alongside bars, pubs, and concert venues. One major art infusion in the area is the city's lax stance on, thusly several public ways including tunnels, sides of buildings, sidewalks, and streets are covered in murals.

Sports
Texas is known for its love of and is noted for the intensity with which people follow  and  teams&mdash;often dominating over all else for the purposes of socializing and leisure. The is sometimes referred to as "America's Team."

has a strong presence in Texas, with teams the  and  are both equally popular, geographically, in the state. is also closely followed in Texas&mdash;especially in the smaller metropolitan areas.

is also popular, and Texas hosts three teams: the, the , and the. All three of those NBA teams have reached the NBA Finals. The and  though, are the only ones to have won a championship. Additionally, Texas is home to two teams, the  and the. The Comets were the winners of the first four Championships in league history, in the 1997–2000 seasons.

Many Texas universities have rich athletic traditions. Originally, most Texas schools were part of the  until it dissolved in 1996. Four of the largest programs in Texas are now part of the : the, , , and. In addition to the four, Texas is home to six other Division I (Bowl Sub-Division) teams: the of the ; the , the , the  and the , all of ; and the  of the. Texas's total of ten Division I-FBS schools is greater than that of any other state.

Other popular sports in Texas include (which can be played year-round because of the South's mild climate), fishing, and. , originally played by some of the indigenous tribes, is a visible sport and growing. is a popular participatory sport, especially among children, but as a it does not yet have a large following despite two Texan teams in. has been a growing participatory sport in the Dallas/Fort Worth area since the became the  in 1993. Minor league professional hockey has become quite popular in the last decade; Texas is home to seven of the 's seventeen teams.

Architecture
Texas is home to many works of, both traditional and contemporary. Many world class architects and winners have left their enriching marks on Texan cities and landscapes. had 4 buildings in Texas, while 's and 's famous  are permanent landmarks of the city of. Other super architects such as and  have numerous works across the state of Texas. Among their famous works one can mention the, , , , and. In Austin, 's (also a  winner) is particularly noteworthy, while, , , and  are other architect legends who designed buildings that grace the  and  areas. 's is the latest addition to such architectural landmarks in Texas.

Some facilities even harbor the marks of multiple architects. Houston's for example, was designed by  winner, landscape architect extraordinnaire , and the pioneering master of.

Transportation
The (TxDOT, pronounced "tex-dot") is a al agency and its purpose is to "provide safe, effective, and efficient movement of people and goods" throughout the state. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with maintenance of the state's immense system, the agency is also responsible for  in the state and overseeing ation systems.

Highways
Texas s have been heavily traveled since the 1948 opening of the in, and they are often under construction to meet the demands of continuing growth. As of 2005, there were 79535 mi of public highway in Texas (up from 71,000 in 1984). Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) planners have sought ways to reduce rush hour congestion, primarily through (HOV) lanes for vans and carpools. The ""&mdash;an innovation originally introduced in Houston&mdash;is a ramp design that allows vehicles in the HOV lane, which is usually the center lane, to exit directly to transit centers or to enter the freeway directly into the HOV lane without crossing multiple lanes of traffic. Timed freeway entrances, which regulate the addition of cars to the freeway, are also common. Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and El Paso have extensive networks of freeway cameras linked to transit control centers to monitor and study traffic.

One characteristic of Texas's freeways are its s (also known as service roads, access roads or feeder roads), which in Texas can be found even in the most remote areas. Frontage roads provide access to the freeway from businesses alongside, such as gas stations and retail stores, and vice versa. Alongside most freeways along with the frontage roads are two to four lanes in each direction parallel to the freeway permitting easy access to individual city streets. New landscaping projects and a longstanding ban on new billboards are ways has tried to control the potential side effects of convenience.

Another common characteristic found near Texas overpasses are the s which is a lane allowing cars traveling on one side of a one-way frontage road to U-turn into the opposite frontage road (typically crossing over or under a freeway or expressway) without being stopped by traffic lights or crossing the highway traffic at-grade.

In the western part of the state and  both have a speed limit of 80 MPH, the highest in the nation.

Airports
The, located nearly equidistant from  and downtown , is the largest airport in the state, the second largest in the United States, and fourth largest in the world. In terms of traffic, DFW is the busiest in the state, third busiest in the United States, and sixth busiest in the world. The airport serves 135 domestic destinations and 37 international, and is the largest and main for  (900 daily departures), the world's largest, and also the largest hub for.

Texas's second-largest air facility is Houston's (IAH). The airport is the ninth-busiest in the United States for total passengers, and nineteenth-busiest worldwide. is the headquarters of, and the airport is Continental Airlines' largest hub, with over 750 daily departures (the majority of which are operated by Continental Airlines). A long list of cities within Texas, as well as international destinations are served directly from this airport. With 30 destinations in, IAH offers service to more Mexican destinations than any other U.S. airports. IAH currently ranks second among U.S. airports with scheduled non-stop domestic and international service (221 destinations), trailing only Hartsfield with 250 destinations.

Some of the other airports that are served by airlines include, , Houston , , , , , , in , and  in.

Passenger rail transportation
(DART), the Dallas area public transportation authority, began operating the first system in the  in 1996 and continues to expand its coverage. The DART lightrail currently covers 48 mi of track. The DART light rail system remained the only one in Texas until METRORail opened in Houston in 2004.

The (METRO) operates  service in, which includes. 's light rail in Houston started on. Currently the track runs about 8 mi from to the  and. METRO also operates bus service in Harris County and to two cities in. METRO is in the process of adding over 30 more miles of light rail, as well as 28 miles of commuter rail by the year 2015.

Intercity passenger rail service in Texas is at the moment very limited from both network and frequency viewpoint, with just three trains serving the state: the daily ' (Chicago–San Antonio), the tri-weekly ' (New Orleans–Los Angeles), and the daily  (Fort Worth–Oklahoma City).

Healthcare and medicine
Texas is home to three of the world's elite research medical centers: the renowned in Houston,  in Dallas, and the  in San Antonio&mdash;all hosting some of the world's most prestigious schools in the health sciences.

is the seat of the internationally-renowned, which contains the world's largest concentration of and  institutions. There are 45 member institutions in the Texas Medical Center &mdash;all are s, and are dedicated to the highest standards of patient and preventive care,, , and local, national, and international community well-being. These institutions include 13 renowned hospitals and two specialty institutions, two s, four s, and schools of, public health, , and virtually all health-related careers. It is where one of the first, and still the largest, air emergency services was created&mdash;a very successful inter-institutional transplant program was developed&mdash;and more are performed there than anywhere else in the world.

's facilities rank sixth in clinical medicine research impact in the  with the  recognized as a "world leading research and educational institution". The hosts no less than 12 hospitals, 45 medical institutions, and 3 universities, housing the nation's top schools in  and.

is home to the and the, "among the top academic medical centers in the world". The at the center has the largest number of  working in any medical school in the world.

Texas has eight medical schools, three dental schools, and one school, all involved in research and clinical operations. Some of the more well known of these academic and research health institutions are, , , , and. The M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is widely considered one of the world’s most productive and highly-regarded academic institutions devoted to cancer patient care, research, education and prevention.

Texas has two laboratories: one at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, and the other at the  in San Antonio&mdash;the first privately owned BSL-4 lab in the United States.

In May 2006, Texas initiated the program "code red" in response to the report that Texas&mdash;at 25.1 percent&mdash;has the largest number of un-insured population of any state.

Education
There are more than 100 colleges and universities and dozens of institutions engaged in research and development in Texas. ,, and are Texas's three largest comprehensive doctoral degree-granting institutions with a combined enrollment of over 130,000. The state is also home to &mdash;one of the country’s leading teaching and research universities&mdash;ranked the 17th-best university overall in the nation by . Additionally, &mdash;the oldest university in the state&mdash;was chartered by the Republic of Texas. The state's public school systems are administered by the (TEA). Texas has over 1,000 s&mdash;all but one of the school districts in Texas are separate from any form of. School districts may (and often do) cross city and county boundaries&mdash;an exception to this rule is. School districts have the power to their residents and to use.

Texas also has numerous of all types. The TEA has no authority over private school operations; private schools may or may not be accredited, and achievement tests are not required for private school graduating seniors. Many private schools will obtain accreditation and perform achievement tests as a means of encouraging future parents that the school is genuinely interested in educational performance.

It is generally considered to be among the least restrictive states in which to. Neither TEA nor the local school district has authority to regulate home school activities. There is no minimum number of days in a year, or hours in a day, that must be met, and achievement tests are not required for home school graduating seniors. The validity of home schooling was challenged in Texas, but a landmark case, Leeper v. Arlington ISD, ruled that home schooling was legal and that the state had little or no authority to regulate the practice.

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