Texas is the most populous state in the Southern United States. It borders the American states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, and New Mexico to the west. To the south and southwest, it has an international border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas, along a natural boundary formed by the Rio Grande. Texas has a coastline on the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast. Covering 268,596 square miles (695,660 km2) and with an estimated population of over 31.7 million residents in 2025, it is the second-largest U.S. state both by area and by population. Texas is nicknamed the "Lone Star State" for the single star on its flag, symbolic of its former status as an independent country, the Republic of Texas.
Key Facts
| Subject | Texas |
| Category | U.S. state |
| Reading time | 1 min · Intermediate |
| Key date | 268 |
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Reference material for this entry is drawn from the open encyclopedic record, including Wikipedia , available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Images are credited individually beside each photo.