Second largest of the states and among the most populous, Texas is a fiercely independent land of awesome expanses and great natural resources. It leads the nation in the production of oil, natural gas, cattle, and cotton, and ranks high in commercial fishing and electric power. Texas is also a major agricultural state, as well as a growing industrial region. It contains the facilities of 19 of the top 20 U.S. chemical companies, and is the home of the Manned Spacecraft Center (Houston) and other space age projects. And while keeping pace technologically, it can also claim a richly varied heritage, having flown the flags of six nations: spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States.

The state consists of four main land regions: the West Gulf Coastal Plain, thge largest single area, making up more than two-fifths of the total area and consisting of a 150 to 350-mile-wide strip of land in the east and southeast extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Balcones Escarpment; the Central Lowland, known locally as the Osage Plains and extending southward to a line running roughly from Fort Worth, through Abilene, to Big Springs and including the southern fringe of the Texas panhandle; the Great Plains, reaching mostly westward (but also north and southward) from the Central Lowland into New Mexico and including the bulk of the panhandle; and the Basin and Range (or Trans-Pecos) Region, making up the westernmost part of the state below New Mexico and including high, rugged, partly arid plains crossed by spurs of the Rocky Mountains; in this region are the guadalupe Peak (8,751 feet).

Texas has more farmed area than any other state, and about half the land consists of forest, woodland, or brush land. The state's widely varied climate ranges from the warm, damp, subtropical Gulf coast and lower Rio grande Valley to the continental weather of the northern panhandle. Hot, dry weather is typical of the south as are frequent droughts. Narrow sand bars, enclosing shallow lagoons, lie along the coast and afford some protection against ocean storms and tidal waves. The U.S. -Mexican border, were it follows the Rio Grande has been a continuing problem for the state, because the riverbend shifts occasionally, cutting off land from one or the other country. These shifts have given rise to nearly a century of minor but annoying border disputes. In Auguat 1970, however, Presidents Nixon and Ordaz met in Mexico and announced agreement on current disputes and ways to prevent future ones. New Major reservoirs, built in cooperation with Mexico, will prevent any substantial change in the Rio Grande.