Texas

Texas ( TEK-səss) 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, which is a natural boundary formed by the Rio Grande River. Texas has a coastline on the Gulf of Mexico to the southeast. Covering 268,596 square miles (695,660 km2) and having an estimated population of 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. Spain was the first European country to claim and control Texas. Following a brief period of French colonization, the territory became part of Mexico after its independence from Spain in 1821. Increasing tensions between settlers and the Mexican government culminated in the Texas Revolution, which included the Battle of the Alamo, and led to the establishment of the independent Republic of Texas in 1836. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state. The state's annexation contributed to the Mexican–American War in 1846. Texas remained a slave state until the American Civil War, during which it seceded from the Union in 1861 and joined the Confederate States. After the war a