Texas ( / ˈ t ɛ k s ə s / , also locally / ˈ t ɛ k s ɪ z / ; [8] Spanish : Texas , Tejas [b] [9] ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States . At 268,596 square miles (695,660 km 2 ), and with more than 30 million residents in 2023, [10] [11] [12] it is the second-largest U.S. state by both area (after Alaska ) and population (after California ). Texas shares borders with the states of Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the west, and the
Houston is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the U.S., while San Antonio is the second most populous in the state and seventh-largest in the country. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are, respectively, the fourth- and fifth-largest metropolitan statistical areas in the country. Other major cities include Austin , the second most populous state capital in the U.S., and El Paso . Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State for its former status as an independent republic , and as a rem
Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault , Texas contains diverse landscapes common to both the U.S. Southern and the Southwestern regions . [14] Although Texas is popularly associated with the U.S. southwestern deserts , less than ten percent of Texas's land area is desert . [15] Most population centers are in areas of former prairies , grasslands , forests, and the coastline . Traveling from east to west, terrain ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods , to rolling plains and ru