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Texas,
General Information
Nickname: Lone Star State
State bird: Western Mockingbird
State flower: Bluebonnet
Capital: Austin
Date of admission to the Union: December 29 1845
Population: 22,490,022 (official estimate 2004)
Population density: 32.3 per sq km
2003 total overseas arrivals/US ranking: 829,000/7
Time: Central (GMT - 6). Daylight Saving Time is observed.
The State: Texas, the ‘Lone Star State’, is the second-largest state in the USA, covering more than 695,676 sq km (268,600 sq miles). Spain was the first European power to lay claim to Texas; the State also flew the flags of France and Mexico before gaining its independence in 1836. Texas borders Mexico along the Rio Grande and embraces vast mountain ranges and canyons to the west; lakes, plantations and pine forests to the east; broad plains to the north; citrus groves, Gulf of Mexico beaches and low-lying alluvial plains to the south; and rolling hill country and clear natural springs at its heart. Its great wealth stems from its vast oil reserves. It has several booming cities: Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and its capital city, Austin.
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