Texas' state nickname is the "Lone Star State". The second largest state in the USA, Texas is the largest of the 48 contiguous states and only Alaska is larger. Texas contains a county that is larger than Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Delaware.
Home to over 125 state parks and forests, Texas also counts 90 mountains over a mile in height. The tallest peak in the state is Guadalupe Peak at 8,751 feet. West Texas is an arid desert, while East Texas is a Southern hothouse, with a climate more often associated with Louisiana or Florida. On one day, Texas recorded simultaneous temperatures of 106 degrees (in Brownsville, on the southern Gulf Coast) and 35 degrees (in Amarillo, in the Texas "panhandle," that square chunk that protrudes from the northern border of the state).
History abounds in Texan lore. This is the home of The Alamo and the battle of San Jacinto. Yet Texas is also home to NASA, several major universities and leading research facilities, and such modern marvels as Dr. Pepper, which was invented in Waco.