State Facts

Texas's population grew by 1.5 million in the early 1990s, making the state the second largest in the country after California.
 

In the mid-1990s, only 7 percent of the workers in Texas were unionized. The state has a right-to-work law, which prohibits union membership as a condition of employment.
 

In 1966 Barbara Jordan of Houston became the first black woman elected to the state senate.

Spindletop oil field, near Beaumont, was the first gusher in North America.  In 1901, it sprayed more than 800,000 barrels of oil into the air before it was brought under control.
 

All Texas rivers empty into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Republic of Texas, with Sam Houston as president, was born In 1836 following the war between American settlers in Texas and the Mexican government which featured the well known battle of the Alamo.

Texas is the country's biggest producer of oil, cattle, sheep, minerals and cotton.

Texas is second in size only to Alaska.

More wool comes from the state of Texas than any other state in the United States.

Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state.

Texas is home to Dell and Compaq computers and central Texas is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of the south.

Texas possesses three of the top ten most populous cities in the United States. These towns are Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.