Texas Geography

Texas Geography

According to ehangzhou, Texas is located in the south-central part of the United States of America. The capital is Austin. The state’s three largest cities are Houston in the southeast, San Antonio in the south, and Dallas in the northeast. With an area of ​​approximately 696,241 square kilometers, Texas is the second largest state in the United States after Alaska and has the second largest population after California. In addition, with its 254 counties, Texas has the most counties of any US state.

The Texas area is an average of 520 meters above sea level. The highest point of the state is the 2,667 meter high Guadalupe Peak. The lowest point is on the Gulf of Mexico, at sea level.
Texas borders Oklahoma to the north. Western neighbor is New Mexico. Mexico is in the south. Texas joins the Gulf of Mexico in the southeast and Louisiana in the east. To the northeast is Arkansas.

Texas is rich in waterways. The Red River, which is approximately 1,966 kilometers long, flows along the borders of Oklahoma and Arkansas. The 925 km long Sabine River separates Texas from Louisiana before it flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The river flows along the border with Mexico
Rio Grande. The river, which is 3,034 kilometers long, has its source in Colorado in the Rocky Mountains and finally flows into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the third longest river system in the United States, after the Mississippi and Yukon Rivers.
Other important rivers are the approximately 1,380 kilometers long Colorado River, the Pecos (a total of 1,490 kilometers) and the Brazos River (approximately 2,060 kilometers).

Geographically, Texas can be escaped into three regions.

The coastal area, which protrudes up to 100 kilometers inland, is bordered by lagoons for almost its entire length. The region is very fertile and is used intensively for agriculture. The main crops are rice, cotton and sugar cane.

Following the coastal region, the country is situated higher and is criss-crossed by undulating chains of hills. The more than 300 kilometers wide belt of hills encompasses the whole of northeast Texas and is largely covered by prairie.

The northwest and parts of western Texas are dominated by the Great Plains. The Great Plains are about 500 kilometers wide, dry area east of the Rocky Mountains. They extend from the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Albertaall the way to South Texas. The Great Plains are bounded to the north by the Canadian Shield and to the south by the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico. The Great Plains cover an area of ​​approximately two million square kilometers. On the Rocky Mountains, the plain is about 1,600 meters above sea level and drops to about 600 meters to the east. In addition to Texas, they extend over nine other states in the USA: New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana as well as North Dakota and South Dakota. Due to the intensive agricultural use, the region is often called Bread basket of America called. Around half of the United States’ wheat is produced in the Great Plains.
In the north of Texas there is also intensive livestock farming. Crude oil was produced in the south and west of the state until the 1980s.

Climate in Texas

Texas is the second largest US state (approximately 696,000 km²). This enormous extent ensures that Texas has three different climatic zones. Texas has a dry, continental climate in the west. In the south, subtropical conditions prevail with hot summers and very mild winters. The climate in the east of the state is considered maritime. The summers in Texas are generally hot: temperatures over 30, often over 40 degrees Celsius are to be expected.

The areas in East Texas are only just above sea level. That is why the humidity is usually high here. The humid climate, for which the foothills of the Louisiana swamps also provide, can be very exhausting. The perceived temperature in the coastal plain, in the Rio Grande Valley and also in central Texas is often significantly higher than the temperature indicated by the thermometer.

In the west of the US state of Texas, it is noticeably drier. In summer, high afternoon temperatures are also recorded here, but it can cool down pleasantly at night. The banks of the Rio Grande in western Texas are lined with plateaus that provide a healthy mountain climate.

In the north of the State of Texas winters are often severe. Blizzards can lead to sudden, violent snowstorms with high amounts of precipitation.

Anyone visiting Texas has to be prepared for sudden changes in the weather : Tornadoes are part of Texas like floods and forest fires. Travelers should always keep an eye on the weather forecast and take warnings seriously.

Texas Geography

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