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Texas is the largest of the contiguous states with 267,277 square miles.
- The Texas Capitol in Austin is the largest in gross square footage of all state capitols, and is second in total size only to the National Capitol in Washington, D.C. Like several other state capitols, the 1888 Texas Capitol surpasses the National Capitol in height, rising almost 15 feet above its Washington counterpart.
- More than 5,000 flowering plants are native to Texas.
- Texas has more than 4,959-square miles of fresh water more than any state except Alaska.
- Texas’ four national forests and the Big Thicket National Preserve offer more than 730,000 acres of woodland recreation.
- Caddo Lake in East Texas is the state's largest natural lake.
- The King Ranch in Kingsville is the largest ranch in Texas and is slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island.
- Texas has more than 624 miles (1,000 km.) of coastline to explore.
- Houston, Dallas and San Antonio are among the nation's 10 largest cities. Texas is the second most populous state in the nation estimated at more than 23 million residents.
- The largest concentration of bats in the world is found in Bracken Cave near San Antonio, home to some 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats.
- Texas is the fifth largest wine producer in the United States.
- The tallest Texan stands a whopping 52 feet tall – it’s Big Tex, the friendly cowboy who welcomes visitors to the State Fair of Texas.
- The world's largest livestock auction is held in Amarillo.
- There are 191,000 miles of streams and rivers in Texas.
- The world's third largest single structure telescope is atop Mount Fowlkes in the Davis Mountains.
- The longest footbridge in the U.S. is in Rusk.
- First word transmitted by a human from the moon: "Houston."
- The Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport covers 29.8 square miles, making it larger than Manhattan, New York.
- The world's first computer chip was produced by Texas Instruments in Dallas in 1958.
- Austin was originally named Waterloo.
- Six nations have ruled Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States and the United States.
- The tallest peak in Texas is Guadalupe Peak in the Guadalupe Mountains.
- State motto: Friendship
- State nickname: Lone Star State
- State small mammal: Armadillo
- State bird: Mockingbird
- State tree: Pecan
- State flower: Bluebonnet
- State dish: Chili
