Texas

Texas is a state in the southern United States, the largest in the country (696,241 km2) after Alaska and the second most populous after California. The latest figures from the Census Bureau of the United States (2010), Texas would have 25,145,561 inhabitants. Its capital is Austin while Houston is its largest city and Dallas-Fort Worth's most populous city. The Texans are close to 80% of urban dwellers and almost half of them live in two cities: Dallas-Fort Worth or Houston. Four urban areas of Texas have more than one million: Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin.

Texas is bigger than France and has diverse landscapes organized in a east-west gradient: they live in the Deep South of the plains to the deserts of the American Southwest. Natural environments are a variety: coastal marshes, subtropical forests, grasslands, semi-arid and arid areas, mountains stretch over several hundred kilometers from east to west. Located north of the Rio Grande, Texas was first a Spanish colony before becoming part of Mexico. After a short-lived independent republic, it was annexed to the United States in 1845 slave state, Texas participated alongside the Confederate States of America during the Civil War and then underwent an expansion in the years running the oil fields.




Today, it attracts many Latino immigrants and among the conservative states dominated by Republicans. Its dynamic economy based on farming, oil and gas, petrochemical and Advanced Techniques (aerospace, biotechnologies), supported by a dense network of universities. Texas is the second richest state in the country after the Californie2. Texas culture reflects the influences and multiple inheritance, Native Americans, African-Americans, Anglo-Saxon and Hispanic. The identity of the state is based on a living folklore (rodeo, western, country) associated with the mythical image of the cowboy.

In the present state of research, the human presence on the Texas territory dates back to about 11 200ans3. The Paleo-Indians who lived in the late Pleistocene (ca. 9200-6000 BC) may be linked to the Clovis and Folsom cultures: these nomads hunted large mammals now extinct, such as mammoths and bison long cornes3 by arrows and atlatls. They provided flint on the site of Alibates Flint North Texas.

Climate change which marked the beginning of the Archaic period (circa 6000 BC - ca 700 BC), was marked by the extinction of giant mammals, relative population growth from the third millennium BC. BC and by the onset of trade. Many symbols painted on the walls of caves or on rocks are visible in the state, including at Hueco Tanks4 and Seminole Canyon.

Some groups living in East Texas began to settle in the early centuries of the Christian era, to farm and to build the first funéraires3 mounds. This phase shows the influence of the civilizations that flourished in the Mississippi basin as the Mound Builders

The Caddo Nation was formed between 500 and 800 so that the people of Trans-Pecos were influenced by mogollon culture.

From about the eighth century, the bow and arrow appeared in the region3, pottery making developed and Native Americans depended more and more bison for survival. Obsidian objects found in various sites show Texas trade with Mexico today and the Rocky Mountains.

Before Europeans arrived, Texas was occupied by several Native American peoples: Alabamas, Apache, Aranamas, Atakapas, Caddo, Comanche, Coahuiltecans, Cherokee, Choctaw, Coushatta, Hasinais, Jumanos, Karankawas, Kickapoo, Kiowa and Wichita

Because of its size, Texas is characterized by varied climates with rainfall and temperatures vary according to latitude and altitude.

Annual rainfall is between 1 538.5 mm in Jasper County (Texas) to the east, and 239.5 mm in El Paso in the west. The warmer temperatures experienced were 49 ° C recorded in Seymour August 12, 1936 and June 28 1994 Monahans Most known cold (-31 ° C) was measured at Tulia February 12, 1899 and the Seminole February 8th 193371.

Southeast Texas is in the humid subtropical climate (Cfa in the Köppen classification, Houston station below), and has vegetation similar to that of neighboring Louisiana. Rainfall exceeds 1000 mm per year and are distributed fairly evenly over the year, with a maximum in summer on the coast. The average annual temperature is above 15 ° C. Summers are hot and humid (often heavy with high humidex), cool winters. The annual temperature range is relatively important especially inland. Between May and September, these regions are affected by storms and hurricanes that cause significant damage.

The West is more arid (see the El Paso station below). The heat is moderated by the altitude. Irrigation is necessary for agriculture, vegetation is adapted to drought.

The bulk of the state belongs to the natural set of the Great Plains. The northern climate (Texas Panhandle) is continental. The region has a high thermal amplitude. Snow (about 58 cm by AN19) covers the ground all winter. Blizzards can paralyze transportation networks hiver19. In January and February cold snaps (coldwave) may abruptly fall temperatures. Tornadoes are violent and one-time events that relate to that part of "Tornado Alley." They are born from the meeting of the tropical air with colder air from the north. Sudden and brutal rain cause flooding rivers. In summer, hot winds cause droughts and promote soil erosion as in the Dust Bowl during the 1930 storms can cause fires.