7 Most Interesting Facts About The State of Texas

To most United States citizens and residents, Texas has long stood out as one of the most interesting and polarizing states in the country. On top of being one of the largest states in the country, it has one of the most distinctive cultures, and many Texans have gone as far as describing Texas as a sovereign state.

Despite its size and historical significance to the United States, internationally, there is little known about the State. To help with this, the following article discusses the seven most interesting facts about Texas, including important historical facts and several present-day statistics.

Texas Was Previously Part of Mexico

The State of Texas, as we currently know it, did not exist until 1836. Prior to this, Texas was known as “Mexican Texas” and was a part of Mexico. Mexico had won control of Texas from Spain when it gained its independence from the country in 1821. But starting in 1832, tensions arose between the residents of the State and Mexico, and in 1836 Texans declared independence from Mexico.

The Texas Economy Would Rank 10th Globally

Texas has one of the largest economies in the world. According to government data, the State had a gross domestic product of $1.7 trillion in 2020. More recent data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated the State’s GDP to be around $2 trillion; therefore, if Texas was ranked independent of other states in the country and compared with countries around the world, it would be the 10th largest economy in the world. Within the United States, its GDP is second only to the State of California. Texas is also the largest energy-producing State in the country, which is a large portion of its economic output.

The State Has Produced 3 Presidents in Modern Times

Since the middle of the 20th century, there have been 14 Presidents of the United States, and three of them entered the Presidency from political positions in the State of Texas. The three individuals are Lyndon Johnson (who was a U.S. Senator from Texas), George Bush Senior (who was a Congressman from Texas), and George Bush (who was a Governor of Texas).

Texas Has More Counties Than Any Other States

In addition to being the second largest state in terms of population, Texas has more counties than any other state in the country. There are currently 254 counties in Texas and more than 1,200 incorporated cities, according to the State’s Comptroller. Both the counties and cities in the Texas range greatly in terms of size, with several counties and cities that have more than one million residents (for example, Harris County and the city of Dallas) and a large number of smaller counties and cities (for example, Tyler County and the city of Gainsville).

There are almost 500 Banks in Texas

Almost not surprisingly, given the size of the economy of Texas, the banking sector is also very large. There are 487 banks operating in Texas, of which more than 200 are state-chartered banks. As indicated in the previous point, the population of Texas is divided among many counties and cities which has resulted in a long tail of community banks serving smaller counties and cities. Continuing with the examples from the previous point, there are 78 banks operating in Harris County Texas, but only five banks in Tyler Texas based on the latest information from the FDIC. Texas residents benefit from having not only the largest banks in the country maintaining a presence but also hundreds of community-focused banks.

Almost One-Third of The Population Speaks Spanish (28.8%)

This is perhaps one of the more interesting facts about Texas. Approximately 30% of the population speaks Spanish. This is more than double the average in the United States of 14% and is likely a function of the history of the State (as indicated earlier, Texas used to be a part of Mexico and, before that, Spain) and its geographic location (it shares a border with Mexico).

10% of Fortune 500 Companies Are Based in Texas

Based on the 2021 list of Fortune 500 companies, there are currently 50 companies on the list that are based in Texas. These include several behemoths such as McKesson, ExxonMobil, AT&T, and Dell Technologies. Several other companies have announced their intention to move their businesses to Texas, including Tesla, Oracle, and Hewlett Packard. Decisions to move obviously are complex and involve many variables. Still, the State is known for having low taxes, which is something every profit-seeking company is going to value greatly.

Conclusion

Aside from its size and storied history, there is so much more to know about the State of Texas. It is essentially a country within a country. Hopefully you’ve learned some interesting facts about the State from this post and are intrigued enough to learn even more!