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The geography of Texas is diverse and large. Occupying about 7% of the total water and land area of the U.S., [1] it is the second largest state after Alaska, and is the southernmost part of the Great Plains, which end in the south against the folded Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico.
It is one of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos region, and borders Mexico. Brewster County is the largest county by area in the state - at 6,192 square miles (16,040 km 2 ) it is over three times the size of the state of Delaware , and more than 500 square miles (1,300 km 2 ) bigger than Connecticut .
West Texas is often subdivided according to distinct physiographic features. The portion of West Texas that lies west of the Pecos River is often called "Far West Texas" or the "Trans-Pecos", a term introduced in 1887 by geologist Robert T. Hill. [4] The Trans-Pecos lies within the Chihuahuan Desert and is the aridest part of the state.
"Far West Texas" or the "Trans-Pecos" region is the state's Basin and Range Province. The most varied of the regions, this area includes Sand Hills, the Stockton Plateau, desert valleys, wooded mountain slopes and desert grasslands. [153] Texas has 3,700 named streams and 15 major rivers, [154] [155] with the Rio Grande as the largest.
The Handbook of Texas defines the southern border of Swisher County as the southern boundary of the Texas Panhandle region. Its land area is 25,823.89 sq mi (66,883.58 km 2), or nearly 10% of the state's total. The Texas Panhandle is slightly larger in size than the US state of West Virginia.
The region is mentioned in the song "Sweet Amarillo" by the band Old Crow Medicine Show. Several works of German author Karl May are set in the Llano Estacado, although the area is described as a sand desert, featuring large stakes marking safe routes. Recurrent dramatic subplots revolve around highwaymen reinstalling some sections of stakes ...
The Texas Blackland Prairies are a temperate grassland ecoregion located in Texas that runs roughly 300 miles (480 km) from the Red River in North Texas to San Antonio in the south. The prairie was named after its rich, dark soil. [3] Less than 1% of the original Blackland prairie vegetation remains, scattered across Texas in parcels. [4]
Texas' weather varies widely, from arid in the west to humid in the east. The huge expanse of Texas encompasses several regions with distinctly different climates: Northern Plains, Trans-Pecos Region, Texas Hill Country, Piney Woods, and South Texas. Generally speaking, the eastern half of the state is humid subtropical, while the western half ...