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Ian Munro Webmaster 

The Lone Star State is BIG. It  extends to 268,000 square miles.  That's larger than France, Belgium,The Netherlands and Switzerland combined.   Houston is 603 miles from Big Bend National Park -  or 10 hours by car at 60m.p.h. and you still haven't left the state.

It is the second most populous state in the U.S.A. with more than 23.5 million residents. Four out of 10 Texas are from racial or ethnic minorities.

Its name is derived from the Indian word "tejas" meaning "friends" and the state motto is Friendship. The state flower is the bluebonnet.

The state flag (shown above) was adopted in 1845 when Texas became the 28th state. The blue represents loyalty, the white is strength and the red represents bravery.

The state capital is Austin named after Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas." The  granite State Capitol  was built with the aid of stonemasons from Aberdeen.

The most famous shrine in Texas and the most visited tourist site is The Alamo in San Antonio where 189 defenders of  the city's first mission staged a heroic but vain fight  against a 1500-strong Mexican army in 1836.

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