[Photo: Flag of Texas] Texas is a state located in the South Central United States nicknamed the Lone Star State. Austin is the state capital. Texas—the second largest U.S. state in both area and population—spans 268,820 square miles (696,200 km2) and has a growing population of 23.9 million. Houston is the state's largest city and fourth-largest in the United States, while the Dallas–Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Plano, Carrolton and Frisco area combined make up the largest metropolitan area in the State and the fourth-largest in the nation. Texas contains diverse landscapes, resembling, in places, both the Deep South and the desert Southwest. Traveling from east to west, one could observe piney woods and semi-forests of oak and cross timbers, rolling plains and prairie, and finall...more >>y the desert of the Big Bend. The phrase "everything is bigger in Texas" derives in part from the state's geographic sprawl and the wide open spaces of its desert and prairie regions. Due to its long history as a center of the American cattle industry, Texas is associated throughout much of the world with the image of the cowboy. Historically and culturally, Texas is usually considered part of the American South. However, with its Spanish and Mexican roots, it can also be classified as part of the American Southwest. While residents acknowledge these categories, many claim an independent "Texan" identity superseding regional labels.