Geography and Landforms:

Texas is the largest of the 48 contiguous states in the U.S. Because of this, it has a wide diversity of landforms. There are six main geographic areas in Texas: East Texas, the Gulf Coast, the Rio Grande Valley, the Blackland Prairies, the High Plains and West Texas.

East Texas includes the land between the Sabine and the Trinity Rivers, and is similar to areas of the Deep South of the US, including pine trees, Cyprus swamps, and the remnants of cotton plantations begun before the Civil War. More recently, however, the discovery of vast oil fields in this area has brought new industry to the area.

The Gulf Coast includes the major port cities in Texas including Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi and Brownsville. Tourism is an important industry in this area.

The Rio Grande Valley and the long border between Mexico and Texas is predominantly plain, and contains large cattle ranches.

The Blackland Prairies represent some of the best farmland in Texas, and includes the important cities of Waco, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio.

To the West of the Balcones Escarpment lie the High Plains with its semiarid climate and extremes in weather. Major cities include Amarillo and Lubbock.

West Texas is also an area with a semiarid climate and contains the Davis Mountains and Guadalupe Peak, the state’s highest point (8751 feet). Ranching is the primary industry in the area, with little land suitable for farming, and very small amounts of rainfall or water.