The State of Texas nicknamed `The Lone Star State’ lies in the South region of the USA and is the largest of the conterminous states of the USA. Texas has an extremely varied climate, owing to its size. Generally, the Gulf Coast region has a maritime climate with heavy precipitation in the north-east; the interior of the state has a continental climate, semi-arid in the trans-Pecos region. Texas is a major mineral-producing state, with non-fuel mineral production, putting the state in seventh place nation-wide. The leading minerals in that year were Portland cement, crushed stone, sand and gravel, lime and salt.

Texas is the second largest U.S. state area and population wise, and the largest state in the contiguous United States. Texas is the second largest U.S. state; behind Alaska Texas encloses diverse landscapes, resembling in places both the Deep South and the Southwest. Roving from east to west, piney woods and semi-forests of oak and cross timbers, rolling plains and prairie, rugged hills, and finally the desert of the Big Bend can be observed. Texas is located in in the socially conservative Evangelical Protestant Bible Belt, and has the highest percentage of people with a religious affiliation in the United States.