The Lone Star State is like an entire country unto itself. That's because it once was: Texas was an independent republic from 1836-1845...and in the minds of many of its citizens, it still is. Texans take greater pride in their heritage than perhaps any other people in the U.S.

This was the largest state until Alaska joined the U.S. in 1959; and it is still one of the most varied. Stretching 790 miles at its most distant points, Texas is home to beaches and swamps along the Gulf of Mexico; fertile, rolling hills in its heartland; arid desert in the extreme west; extensive forests in the east; windswept plains and rugged canyons in the north; and mountains rising almost to 9,000 feet.

And cities. Texas is home to some of the largest cities in the United States, as well as some of the most historic. Houston and the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex dominate the economic life of the state; but San Antonio—home of the famous Alamo—is perhaps the most typically "Texan" city. Austin in the heartland, El Paso in the west, Amarillo in the panhandle, and Corpus Christi on the coast are among the many other major cities.