How Big Is Texas?

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The Lone Star has a vast reputation not only in America, but all over the world. Whether it’s the storied history, the vast landscape, the amazing food, or the unique culture, Texas is known for a lot of things!

But above all else, perhaps the most popular aspect about Texas is simply its sheer size and land area. So exactly how big is Texas?

In this article, we’ll tackle this interesting topic while comparing the size of the state to various states and countries around the world to give you a better perspective. So without further ado, let’s dive right in!

How Large Is Texas in Miles?

Texas is exactly 268,596 square miles. This is equivalent to around 695,660 square kilometers or 171.902 million acres of land. 

This makes Texas the second-largest state in the United States of America and the largest of the 48 Contiguous United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii).

At its widest distance from East to West, Texas stretches over a total of 773 miles or 1,244 kilometers. 

Similarly, the southern state extends over 801 miles or 1,289 kilometers at its widest distance from North to South.

If this doesn’t give you an idea of how big the Lone Star State is, the following fact might change your mind:

The small city of Dalhart in northwestern Texas is closer to the state capitals of Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska than it is to Austin, the capital of Texas. 

Additionally, considering the normal traffic of I-10, a Texas road trip from Louisiana and New Mexico can take you anywhere between 12 to 15 hours, although you can cross the state on other routes at a much shorter time.

Moreover, thanks to this incredibly vast distance, Texas is also home to the following:

• 2 time zones, primarily Central Daylight Time (UTC -5) in most states and Mountain Daylight Time (UTC -6) in 3 western counties 
• 8 different climate zones, ranging from hot and cold deserts to warm summer Mediterranean.
• 21 soil regions, including clay, loam, silt, sand, and much more

Is Everything Bigger in Texas?

The phrase “Everything is bigger in Texas” is a popular saying that originally referred to the gigantic size of the State of Texas as well as its bold spirit.

Today, the phrase is mostly used to refer to Texas having relatively larger counterparts in many aspects. 

In fact, recent reports by Dallas News and Secret Dallas show that Texas holds a unique variety of size-related Guinness World Records, including:

• The largest pizza available for sale at 8 ft and 32 in
• The tallest cowboy statue in the world, standing at 52 ft high
• The biggest butter sculpture at 4,077 pounds (around 1849.3 kilograms)
• The largest serving of chili con carne at 4,800 pounds (around 2,177 kilograms)
• The world’s largest Bowie Knife, at 20 ft and 6 in
• The world’s largest pecan statue, at 8 x 16 ft

Additionally, Texas is known for hosting the largest state fair across the entire nation, which welcomes over 2.25 million visitors every year! Besides being the biggest in terms of visitors and size, it’s also the longest-running one to this day!

As you can see, even if not everything is truly bigger in Texas, there are plenty of statues, locations, figures, products, and locations that you wouldn’t find bigger anywhere else!

Why Is Texas So Big?

There are various factors that contributed to the huge size of the state of Texas. The most significant one here is the state’s history in addition to its geographical and political factors. So here’s a quick look at them.

Although Natives used to inhabit the land of Texas for over 10,000 years, much of present-day Texas spent over 130 years as a Spanish colony between 1690 and 1821. 

However, due to the harshness of the weather in the region, this land is sparsely populated and broken into relatively large territories to contain deserts and inhabitable areas.

After the success of the Mexican Revolution against Spain and gaining independence in 1821, the new state had a hard time controlling the vast lands of Texas. 

This led many Texas independence movements to grow. Fifteen years later, the Republic of Texas was established. 

By 1845, the state of Texas was declared the 28th state of the union, and the state was initially invited to break down its land into smaller states. 

However, the government of Texas claimed all the land that belonged to the Spanish Southwest colony, which allowed the Lone Star State to become the large state it is today.

How Large Is Texas Compared to Other States?

As previously established, Texas is the second largest state in America, dwarfing many states, especially eastern ones.

For instance, the smallest American state, Rhode Island (measuring only 1,545 square miles or around 4,000 square kilometers) is around 250 times smaller than Texas! In fact, Rhode Island can fit inside the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area over 7.66 times!

Not only that, but according to the latest Census reports, you can fit all the following states inside Texas at the same time, and still have a little room to spare:

• Rhode Island
• Kentucky
• Hawaii
• Delaware
• Virginia
• Connecticut
• Indiana
• Maine
• New Jersey
• South Carolina
• West Virginia
• Massachusetts
• Maryland
• Vermont
• New Hampshire

That being said, these numbers don’t necessarily reflect density, since not all the land of Texas is habitable. 

According to a recent report, more than 70% of Texans (around 21 million people) live in as little as 4% (10,743 square miles) of the state land.

Which Is Bigger Texas or Alaska?

Despite the enormity of Texas, compared to other states in America, it’s still smaller than Alaska by a significant difference.

While Texas has a total area of around 268,596 square miles, Alaska has a total land area of around 663,268 square miles or 1,717,856 square kilometers. 

By doing some simple math, Texas is around 2.47 times smaller than Alaska. In other words, you can fit two fully-sized Texas states inside Alaska and still have enough room to fit other large states like New Mexico!

That being said, Texas is far more populated than Alaska, as the Last Frontier’s population is around 732,673 while Texas is around 29.53 million, according to the US Census Bureau.

Is Texas Larger Than California?

Although California is one of the largest states in America (the third largest to be exact), it’s still smaller than Texas when it comes to land area.

The Golden State has a total area of around 163,696 square miles or 423,970 square kilometers. 

However, in terms of population, California surpasses Texas as the most populous state in America, with a total of around 39 million individuals.

One thing you should know here is that California, while smaller, can still stretch further than Texas. This is because the distance between North and South California is around 1040 miles, which is larger than Texas’ 801.

How Many Times Can California Fit in Texas?

Despite the enormity of California, you can fit it completely inside Texas, as it only makes up around 38% of the total area of the Lone Star State. To be exact, you can fit it inside around 1.64 times.

Alternatively, you can fit the entirety of California inside Texas and still have enough room to fit the state of Colorado or around two Floridas inside 

How Many Times Can Florida Fit in Texas?

Speaking of Florida, it goes without saying that Texas is also larger than The Sunshine State. In fact, Florida’s land area is around 65,758 square miles or 170,312 square kilometers 

Based on these figures, you can fit Florida inside Texas 4 times, as it makes roughly 24.4% of the size of Texas, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, although in other estimations, you can fit up to 4.8 Florida states inside Texas.

Will Europe Fit in Texas?

Although Texas is massive and takes up a major chunk of Europe’s land area, you can fit the entirety of the European continent inside Texas.

According to Brittanica, the total land area of Europe is around 10.18 million square kilometers or 3.93 million square miles. Based on these numbers, you can fit Texas inside Europe 14.6 times, not the other way around.

However, Texas on its own is larger than almost all European countries (except Russia), so you can fit any of them individually inside Texas. 

This even includes Europe’s second-largest country, Ukraine, which has a total land area of 603,500 square kilometers or 233,012 square miles.

Is Texas Bigger Than France?

The short answer to this question is yes. Although France is the third largest country in the European continent with a total land area of around 549,087 square kilometers or 212,003 square miles, it’s still smaller in size than Texas.

This means that you can fit around 1.27 France inside Texas, as France makes up around 78% of the area of Texas. 

However, the population of France is around 2.2 times that of Texas, so the population density is a lot higher.

An important note to mention here is that France has territories all over the world, which adds to its overall size, so the exact estimate of how bigger Texas is than France can vary from one source to another.

Is Texas Bigger Than the UK?

The total area of the United Kingdom is estimated at 93,628 square miles or 242,495 square kilometers, including England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Of course, this makes Texas much bigger than the UK, as it’s around 2.86 times larger.

Like France, the United Kingdom also has a much higher population than Texas, with around 67 million people in 2023 estimates, according to Britannica.

Is Texas Bigger Than Spain? 

Texas is around 1.3 times bigger than Spain, as the European country has a total area of 195,124 square miles (around 505,370 square kilometers), including all of its small islands and territories.

In fact, Texas is even bigger than the entire Iberian Peninsula (224,652 square miles), which includes Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and Gibraltar, as well as parts of France.

Is Texas Bigger Than Germany?

With a total area of around 357,580 square kilometers or 138,062 square miles, Germany is also smaller than the state of Texas, making up as little as 51.4% of the state, so you can fit it inside Texas almost twice.

Is Texas Bigger Than Iceland?

Iceland is a relatively small island with a total area of 39768 square miles or 103,000 square kilometers. This makes it around 6.7 times smaller than Texas.

Is Texas Bigger Than Japan and Korea?

Japan has a total area of 145,935 square miles while Korea (both south and north) has a total area of 83,910 square miles. This makes them both smaller than Texas, even if you combine their total areas.

Is Texas Bigger Than Australia?

Although much of Australia’s land area is completely uninhabited, the total land area of Australia is incredibly huge, standing at around 3.0 million square miles or 7.7 million square kilometers.

This makes Texas significantly smaller than Australia, as you can fit Texas in Australia around 11 times. 

Yet, in terms of population, Texas still gets the lead, as Australia’s population is only 26.5 million as of 2023.

How Big Is Ecuador Compared to Texas?

Ecuador has a total area of around 256,370 square kilometers or 98,985 square miles. This means that Texas is around 2.7 times bigger. The population of Texas is also around 1.6 higher than that of the Latin country.

Final Thoughts

This wraps it up for today’s guide about Texas and how big it is. As you can see, The Lone Star State is remarkably big with a land area that exceeds many countries around the world.

Texas is also the second largest state in America and can fit almost any other state inside it, except for Alaska. So all in all, while it’s not the biggest, it’s still an incredibly large state!