I'm the 28th State, Texas.

Name: 1*Arianna Woods
Represents: The State of Texas.
Cities: Austin(capital), Houston(largest city), Dallas-Fort Worth (largest metro city).
Nickname: The Lone Star State
Motto: Friendship
State Slogan: The Friendly State
Flag(shown above): The Lone Star Flag
National Seal: Seal of the Republic of Texas
State Seal(shown above): Seal of the State of Texas
National Coat of Arms: Coat of Arms of the Republic of Texas
State Coat of Arms: Coat of Arms of the State of Texas
National Guard Crest: National Guard Crest of the State of Texas
State Flower: Bluebonnets
State Tree: Pecan Tree
State Soil: Houston Black
State Bird: Northern Mockingbird
State Song: Texas, Our Texas
State Air Force: Commemorative Air Force
State Bread: Pan de Campo
State Cooking Implement: Dutch Oven
State Dinosaur: Brachiosaur, Sauropod, Pleurocoelus
State Dish: Chili con Carne
State Domino Game: Texas 42, a four-player domino game with bidding and trumps.
State Fiber and Fabric: Cotton
State Fish: Guadalupe Bass
State Folk Dance: Square Dance
State Fruit:: Grapefruit
State Gem: Texas Blue Topaz
State Gemstone Cut: Lone Star Cut
State Grass: Sideouts gama
State insect: Monarch Butterfly
State Molecule: Buckyball
State Music: Western Swing
State Musical Instrument: Guitar
State Nut: Native Pecan
State Pepper(native) Chiltepin
State Pepper(other): Jalepeno
State Plant: Prickly Pear Cactus
State Plays: Fort Griffin Fandangle, The Lone Star, Texas, Beyond Sundown
State Reptile: Texas horned lizard
State Shell: Lightning Whelk
State Ship: The Battleship USS Texas (BB-35)
State Shrub: Crape Myrtle
State Shrub(native): Texas Sage
State Snack: Tortilla Chips and Salsa
State Sport(individual): Rodeo
State Sport(team): American Football
State Tartan: Texas Bluebonnet Tartan
State Pastry: Strudel and Sopaipilla
State Vegetable: Texas Sweet Onion
State Mammal(s): Nine-banded Armadillo(small mammal), Texas Longhorn(large mammal), Mexican Free-tailed bat(flying).
State Domestic Animals: Blue Lacy(state dog), American Quarter Horse(state horse).
Area size: Ranked 2nd in U.S. Total square miles is 268,581 (696,241 km2).
2*Spoken Lanuages: American English(Southern English, Texan English), Spanish, Texas German, Texas Silesian, Chinese, French, Tagalog, Vietnamese. ((TAKE NOTE. I do NOT speak any other languages listed here other than English. I do not know Spanish either, even though I’m half Mexican. = 3 = So don’t bother me about listing languages that I don’t speak. They’re languages usually spoken in Texas, ranked from dominant to very minor.))
Indigenous languages: Caddo, Comanche, Lipan Apache, Southern Tiwa, Solano, Wichita, Tonkawa, Atakapa, Koasati, Karankawa, Cotoname.
Gender: Female
Age: 22 in human years, about 700-800ish in land terms.
Height: 5'9''
Weight: Seriously?
Birthday: March 2 (Day gained independence from Mexico)
The 'Six Flags Over Texas': Spain ( upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia… upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia… ), France ( upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia… ), Mexico( upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia… ), Republic of Texas( upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia… ), United States of America ( upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia… ), Confederate States of America ( upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia… )

1*Arianna Woods: A new name that she took upon herself when she started to distance herself from Mexico. Her previous name is Esperanza Garcia.

2*Spoken languages: Arianna knows all these languages, but the ones she uses the most are American English and Spanish. The others listed are

((A side note: Most of this stuff is from Wikipedia, which for me is a trustable source. But, I have also read books on this subject, just so I can make sure most of these things are correct, which they are, and I fully understand all of this information. So yeah, I think before I copy-paste. ))



Appearance

Texas has slightly dark reddish-brown hair that’s usually styled in a low ponytail or is just down. She has tanned skin with traces of freckles here and there. She wears a red plaid button up shirt over a white t-shirt, jeans, and ranch/country boots. She has a medium sized slash shaped scar on her waist, representing the Battle of the Alamo, but it is rarely shown and she hardly remembers it’s there. Also, due to the very dry climate, she has dry skin, which is why her elbows and knees are rough.

Personality highpoints

-calm and collected
-if she’s having a bad day, she’ll be quite moody
-has a soft spot for animals
-likes to cook; more specifically, barbeque
-indifferent towards family members
-very hospitable
-has an outstanding musical talent, despite her rough attitude
-a slight tech nerd

Some Fun/Weird Facts

The King Ranch in Texas is bigger than the state of Rhode Island and includes 50,000 head of cattle and more than 2,000 miles of fence.

Austin is considered the music capital of the world.

Texas possesses three of the top 10 most populous cities in the United States. These cities are Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.

More land is farmed in Texas than in any other state.

Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. The Dublin Dr Pepper, 85 miles west of Waco, still uses pure imperial cane sugar in its product. There is no period after the 'Dr' in Dr Pepper.

The capitol building in Austin opened May 16, 1888. The dome of the building stands seven feet higher than that of the nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Michael Dell (the guy who started Dell) went to school at the University of Texas. Admin's mom's dorm was located not too far from his room, where he first started to make computers.

It is illegal for children to have unusual haircuts.

It is illegal to sell one's eye.

[ more will be added if I find any more ]

_{(( Everything below was typed down by me, but is from Wikipedia. ))}
CULTURE

The culture of Texas has been the melting pot of the “Southern” (Dixie) and Southwestern culture, with pockets of colonies of ethnic groups in many locations.

Texas also has an influx of people from North America moving in to find oil. Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Michigan, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota have experienced a “brain drain” as their university graduates move to Texas to find jobs.

There are a lot popular events held in Texas celebrating Texas’s culture. The annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the world’s largest rodeo. It’s held 20 days from late February to early March. The event begins with trail rides that originate several points across the state. The rodeo includes typical rodeo events, as well as concert performances from major artists and carnival rides. The Fort Worth Livestock Show and Rodeo lasts three weeks in late January and early February. It has many traditional rodeos, but also a cowboy rodeo, and a Mexican rodeo in recent years that both have large fan bases.

The State Fair of Texas is held in Dallas each year in late September through mid to late October at Fair Park. The OU-Texas as well as the Grambling St-Prairie View A&M football games are played at the Cotton Bowl in Fair Park during the State Fair. The State Fair is known for its fried food, particularly corndogs. The State Fair is also home to the Texas Star, the tallest Ferris Wheel in North America, and Big Tex.

Texas has a vibrant live music scene in Austin boasting more music venues per capita than any other U.S. city, befitting the city’s official slogan as The Live Music Capital of the World. Austin’s music revolves around the many nightclubs an 6th Street and an annual film, music, and multimedia festival known as South by Southwest. The longest-running concert music program on American television, Austin City Limits, is videotaped at the University of Texas at Austin campus. Austin City Limits and Waterloo Records run the Austin City Limits Music Festival, an annual music and art festival held at Zilker Park in Austin.

Texas is known for its love of NFL football and is noted for the intensity with which people follow high school and NCAA football—often dominating over all else for the purposes of socializing and leisure. School districts in Texas are sometimes criticized for the amount of money spent on their sports programs and facilities. Such facilities and programs can garner a school attention; however, Texas is also home to two NFL teams, the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans.

Rodeo is the official sport of Texas.

Baseball is also very popular in Texas. In Major League Baseball, the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are equally popular in the state (geographic wise), as North Texas, West Texas and Panhandle residents are predominantly Rangers fans, while Southeast Texas, Central Texas and South Texas are predominantly inhabited by Astros fans. Minor League Baseball is also closely followed.

Other popular sports in Texas include golf (which can be played year-round because of the South’s mild climate), basketball (the state has three NBA teams: the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, and Dallas Mavericks), fishing, and auto racing, Lacrosse, originally played by some of the indigenous tribes, is a visible sport and growing. Soccer is a popular participatory sport—especially among children—but as a spectator sport, it does not yet have a large following despite two Texan teams in Major League Soccer. Hockey has been a growing participatory sport in the Dallas/Fort Worth area since the Minnesota North Stars became the Dallas Stars in 1993. Minor league pro hockey had become quite popular in the last decade; Texas is home to eight of the Central Hockey League’s seventeen teams. Texas is also home to the Houston Aeros and San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League and the Texas Wildcatters of the ECHL.


CLIMATE

Texas’s climate varies widely, from arid in the west to humid in the east. Due to its large size, Texas is home to several different climates. There are several distinct regions within the state which have varying climates: Northern Plains, Trans-Pecos Region, Texas Hill Country, Piney Woods, and South Texas. Generally speaking, the eastern half of Texas is humid subtropical, while the west half of Texas is semi-arid (with some arid regions). While snowfall is more common across northern Texas than southern sections, large snowfall totals have occurred near and along the middle and upper Texas coasts.

Texas ranks first in tornado occurrence with an average of 139 per year. Tropical cyclones can impact the state from the Gulf of Mexico, or from and overland trajectory originating in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Those originating from the Gulf of Mexico are more likely to strike the upper Texas coast somewhere. Significant floods have occurred across the state throughout history, both from tropical cyclones and from stalled weather fronts.

Northern Plains

The Northern Plains’ climate is semi-arid and is prone to drought, annually receiving between 16 and 32 inches (810 mm) of precipitation. During the summer, this area of state sees the clearest days. Winter nights commonly see temperature fall below the freezing mark, or 32 F (0 C).

The wettest months of the year are April and May. Tornadoes, caused by the convergence of westerly and southerly prevailing winds during the late spring, are common, making the region part of Tornado Alley. Poor land management, drought and high wind speeds can cause large dust storms, minimized in modern times by improved land-management practices, but most troublesome in the 1930s during the Dust Bowl period. The panhandle region, farthest from the Gulf of Mexico, experiences colder winters than the other regions of Texas.

Trans Pecos Region

The Trans-Pecos region, also known as far West and the Big Bend Country, is the farthest west region in geography, consisting of the Chihuahuan Desert and isolated mountain ranges. During fall, winter and spring, It experiences the most clear days statewide. It is also the driest receiving an average annual rainfall of only 16 inches (410 mm) or less. The arid climate is the main reason for desertification of the land, but overgrazing is slowly widening the land area of that desert. In the mountain areas one can see the coniferous forests in a wetter and more temperate environment. The wettest months in this region occur during the summer. Winds are strengthened as they are forced to push through canyons and valleys. In flatter areas these winds are harvested into usable electricity.

Hill Country

The Texas Hill Country, or Central Texas is shaped by its many rivers and hills. The climate is on the western edge of the humid subtropical, with cool winters and hot summers. The vegetation is both deciduous in the river valleys, and coniferous where there is greater elevation. In a single year the region can receive up to 48 inches (1,200 mm) of rain, and flooding is common near rivers and in low lying areas. The wettest months of the year are April and May.

Piney Woods

The Piney Woods is the eastern region of Texas and is within the humid subtropical climate zone. It receives the most rainfall; more than 60 inches (1,500 mm) annually in the far east. This is due to the gulf currents that carry humid air to the region, where it condenses and precipitates out in the vicinity of the sea breeze fronts as well as when extratropical cyclones move by. While coastal sections see the most cloudy days statewide and year-round, northern sections see the most clear days during the summer. The wettest months of the year are April and May. The area is prone to severe thunderstorms and tornadoes when the proper conditions exist, generally in the springtime. Hurricanes also strike the region, the most disastrous of which was the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. More recently Hurricane Rita pummeled the Golden triangle of southeast Texas. The higher humidity of the region amplifies the feeling of heat during the summer. During the winter and spring along the immediate coast, temperatures are kept cool by relatively cool gulf waters. Dense advection fog can form when warm air moves over the cool shel waters during February and March, stopping ship traffic for days.

South

The region of South Texas includes the semiarid ranch country and the wetter Rio Grande Valley. Considered to be the southernmost tip of the American Great Plains region, the inland region has rainfall that is similar to that of the Northern plains. The coastal areas are nearly warm most of the year due to currents of the Gulf of Mexico, but can get cold in winter if a strong front comes in, and sometimes even causing snow at sea level. Summers are hot and humid. Rain in the coastal region is more abundant than in the inland region, and subtropical forests line the Rio Grande River. The wettest months of the year are April and May. Inland, where it is drier, ranches dominate the landscape, characterized by thick, spiny brush and grasslands. The winters inland are cold and dry as the Arctic air makes it into the region, therefore making snow a rare occurrence due to the lack of humidity in winter, and the summers are for the most part hot and dry, but at times can be humid if winds come off the Gulf of Mexico. Tornadoes can occur in this region, but less frequent than in other parts of the state.

Cold and Snow

Northern and western sections of the state average snowfall annually due to their colder average readings each winter. For one week in February 1956, a snow storm of historic proportions struck northern Texas. The maximum amount measured was 61 inches (150 cm) at Vega, Texas with Plainview, Texas receiving 24 inches (57 cm) of snow during a 24-hour period 13-14 December 1987. For central and southern sections, snowfall is considerably more unusual, but not unprecedented. In February 1895, a large area of southeastern Texas received over 12 inches (30 cm) of snow, with peak amounts near 30 inches (76 cm) at Port Arthur, Texas. More recently around Christmas of 2004, up to 13 inches (33 cm) of snow fell along the middle coast, with the maximum occurring at Victoria, Texas.

The worst cold snap to occur statewide occurred the last half of December in 1983. Four stations recorded their longest continuous readings at or below 32 F (0 C) on record. At Austin, Texas, the temperature remained at or below freezing for 139 hours. At Abilene, Texas, the period at or below freezing totaled 202 hours. Lubbock, Texas saw temperatures at or below freezing 207 hours. The Dallas-Fort Worth airport measured temperatures at or below freezing for a total of 296 consecutive hours. Snow fell on December 14 and December 15 across northern Texas stayed on the ground until New Year’s Day of 1984.

Severe Weather

Texas’s position at the northwestern end of the Gulf of Mexico makes it vulnerable to hurricanes. Some of the most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history have impacted Texas. A hurricane in 1875 killed approximately 400 people in Indianola, followed by another hurricane in 1886 that destroyed the town, which was at the time the most important port city in the state. This allowed Galveston to take over as the chief port city, but it was subsequently devastated by a hurricane in 1900 that killed approximately 8,000 people (possibly as many as 12,000) making it the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Other devastating Texas hurricanes include the 1915 Galveston Hurricane, hurricane Carla in 1961, Hurricane Beulah in 1967, Hurricane Alicia in 1983, Hurricane Rita in 2005, and Hurricane Ike in 2008.

The climatology of where tropical cyclone strikes are most likely within the state appears to be changing. In the early 1980s, the most favored region for strikes during the previous century was the middle coast. However, the region of the coastline has been rarely impacted since the 1960s, and a recent study indicates that the most vulnerable location to a tropical cyclone strike since 1851 is the upper coast, which ha received 56 percent of all tropical cyclone landfalls, of which 66 percent originate from the Gulf of Mexico. This is in contrast with Louisiana and the lower Texas coast, where only 39 percent of the landfalls are from tropical cyclones of Gulf of Mexico origin.

Flooding

The most serious threat from tropical cyclones in Texas residents is from flooding. The worst aspect about tropical cyclones is that the weaker they are, the more efficient they can be at producing heavy rains and catastrophic flooding. Systems with sprawling circulations, such as Hurricane Beulah, also tend to make good rainmakers. Slow moving systems, such as Tropical Storm Amelia (1978) also can produce significant rainfall over the Lone Star State. Tropical cyclones from both the eastern Pacific and Atlantic Basins can impact the Lone Star State. In general, flooding across Texas is more common during spring and early autumn months, and it can also be due to nearby stationary fronts interacting with strong upper level cyclones. The most likely location for floods statewide is the Balcones Escarpment, an area of steep elevation gradient in central Texas at the boundary between the Edwards Plateau and the coastal plain.

Climate Change

Texas emits the most greenhouse gases in the U.S. The state annual carbon dioxide emissions are nearly 1.5 trillion pounds (680 billion kg). Texas would be the world’s seventh-largest producer of greenhouse gases if it were an independent country. The primary factors in Texas’ greenhouse gas emissions are the state’s large number of coal power plants and the state’s refining and manufacturing industries which provides the bulk of the United State petroleum products.

CUISINE

Tex-Mex

Tex-Mex refers to a style of cooking that combines traditional Mexican cuisine with American tastes and cooking techniques. Tex-Mex cooking differs from traditional Mexican cooking in using meats (like ground beef), melted cheeses, and spices more suited to the American pallate. Tex-Mex cuisine has influenced what is often called ‘Mexican” cuisine in many parts of the U.S. Dishes associated with Tex-Mex cooking include nachos, tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, chimichangas, and burritos.

Texas Barbecue

Barbecue in Texas is characterized by certain distinct characteristics which make it different from barbecue in other parts of America. Unlike forms of barbecue which use pork as the primary meat, Texas barbecue depends heavily on beef. Smoked brisket is one of the most common meats used, as is smoked beef sausage. Techniques and flavors associated with Texas barbeque show influences of European immigrants, especially Czech and German, as well as traditional African-American and Native American influences on the cuisine.

Other foods

Texas is known for its own variation of chili con carne which, unlike other chili from other regions, never includes beans. Texas chili is an ingredient in Frito pie, a dish made with the eponymous Fritos corn chip, invented in Texas and produced by Plano, Texas-based Frito-Lay Corporation. Chicken fried steak is a traditional Texas dish, a variation on schnitzel that came to Texas along with German immigrants. Czech immigrants brought a tradition of kolache-making. The kolache is a fruit-filled pastry. Southeastern Texas shows strong Cajun and Creole influences in its foods. West Texas is characterized by cowboy influences, such as chuckwagon cooking.


LANGUAGES

Of the languages spoken in Texas none has been designated the official language. Around two-thirds of Texas residents speak solely English at home, while another 29% speak Spanish. Throughout Texas’ history English, Spanish and French have all been the primary dominant language used by government officials.

Official Language Status

Texas does not have an official language; nevertheless, English (specifically, American English) is the language used for legislation, regulations, executive orders, treaties, education, federal court rulings, and all other official pronouncements. Spanish is also heavily spoken in Texas due to the large number of Tejanos, Mexicans and other local and foreign Spanish-speakers. The Government of Texas, through Section 2054.116 of the Government Code, mandates that state agencies provide information on their website in Spanish to assist residents who have limited English.

History

As Spaniards settled Texas, they brought their native language, supplanting earlier Native American Languages such as the Caddo, the language from which Texas derives its name, and Comanche from the end of the 17th century. Early immigrants that arrived directly from Europe such as Germans, Poles, and Czechs even established their own separate towns where their native tongues became the dominant language. Texas German and Texas Silesian are varieties of German and Silesian (closely related to Polish) that are indigenous to Texas. Today the dominant language in Texas is English like most areas of the United States.

Texas English

Contrary to popular belief, there is no exclusive Texas dialect of American English. However, some linguists contest that there is a unique subset of Southern English spoken in Texas. According to the Phonological Atlas of the University of Pennsylvania virtually all native Texans speak Southern American English, while other studies claim that Texas is home to several dialects of American English. All of East Texas and usually most of Central and North Texas are classified as speaking Southern dialect, which is the same dialect being spoken in north Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and northern Alabama. Usually it is portions of West and South Texas that are classified as speaking a Western or Southwestern dialect. According to the University of Tampere atlas, the same Southwestern dialect is spoken in South and West Texas and Southern California, extreme southern Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. The Gulf Southern dialect is spoken in most of Central, East, and North Texas with the Texas Panhandle speaking the Midland South dialect, which is shared by those who live in Kansas, Missouri, and Southern Nebraska.

Other Languages

Recent immigrants from other U.S. regions and foreign countries are causing a linguist shift in Texas. Spanish speakers have risen to almost a third of the population; Vietnamese and Chinese have replaced German and French to become the third and fourth most spoken languages in Texas; with Hindi, Korean, and Tagalog filling out the top most spoken languages in Texas. Large numbers of non-natives Texas residents are picking up some dialectal traits of Southern English, while other linguistic traits are being subdued into a national homogenizing trend.
The Spanish dialects spoken by some Tejanos are becoming more influenced by Mexican dialects of Spanish due to a large influx of recent immigrants from Mexico. In some locations of South and West Texas these Spanish Creoles and the dialects of English spoken by Anglos and non-bilingual Tejanos are being supplanted as the dominant language by Mexican Spanish. There were also several smaller language groups, including Czechs (several thousands Moravians) and Polish. Texas German is a dialect of the German language that is spoken by descendants of German immigrants who settled in the Texas Hill Country region in the mid 19th century.

Some Brief History points

Past caretakers: France (1684-1689), Spain (1690-1821), Mexico (1821-1845).