Land of the Large - Part I

Texas really is the biggest state in the Union

Texas is big. It’s not only synonymous with that adjective, the Lone Star state’s name is a form of the superlative… with good reason. From the shores of the Gulf of Mexico to the high plains of the Panhandle and East Texas forests to West Texas deserts, the state encompasses 268,580.82 square miles (695,621.13 square kilometers) of land and water.

That’s one-thousandth the land area of the entire world, oceans included. If it were a country, Texas would rank as the 41st largest nation in the world. According to the CIA World Factbook, 210 other countries would be smaller, including any single country in the European Union including the two largest, France and Spain.

Texas is the second largest of America’s 50 states, equaling 7 percent of its overall land area. "Second place?" some might scoff; second doesn’t count. Ahh, but there’s a lesser-known fact about land ownership in the United States that makes Texas far and away the largest state in the Union by a key measure. More on that tomorrow. .:.