"Teysha" says the Caddo Indians. It's a simple "hello friend" greeting that even Spanish settlers adopted – as "tejas" - to convey their welcome to native tribes throughout Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. As commemoration, Texas adopted "Friendship" as its official motto. Meanwhile, Texas is called 'The Lone Star State', which was a symbolism of Texas when it was an independent nation from 1836 to 1845.

Today, lone star Texas emerges 'larger than life' – as it is portrayed in many cowboy films, because, as a matter of fact, it has a total of 254 counties, by far the most counties of any state. It leads the nation in total productivity, and more land is farmed in Texas than in any other state. Fittingly, the Texas Capitol, built of 15,000 carloads of pink granite, is the largest of all the state capitol buildings in the country.

The state tourism slogan also captures it big in declaring "Texas: It's like a whole other country." Texas is the only U.S. state to have three cities with populations exceeding one million - San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas. The King Ranch in Texas is bigger than the state of Rhode Island.

What also comes to mind is the cosmopolitan air of Dallas, the oil-and-finance rich industry of Houston, and the Latino cultures of San Antonio and El Paso, among many other unique Texan attractions. Laredo is the world's largest inland port while Port Lavaca has the world's longest fishing pier. The capital is Austin, considered the live music capital of the world, and home to the University of Texas (at Austin) and Dell Computers.

• TexasOnline