The state of Alaska is the largest state in the United States by its total area, but Texas is actually the second-largest state in the US. It is the second-largest based on its total area, which is approximately 268,596 square miles. This includes a total land area of 261, 232 square miles and a total water area of 7,365 square miles. However, Texas is also the second-largest state in the US if you use population as your primary criterion for determining the size of a state. The state of Texas has a total population of 29,183,290 people, according to the most recent US Census, which took place in 2020.
Comparing Texas to California
Many people might think that California is the second-largest state in the United States based on its area, but it is actually Texas. The state of California has a total area of roughly 163,694.74 square miles and the state of Texas has a total area of approximately 268,596.46 square miles. When you compare the two states based on population, California is bigger, with a total population of 39,538,223 people, while Texas's population is 29,145,505 people. Texas's population increased by 15.9% from 2010-2020, while California's population increased a bit more slowly, growing by 6.1% in that same amount of time.
What If You Compare Texas to Florida?
Florida is another state that is quite large, both in terms of land area and in terms of its population. Florida actually rose from the fourth most populated state in the US in 2010 to be the third most populated state in 2020. The increase in population for the state of Florida was 14.6% in that time frame. However, the state of Texas is still larger in terms of population, since it has about 8 million more people living in it compared to Florida, according to the 2020 US Census.
Texas Is Larger Than Some European and Asian Countries
The state of Texas is actually so large that it is bigger than some countries in Europe and Asia in terms of its area. In fact, the state of Texas is twice the size of the country of Germany. The state of Texas is also 10% larger than the European country of France, too. Texas is also twice as big as the Asian island nation of Japan, as well. If Texas was its own nation, it would rank as the fortieth largest nation in the world directly behind the nations of Chile and Zambia.