Texas is a pretty big state – the second biggest in the nation, as a matter of fact. And we actually have a population to show for it, unlike Alaska, which is full of ice, bears, and a few people. These 10 statistics about our state will really put into perspective just how enormous it is.

1. We have enough crude oil reserves to fill up nearly 1459 Empire State Buildings.
Flickr/greggjaden
Texas has almost 404 billion gallons of crude oil reserves, or 32% of the entire nation's.
2. If we were our own country, we'd have the 13th highest GDP in the world.
Flickr/drewtarvin
Our GDP is $1.43 trillion - larger than that of Spain, South Korea, Mexico, and almost equal to that of Russia.
3. There are enough registered machine guns in Texas to arm every student at Rice University more than four times over.
Flickr/eschipul
28,690 machine guns vs. 6,740 students at Rice. Mind-blowing, right?
4. Our largest wind farm powers over 230,000 farms.
Flickr/skiquel
Our state is considered the leader in U.S. wind energy. Roscoe Wind Farm is nearly five times the size of Manhatten with a 781-megawatt capacity.
5. Rhode Island could fit into Texas 221 times.
Wikipedia
We're the second-largest state in the nation with an area of 268,820 square miles, or 7.4% of the entire U.S. Rhode Island's area is only 1214 square miles.

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6. We lead the nation in revenue generated from livestock and livestock products.
Flickr/lhoon
At $7.4 billion or 57% of our annual agricultural cash receipts, cattle production is the largest, most successful segment of Texas agriculture.
7. More capital punishments take place in Texas than any other state.
Flickr/wootom
We're one of only 32 states that allows the death penalty, and 40% of all executions have taken place here since 1976.
8. We're ranked #2 in the nation in overall agricultural revenue.
Flickr/Gloria Cabada-Leman
Cotton brings in $1.9 billion, greenhouse/nursery $1.5 billion, broilers $1.3 billion, and dairy products $947 million.
9. Three of our cities' populations exceed 1 million, and all three are in the top 10 most populous cities in America.
Flickr/Katie Haugland Bowen
Houston has a population of a little over 2 million, San Antonio almost 1.5 million, and Dallas 1.25 million.
10. We have 254 counties, more than any other state in the nation.
Flickr/brianswan
Georgia comes in at #2, and we still have 90 more counties than it does.

Can you believe that these are true? What other mind-blowing statistics about Texas would you add to the list?

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