13 incredible facts about Texas

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Texas has enough crude oil reserves to fill up almost 1,862 Empire State Buildings.

Texas has enough crude oil reserves to fill up almost 1,862 Empire State Buildings.

Texas had 12.27 billion barrels of crude oil reserves in 2014, or 515.42 billion gallons. That's 33.7% of US reserves.

The Empire State Building's volume is 37 million cubic feet, or 276,779,000 gallons.

Source: US Energy Information Administration

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There are enough registered machine guns in Texas to arm every student enrolled at Harvard and Dartmouth.

There are enough registered machine guns in Texas to arm every student enrolled at Harvard and Dartmouth.

There are 34,848 registered machine guns in Texas.

There are about 21,000 students enrolled at Harvard and about 6,300 students at Dartmouth.

Source: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

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37 Wyomings would still have fewer businesses than Texas.

37 Wyomings would still have fewer businesses than Texas.

There were 2,356,748 firms in Texas in 2012.

There were 62,427 in Wyoming in 2012.

Source: US Census

There are more than 1.5 million undocumented immigrants in Texas. That's more than the population of San Diego.

There are more than 1.5 million undocumented immigrants in Texas. That's more than the population of San Diego.

Undocumented immigrants in Texas made up 6.3% of the population and 8.9% of the workforce in 2012.

The population of San Diego is an estimated 1,394,928. It is the eighth most populated city in the US.

Source: The Washington Post

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If Texas were its own country, it would have the 10th highest GDP in the world.

If Texas were its own country, it would have the 10th highest GDP in the world.

Texas' gross domestic product was $1.59 trillion in 2015. It has a larger GDP than Canada (about $1.55 trillion) and Korea (about $1.4 trillion) but falls short of Brazil ($1.7 trillion)

Over the past 20 years, Texas has become an increasingly important part of the US economy. In 1997, it made up about 6% of the total US GDP; by 2014, it was over 9%.

Source: World Bank

From 2010 to 2015, Texas' population increased by an amount more than the current populations of New Hampshire and Wyoming.

From 2010 to 2015, Texas' population increased by an amount more than the current populations of New Hampshire and Wyoming.

In 2010, Texas' population was 25.1 million. The June 2015 estimate for its population was 27.5 million.

For 2015, New Hampshire's estimated population was 1.3 million, and Wyoming's was 586,000.

Source: US Census

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The total weight of catfish consumed in Texas annually is more than the weight of five Eiffel Towers.

The total weight of catfish consumed in Texas annually is more than the weight of five Eiffel Towers.

Texans consume 109 million pounds of catfish a year.

The Eiffel Tower weighs 10,100 tons, or 20.2 million pounds.

Source: Politifact

The population of Hispanic and Latino people in Texas is greater than the population of Georgia.

The population of Hispanic and Latino people in Texas is greater than the population of Georgia.

About 10.7 million people in Texas — 38.8% of the population — are Hispanic or Latino.

The population of Georgia is 10.2 million.

Source: US Census

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More people are living below poverty in Texas than the combined populations of Los Angeles and Detroit.

More people are living below poverty in Texas than the combined populations of Los Angeles and Detroit.

The percentage of people living below poverty level in Texas is estimated at 17.2%. That's 4.72 million people.

There are 3.97 million people in Los Angeles and 677,116 people in Detroit.

Source: US Census

Texans working in renewable energy can make more than entry-level Wall Streeters.

Texans working in renewable energy can make more than entry-level Wall Streeters.

Texan workers in renewable-energy industries can earn an average salary 85% above the state average.

They earn an average annual salary of $78,257. And those working in "wind electric power generation" and "semiconductors, solar cells, and related devices manufacturing" earned an average annual wage of $114,920.

Entry-level analysts are paid "upwards of $100,000 right out of college," but Glassdoor estimates that this number is about $77,000 on average.

Source: The Texas Renewable Energy Report

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Some 7.9% of all US homes are in Texas.

Some 7.9% of all US homes are in Texas.

In Texas, there are 10,587,752 housing units.

In the US, there are 134,789,944 housing units.

Source: US Census

Texas' total area is nearly twice the size of Germany.

Texas' total area is nearly twice the size of Germany.

Texas is the largest state in the contiguous US with a total area of 268,596 square miles — more than 7% of the total US.

Germany's area is 137,847 square miles.

Source: US Census

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Texas is building 175 times as many buildings as Rhode Island.

Texas is building 175 times as many buildings as Rhode Island.

In 2015, there were 175,443 building permits in Texas.

In 2015, there were 998 building permits in Rhode Island.

Source: US Census