Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle (literally: "Texas Panhandle " ) is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties.
Geography
The Panhandle is a rectangular area that borders the state of New Mexico, and north and east by the state of Oklahoma in the West. As southern border is considered the southern county line of counties Castro, Swisher, Briscoe, etc. The description, Panhandle ' refers to the fact that projects of this area of the imaginary " pan " as a Texas Panhandle north.
The area is 66883.58 km ², or 9.864 % of the total area of 162.53 km ² Texas and additionally water -covered surface. According to the 2000 census the population was 402 862 inhabitants or 1.93% of the total population of the state. Remarkably, the Panhandle is not synonymous with North Texas, which relates only to the east of the northern Texas.
The southwestern half of the Panhandle and almost all of the north lie on a low- relief plateau ( High Plains ), which is traversed by the Canadian River in west-east direction. South of the Canadian River, this plateau Llano Estacado ( Staked Plains ) or simply Southern High Plains is called. The largest city in the Panhandle is Amarillo. Southeast of Amarillo is the main source river of the Red River, the Prairie Dog Town Fork has cut together with its tributaries in the plateau and the Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the United States formed. The Palo Duro Canyon opens to the southeast in the hill country, which accounts for the largest part of the Southeast and parts of northeastern Texas Panhandle and the wide Talung of the Canadian River. It is lower than the western plateau, but in relief stronger.
Geology
The surface geology in the major part of the Panhandle of Texas is dominated by Quaternary aeolian sands, silts and clays, named as Blackwater Draw Formation. Among superimposed Vorlandmolasse Pliocene of the southern Rocky Mountains, known as the Ogallala formation. It contains the upper part of a powerful caliche horizon, ie limestones that were precipitated during Sedimentationspausen in arid climate of near-surface ground water. This very erosion resistant in today's dry Texas climate limestone acts as reinforcement for the subjacent, less erosion- resistant, red, continental sand -, silt - and mudstones of the deeper parts of the Ogallala Formation and the Upper Triassic and Upper Permian, making the Llano Estacado largely before Zertalung is protected. On the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado this caliche horizon forms a prominent escarpment, which is called " Caprock Escarpment ". To the east of the Panhandle, this reinforcement is often not available (anymore), so the terrain is there significantly more zertalt. While still the deeper layers of the Ogallala Formation are preserved in the Northeast, they are eliminated in the southeast. There the Upper Triassic sediments of the Dockum Group and the top and mittelpermischen deposits of Quatermaster, Whitehorse and Blaine formation occur partly over a large area to light. Even in the great river valleys of the Canadian River and Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River bite from permotriassische layers.
History and Politics
Since the absorption law of the State of Texas allowed to split itself, in 1915 a law on the establishment of a State Jefferson was introduced in the Congress, which is synonymous with the Texas Panhandle should be. However, the legislative initiative was no majority
From a policy perspective, this region is among the most conservative of the entire United States.
Counties
- Armstrong County
- Briscoe County
- Carson County
- Castro County
- Childress County
- Collingsworth County
- Dallam County
- Deaf Smith County
- Donley County
- Gray County
- Hall County
- Hansford County
- Hartley County
- Hemphill County
- Hutchinson County
- Lipscomb County
- Moore County
- Ochiltree County
- Oldham County
- Parmer County
- Potter County
- Randall County
- Roberts County
- Sherman County
- Swisher County
- Wheeler County
Known cities
- Adrian
- Amarillo
- Borger
- Bovina
- Cactus
- Canadian
- Canyon
- Childress
- Clarendon
- Claude
- Dalhart
- Dimmitt
- Dumas
- Friona
- Fritch
- Hereford
- Memphis
- Pampa
- Panhandle
- Perryton
- Shamrock
- Spearman
- Stinnett
- Stratford
- Sunray
- Tulia
- Wellington