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- Blank Texas map
TX · 254 counties · 268,596 sq mi · print portrait · South · West South Central
Blank Texas map
A blank outline of Texas, the largest of the 48 contiguous states, with 254 county lines hidden. The shape is famous enough that most students can name it from the outline alone.
What the outline shows
The map draws the state boundary. The north edge is the Red River against Oklahoma and, above the Panhandle, a straight line along the 36.5th parallel. The Panhandle's west edge is a straight meridian shared with New Mexico, which continues south to the 32nd parallel, then runs east to the Rio Grande. The whole southwest edge is the Rio Grande, from El Paso to the Gulf at Brownsville, about 1,250 miles of river. The southeast is the Gulf coast, with Galveston Bay, Corpus Christi Bay and the long line of Padre Island. The east edge is the Sabine River against Louisiana, then a straight line north to the Red River against Arkansas and Louisiana. Nothing is drawn inside. Press Capital to mark Austin on the Colorado River of Texas, in the centre-south of the state. El Paso and Hudspeth counties in the far west are on Mountain time.
Portrait or landscape
Texas is about 800 miles from the top of the Panhandle to Brownsville and about 770 miles from El Paso to the Sabine. The shape is nearly as wide as it is tall. Portrait gives the slightly larger print because the Panhandle stands above the main body, and the empty page corners on either side of the Panhandle can hold a key. Landscape prints almost as large and suits a worksheet with a table beside the map. For the coast alone, zoom to the area between Beaumont and Brownsville and print landscape; the Gulf coast runs diagonally, so it fits either way.
Five classroom exercises
- Trace the Rio Grande from El Paso around the Big Bend to Brownsville and label Mexico across it; then mark the four Mexican states that face Texas.
- Draw the Red River along the Oklahoma border and the Sabine along the Louisiana border, and mark where each becomes a straight surveyed line.
- Draw the Brazos and Colorado rivers from the northwest to the Gulf, passing Waco and Austin, and the Trinity through Dallas to Galveston Bay.
- Place Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth and El Paso, then draw the Central/Mountain time zone line around the far western tip.
- Shade the Panhandle and the Trans-Pecos, and mark Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas, near the New Mexico line.
How to recognise the Texas outline
- A large shape with a square Panhandle rising from the top and a long tail hanging to the south.
- A wavy top edge (the Red River) and a wavy lower-left edge (the Rio Grande) that bends sharply at the Big Bend.
- A diagonal Gulf coast on the lower right with a thin line of barrier islands.
- A straight left edge and a straight upper-right edge, both surveyed meridians.
- A small western tip at El Paso where the Rio Grande meets the straight New Mexico line.
Answer key and related maps
- Texas map — the labeled version with capital, cities and borders; use it as the answer key.
- Printable Texas map — the same outline with cities, county lines and the capital printed on.
- Texas county map — all 254 counties with their seats.
- Austin — the capital, the fourth-largest city in the state.
- Neighbours: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico blank maps.
- Rio Grande, Gulf of Mexico, and the Central / Mountain time zones.
- All blank state maps and the printable US maps index.