Texas

Settlement & growth (pre-1960)

Before European contact, Texas was home to several distinct Native nations. The Caddo confederacies farmed the pine forests of East Texas, the Coahuiltecan tribes populated south Texas, and Apache held the arid West Texas mountains before the Comanche came into Texas to dominate much of the land. The Spanish were the first Europeans to colonize the region, establishing missions and presidios in the late 1600s and early 1700s. San Antonio, founded in 1718, became the most important Spanish settlement and remains a cultural anchor for Tejano identity. Nacogdoches, founded in 1779 on native settlements, served as an eastern outpost. In the south, many Spanish settlers, such as Blas Maria De La Garza, established ranches in the Rio Grande Valley where many of their descendants still live today.

After Mexico independence in 1821, Anglo-American settlers arrived under empresario contracts, originally made with Spain, most famously those of Stephen F. Austin. The "Old Three Hundred" families settled along the Brazos and Colorado Rivers in the 1820s, establishing communities that became the foundations of Houston and Austin. By 1836, with the establishment of the Republic of Texas, the Anglo population had swelled, and after annexation in 1845, immigration accelerated with Southerners from Tennessee, Kentucky, and the Deep South bringing a culture of cotton farming and frontier individualism. German immigrants began arriving in large numbers in the 1840s, drawn by land grants, and founded Fredericksburg in 1846 and New Braunfels in 1845, building tight-knit Hill Country farming communities. Irish immigrants also came in the 1840s, many settling in Corpus Christi and San Antonio. Polish immigrants founded Panna Maria in 1854, the first Polish settlement in the United States, while Czech communities grew around West, Texas in the 1870s.

African Americans came to Texas as slaves before the Civil War, primarily from the Upper South, and after emancipation built their own communities in cities such as Houston (notably the Third and Fifth Wards) and Dallas (Deep Ellum). During the Great Migration of 1910 to 1970, hundreds of thousands of Black Americans left the rural South for industrial jobs, with Houston and Dallas absorbing the largest numbers. The Mexican Revolution of 1910 sent waves of refugees north, and El Paso became the primary entry point, while San Antonio's West Side grew into a Mexican-American heartland. The Texas oil boom beginning at Spindletop in 1901 drew domestic migrants to Beaumont, Houston, and later Midland and Odessa. Dust Bowl migrants in the 1930s settled in the Panhandle around Amarillo and Lubbock. By 1960, Texas was a majority-white state with a large Hispanic minority and a significant Black population.

Modern era (post-1965)

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 fundamentally altered Texas by opening immigration from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Vietnamese refugees began arriving after 1975, with large concentrations settling in Houston, particularly in the areas around Midtown and Bellaire, and in Dallas in Arlington and Grand Prairie. Indian immigrants began arriving in larger numbers in the 1990s. Today, the Indian population (2.2% of the state total) is heavily concentrated in the suburban cities of Frisco, Sugar Land and Irving, where Indian-owned businesses, temples, and cultural centers have redefined the landscape.

The Hispanic population continues to grow through both high-birth rates, legal and illegal immigration, Texas has always been a mix of Anglo and Tejano (Spanish Texans) cultures. Historic Spanish settlements like San Antonio, El Paso, and Corpus Christi carry deep Spanish and Tejano roots that predates statehood. However, the recent Hispanic migrants (post-2000) are coming from countries not typically associated with Texas, including Venezuala, El Salvador, Guatemala and Colombia. Other than their historical connection to Spain from centuries ago, these recent arrivals share little in common with the descendants of Tejano settlers. Many native Texans of spanish descent report seeing rising conflicts within the Hispanic communities.

Additionally, international Muslim organizations have identified Texas as a priority for establishing Sharia communities which has started legal battles with the state.

Domestic migration reshaped Texas after 1965. The Sun Belt boom drew millions from the Rust Belt, the Northeast, and California, attracted by lower taxes and affordable housing. The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex grew from 2.4 million in 1970 to 7.6 million in 2020; Houston, Austin, and San Antonio similarly expanded. This in-migration was disproportionately White and Asian but also included African Americans returning from the North. Suburbanization accelerated, with master-planned communities attracting families seeking good schools and safety.