Below are  11 common myths (misunderstandings) that foreigners and Americans often have concerning the State of Texas (one of 50 States in the USA).

1. Most Texans still travel by horse (False) - Texas has more motor vehicles (cars) than any state in the USA, except California. Over 20-million cars are registered to Texas drivers and traffic congestion is one of the major complaints of Texans today. Even in small towns, most Texans rely on automobiles for travel.
2. Most Texans wear cowboy boots and cowboy hats (False) - While many Texans in small towns still proudly wear cowboy boots and hats, most Texans in large cities do not wear cowboy boots or cowboy hats for daily wear.
3. Most Texans live on farms and ranches (False) - Texas now has about 20-million people that live in urban cities, and about 3-million that live in rural areas with farms and ranches.
4. You can drive to any city in Texas within a few hours (False) - Crossing from west Texas to east Texas - El Paso to Houston - is about 750 miles (1200 km). From north Texas (Dalhart) to south Texas (Brownsville) is about 850 miles (1367 km) … roughly the same distance as from London to Rome.
5. Texas has a small minority population (False) - Texas is one of only 4 States (out of 50) where the minority population is larger than the ‘white’ population. In Texas, the Asian population (3%), African-American (12%), Hispanic or Latino (35%), native American (1%) and other (1%) total about 51% of the Texas population.
6. Texas is the largest (land size) of America’s 50 States (False) - The State of Alaska is the largest State in the USA, and is over 2 times as large as Texas.
7. Texas is mainly an arid or desert land (cactus, etc.) very little water (False) - Texas has over 3,700 named streams and 15 major rivers, and because of 212 man-made water reservoirs, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department says Texas has more lakes than any other State in the USA.
8. All of Texas is very hot (False) - While most of Texas would we considered a very warm climate, the north Texas area of the Texas “Panhandle” near the cities of Amarillo and Lubbock have average January high temperatures of 49 deg F (9.4 deg C). The average yearly temperature in Amarillo is 71 deg F (21.6 deg C). It is common for Amarillo to have over 10-15 inches of snow each year.
9. Everyone in Texas has a gun (False) - While Texas has a very high rate of gun ownership (about 68-million guns owned in Texas), many, if not most Texans, in big cities do not own a gun. Handguns are not allowed in many public and private places. Hunting of birds, deer and other wild animals is very popular in rural areas.
10. Either Dallas or Houston or San Antonio is the capital city of Texas (False) - Dallas, Houston and San Antonio are the three largest cities inTexas, but Austin is the capital city of Texas.
11. Farming and ranching businesses employ the most people in Texas (False) - About 1 in 7 working Texans have a job in the agricultural industry. In 1910, there were 418,000 farms and ranches in Texas. Today there are only 230,000 farms and ranches in Texas. Texas high tech companies employed 435,000 workers in 2006 (second only to California) according to an American Electronics Association survey. Texas has more Fortune 500 company headquarters than any other State in the USA, except New York.