Texas is a state in the United States’ South Central area. Approximately 268,596 square miles (695,662 sq km) in area. Texas is bordered to the east by Louisiana, to the northeast by Arkansas, to the north by Oklahoma, to the west by New Mexico, and to the south and southwest by the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. It has a shoreline to the southeast that borders the Gulf of Mexico.