According to the U.S Census Bureau the county has a total area of 1,777 square miles (4,600 km2) of which 1,703 square miles (4,410 km2) is land and 74 square miles (190 km2) (4.2%) is covered by water. Both its total area and land area are larger than the state of Rhode Island. Thirty-six (36) separate and distinct public universities exist in Texas of which 32 belong to one of the six state university systems. Discovery of minerals on Permanent University Fund land particularly oil has helped fund the rapid growth of the state's two largest university systems: the University of Texas System and the Texas A&M System the four other university systems: the University of Houston System the University of North Texas System the Texas State System and the Texas Tech System are not funded by the Permanent University Fund. 6 Diplomatic missions In 1762 France finally relinquished their claim to Texas by ceding all of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain as part of the treaty to end the Seven Years' War. Spain saw no need to continue to maintain settlements near French outposts and ordered the closure of Los Adaes making San Antonio the new provincial capital the residents of Los Adaes were relocated in 1773 After several attempts to settle in other parts of the province the residents returned to East Texas without authorization and founded Nacogdoches, 4.3 Airports The Brazos River straddles some of Houston's extreme western and southwestern suburbs particularly Sugar Land and Rosenberg. . In 1900 after Galveston was struck by a devastating hurricane efforts to make Houston into a viable deep-water port were accelerated the following year the discovery of oil at the Spindletop oil field near Beaumont prompted the development of the Texas petroleum industry in 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt approved a $1 million improvement project for the Houston Ship Channel by 1910 the city's population had reached 78,800 almost doubling from a decade before African Americans formed a large part of the city's population numbering 23,929 people which was nearly one-third of Houston's residents. .
. METRO put in light rail service on January 1 2004 Voters have decided by a close margin (52% Yes to 48% No) that METRO's light rail shall be expanded, Unlike Dallas Houston is not in Tornado Alley; however smaller tornadoes can occur during severe weather They are most likely to be found along frontal boundaries of an air mass during the spring months Tornadoes in Houston usually measure a weak F1 on the older Fujita scale and cause light to moderate damage to well-constructed buildings the strongest recorded tornado in Houston history was an F4 on November 21 1992 part of a large outbreak of tornadoes in Harris County. .
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