The Trans-Pecos, as originally defined in 1887 by the Texas geologist Robert T. Hill, is the portion of Texas that lies west of the Pecos River. The term is considered synonymous with “Far West Texas,” a subdivision of West Texas.
The Trans-Pecos is part of the Chihuahuan Desert, the largest desert in North America. It is the most mountainous and arid portion of the state, and most of its area (outside the city of El Paso) is vast and sparsely populated, comprising seven of the ten largest counties by area in Texas. The area is known for the natural environment of the Big Bend and the gorge of the Rio Grande, part of which has been designated a National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. With the notable exceptions of Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park, the vast majority of the Trans-Pecos region consists of privately owned ranchland. The vast majority of the region’s population reside in the El Paso metropolitan area.
The Trans-Pecos region consists of nine counties: Brewster, Culberson, El Paso, Hudspeth, Jeff Davis, Pecos, Presidio, Reeves, and Terrell (See table below). Brewster County, the largest, has a land area of 6,193 sq mi (16,040 km2). To put this figure in perspective, the land area of Brewster County is about 10% larger than the entire state of Connecticut, yet it has a population density of only 1.4 persons per square mile compared to the 723 persons per square mile who reside in Connecticut. However, Brewster County is not the least-populated of the nine counties that comprise the Trans-Pecos. Terrell County, which borders both the Pecos River and the Rio Grande, is the least-populated county in the Trans-Pecos region. According to the United States Census of 2000, Terrell County had a total population of 984 residents occupying a land area of 2,358 sq mi (6,107 km2), resulting in a population density less than 0.5 persons per square mile.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Culberson County has a total area of 3,813 square miles, of which 3,813 square miles is land and 0.2 square miles is water. It is the fifth largest county by area in Texas.
The Trans-Pecos is a region of extremes, and at the opposite extreme from sparsely populated Terrell County is El Paso County, which is the smallest but most populated of the nine counties. El Paso County has a land area of only 1,015 sq mi (2,629 km2), yet it has a population of 800,647 individuals, resulting in a population density of 789 persons per square mile, a value that exceeds that of Connecticut.
Overall, the total population of the Trans-Pecos amounts to 856,187 residents occupying an area of 31,479 sq mi (81,530 km2), resulting in a population density around 27 persons per square mile (10 persons per km2), less than a third of the population density of the state as a whole.
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