Editing Texas panhandle (section)

{{Short description|Region in Texas, United States}}
{{distinguish|Panhandle, Texas}}
{{for|the western panhandle-like area of Texas|Trans-Pecos}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                     = Texas panhandle
| native_name              = 
| other_name               = 
| settlement_type          = Region
| image_skyline            = Buffalo Lake Texas Windmill 2009.jpg
| image_caption            = Windmill on the level plains of the Texas Panhandle
| nickname                 = 
| etymology                = 
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = {{flagu|United States|name=United States|size=23px}}
| subdivision_type1        = State
| subdivision_name1        = {{flag|Texas|size=23px}}
| subdivision_type2        = Region
| subdivision_name2        = [[High Plains (United States)|High Plains]]
| subdivision_type3        = 
| subdivision_name3        = 
| subdivision_type4        = 
| subdivision_name4        = 
| image_map                = Texas Panhandle.PNG
| map_caption              = Map of the Texas Panhandle
| pushpin_map              = 
| pushpin_relief           = 
| pushpin_map_caption      = 
| coordinates              = {{Wikidatacoord|Q2297417|region:US-TX|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes    = 
| established_title        = 
| established_date         = 
| area_footnotes           = 
| area_total_km2           = 67046
| area_total_sq_mi         = 
| area_land_sq_mi          = 
| area_water_sq_mi         = 
| elevation_footnotes      = 
| elevation_m              = 
| elevation_ft             = 
| population_as_of         = 2020
| population_footnotes     = 
| population_total         = 434,358
| population_density_km2   = auto
| population_density_sq_mi = 
| population_demonym       = 
| timezone1                = [[Central Time Zone (Americas)|Central]]
| utc_offset1              = −6
| timezone1_DST            = 
| utc_offset1_DST          = 
| postal_code_type         = 
| postal_code              = 
| area_code_type           = 
| area_codes               = 806, 940 (Childress County)
| geocode                  = 
| iso_code                 = 
| website                  = [http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ryp01 ''Handbook of Texas'': "Panhandle"]
}}

The '''Texas panhandle''' is a region of the [[U.S. state]] of [[Texas]] consisting of the northernmost 26 [[List of Texas counties|counties]] in the state. The [[Salient (geography)|panhandle]] is a square-shaped area bordered by [[New Mexico]] to the west and [[Oklahoma]] to the north and east. It is adjacent to the [[Oklahoma Panhandle]], land which Texas previously claimed. The 1820 [[Missouri Compromise]] declared no [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] would be allowed in states admitted from the [[Louisiana Purchase]] above [[parallel 36°30′ north|36°30′ north latitude]]. Texas was annexed in 1845 from still more westerly land. The [[Compromise of 1850]] removed territory north of this line from Texas, and set the border between the Texas Panhandle and the [[New Mexico Territory]] at the [[103rd meridian west]]. The eastern border at the [[100th meridian west]] was inherited from the [[Adams–Onís Treaty]] of 1819, which defined the border between the United States and [[New Spain]]. ''[[The Handbook of Texas]]'' defines the southern border of [[Swisher County, Texas|Swisher County]] as the southern boundary of the Texas Panhandle region.

Its land area is {{cvt|66883.58|km2|sqmi|order=flip}}, or nearly 10% of the state's total.  The Texas Panhandle is slightly larger in size than the US [[state of West Virginia]].  An additional {{cvt|162.53|km2|sqmi|order=flip}} is covered by water. Its population as of the [[United States Census, 2010|2010 census]] was 427,927 residents, or 1.7% of the state's total population. As of the 2010 census, the population density for the region was {{convert|16.6|/sqmi}}. However, more than 72% of the Panhandle's residents live in the Amarillo Metropolitan Area, which is the largest and fastest-growing urban area in the region. Despite being geographically the northernmost part of Texas, the Panhandle is distinct from the region commonly called "[[North Texas]]", which is to the south and east.

West of the [[Caprock Escarpment]] and North and South of the [[Canadian River]] breaks, the surface of the [[Llano Estacado]] is rather flat. South of the city of [[Amarillo, Texas|Amarillo]], the level terrain gives way to [[Palo Duro Canyon]], the second-largest canyon in the United States. This colorful canyon was carved by the [[Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River]], a tributary of the [[Red River of the South|Red River]]. North of Amarillo lies [[Lake Meredith]], a [[Reservoir (water)|reservoir]] created by Sanford Dam constructed on the main stem of the [[Canadian River]]. Lake Meredith and the [[Ogallala Aquifer]] are the primary sources of [[Fresh water|freshwater]] in this [[Semi-arid climate|semi-arid]] region of the [[High Plains (United States)|High Plains]].

Interstate Highway 40 [[Interstate 40 in Texas|passes through]] the Panhandle, and also passes through Amarillo. The freeway passes through [[Deaf Smith County, Texas|Deaf Smith]], [[Oldham County, Texas|Oldham]], [[Potter County, Texas|Potter]], [[Carson County, Texas|Carson]], [[Gray County, Texas|Gray]], [[Donley County, Texas|Donley]], and [[Wheeler County, Texas|Wheeler]] Counties.<ref>''The Tascosa Pioneer'', October 11, 1890, quoted in Lester Fields Sheffy, ''The Life and Times of [[Timothy Dwight Hobart]], 1855–1935: Colonization of West Texas'' (Canyon, Texas: Panhandle-Plains Historical Society, 1950), p. 156</ref>

[[File:Caprock Canyons Haynes Ridge 2005.JPG|thumb|right|[[Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailway|Caprock Canyons]] of [[Briscoe County, Texas|Briscoe County]]]]
[[File:Buffalo Lake Texas Canyon 2009.jpg|thumb|right|A canyon formed by [[Tierra Blanca Creek]]]]
[[File:Palo Duro 2002.jpg|thumb|right|The rugged country of [[Palo Duro Canyon]]]]