Texas is the second-largest U.S. state by both area and population and the largest state in the contiguous United States. The name based on the Caddo word Tejas meaning friends or allies was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas. Located in the South Central United States Texas is bordered by Mexico to the south New Mexico to the west Oklahoma to the north Arkansas to the northeast and Louisiana to the east.