Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state in the South Central region of the United States. It is bordered by the state of Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New Mexico on the west, and Colorado on the northwest. The state’s name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning “red people”

About Oklahoma in brief

Summary OklahomaOklahoma is a state in the South Central region of the United States. It is bordered by the state of Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New Mexico on the west, and Colorado on the northwest. The state’s name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning “red people” Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma’s primary economic anchors, with nearly two-thirds of Oklahomans living within their metropolitan statistical areas. Oklahoma is on a confluence of three major American cultural regions and historically served as a route for cattle drives, a destination for Southern settlers, and a government-sanctioned territory for Native Americans. A major producer of natural gas, oil, and agricultural products, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. Twenty-five Native American languages are spoken in Oklahoma. It lies partly in the Great Plains near the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states. Oklahoma has four mountain ranges: the Ouachita Mountains, the Arbuckle Mountains, Wichita Mountains, and the Ozark Plateau. The Oklahoma Tourism Department regards Cavanal Hill as the tallest hill in the world at 1,999 feet. A portion of the Flint Hills stretches into the north-central part of Oklahoma, near the eastern border of the state’s border with Texas. The highest peak, Black Mesa, at 4,973 feet above sea level, is situated near its far northwest corner in the Oklahoma Panhandle.

It has 11 distinct ecological regions, with 11 in its borders—more per square mile than in any other state. Its eastern and eastern halves, are marked by extreme differences in geographical diversity: Eastern Oklahoma touches eight regions and western Oklahoma contains three. Although having fewer ecological regions than western Oklahoma, however, its western half contains fewer rare, relic species. The U.S. Geological Survey classifies Oklahoma as one of the most geographically diverse states, with its borders more than twice as wide as the rest of the country. It was the 46th state to enter the union on November 16, 1907, and is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th- most populous of the 50 United States, with 69,899 square miles of land and 1,304 square miles of water. Its highest and lowest point is on the Little River near the far southeastern boundary near the town of Idabel, which dips to 289 feet above sea level. It’s also known informally by its nickname, \”The Sooner State\”, in reference to the non-Native settlers who staked their claims on land before the official opening date of lands in the western Oklahoma Territory or before the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889. Oklahoma later became the de facto name for Oklahoma Territory, and it was officially approved in 1890, two years after the area was opened to white settlers. In the Chickasaw language, the state is known as Oklahomma’, in Arapaho as bo’oobe’, Pawnee: Uukuhuúwa, and Cayuga: Gahnawiyoˀgeh.