Oklahoma Studio Search
Oklahoma is a state located in the southern Great Plains and Eastern Woodlands regions of the United States. It is sometimes called “Native America” and the “Sooner State”, and is part of a region commonly known as the American “Heartland.” Oklahoma City is the state’s capital and largest city. The Congressional Quarterly and Census report place Oklahoma in the Southern United States. However, since Oklahoma is near the geographic center of the U.S., the regional influences add to Oklahoma’s unique character.
Oklahoma became the 46th state in the Union on November 16th, 1907. The state’s name comes from the Choctaw words okla meaning people and homma meaning red, literally meaning “red people” and was chosen by Allen Wright, Principal Chief of the Choctaw Nation during the 1866 treaty negotiations. It is a state with a colorful history, including its days as a frontier state, it being a destination of recently freed slaves looking for opportunity and equality, and being at the heart of the oil boom in the early 20th century.
Most notably, Oklahoma has the nation’s second largest American Indian population. In honor of its large American Indian population, and for tourism purposes, Oklahoma is called “Native America.” Oklahoma’s early history is intertwined with the Trail of Tears, which was the forced removal of the Five Civilized Tribes from the southeastern United States to present-day Oklahoma. As a testament to the state’s western and American Indian heritage, Oklahoma (Tulsa) is the home of the world-renowned Gilcrease Museum, which houses the world’s largest, most comprehensive collection of American Western art and artifacts, as well as an unparalleled collection of American Indian, Central and South American art, artifacts, documents, and maps.
Oklahoma is one of the six states on the Frontier Strip. It is bounded on the east by Arkansas and Missouri, on the north by Kansas and northwest by Colorado (both at 37°N), on the far west by New Mexico (at 103°W), and on the south and near-west by Texas. The panhandle’s southern boundary is at 36.5°N, then turning due south along 100°W to the southern fork of the Red River), completing the round trip back to Arkansas.
Oklahoma’s four main mountain ranges include the Ouachitas, Arbuckles, Wichitas, and the Kiamichis. In addition to several smaller ranges, Oklahoma also notably encompasses a portion of the Ozarks.
The state’s highest peak, 4,973 feet (1,515 m) Black Mesa, resides in the far northwestern corner of the panhandle near the town of Kenton. The lowest elevation in the state is in the far southeastern corner, near Idabel, at 324 feet (99 m). Oklahoma also has what is officially considered the highest hill in the world, Cavanal Hill, at 1,999 feet (609 m); this is considering the fact that a “mountain” is anything 2,000 feet or higher. It is located in Poteau, Oklahoma.
With 200 man-made lakes, Oklahoma has more man-made lakes than any other state and boasts over one million surface-acres of water and 2,000 more miles (3,200 km) of shoreline than the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined. Lake Eufaula is the largest lake in the state, covering 102,000 surface acres (413 km²) of water.
