Oklahoma, OK

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America.

With 3,579,212 residents in 2006, it is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state by land area. Its name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma, meaning "red people," and is known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State.

Formed from Indian Territory on November 16, 1907, it was the 46th state to enter the union. Its people are known as Oklahomans, and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City.

A major producer of natural gas, oil and food, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology.

It has one of the fastest growing economies in the nation, leading states in gross domestic product growth and ranking third in per capita income growth.

Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly 60 percent of Oklahomans living in their metropolitan statistical areas.

The state holds a mixed record in education and healthcare, and its largest universities participate in the NCAA and NAIA athletic associations, while two house athletic departments rated among the most successful in American history.

With small mountain ranges, prairie, and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains and the U.S. Interior Highlands—a region especially prone to severe weather.

With a prevalence of German, Irish, British and Native American ancestry, more than 25 native languages are spoken in Oklahoma, the most of any state.

It is located 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.

Part of the Bible Belt, widespread beliefs in evangelical Christianity make Oklahoma one of the most conservative states, though voter registration in the Democratic Party exceeds the Republican Party by 11.6%.

Origin of the name

The name Oklahoma comes from the Choctaw phrase okla humma, literally meaning red people. Choctaw Chief Allen Wright suggested the name in 1866 during treaty negotiations with the federal government regarding the use of Indian Territory, in which he envisioned an all-Indian state controlled by the United States Superintendent of Indian Affairs.

Equivalent to the English word Indian, okla humma was a phrase in the Choctaw language used to describe the Native American race as a whole.

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.

Climate

Oklahoma is located in a temperate region and experiences occasional extremes of temperature and precipitation typical in a continental climate.

Most of the state lies in an area known as Tornado Alley characterized by frequent interaction between cold and warm air masses producing severe weather.

An average 54 tornadoes strike the state per year—one of the highest rates in the world.

Because of its position between zones of differing prevailing temperature and winds, weather patterns within the state can vary widely between relatively short distances.

A humid subtropical zone along the state's southeastern border is influenced heavily by southerly winds bringing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, but transitions progressively to a semi-arid zone in the high plains of the panhandle rarely touched by southern moisture.

The state is home to the National Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service located at Norman.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Oklahoma".