Oklahoma

Oklahoma (Choctaw Oklahumma), is a state located in the South Central region. It borders Texas on the south and west and Kansas on its north. Missouri on the northeast and Arkansas on the east. New Mexico and Colorado are to the northwest. Partially in the western extreme of the Upland South, it is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous of the 50 United States. Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of Oklahoma.

The name of the state is derived from the Choctaw words Okla, meaning ‘people’, and Humma. This translates to’red’. Informally, Oklahoma is known as “The Sooner State”, a reference to the Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory settlers who claimed land in the territory before the official opening date of the western Oklahoma Territory. Also, before the Indian Appropriations Act of1889, which increased European-American settlements in the eastern Indian Territory, Oklahoma is also known by its nickname. Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were combined into the State of Oklahoma on November 16, 1907.

With ancient mountain ranges, prairie, mesas, and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains, Cross Timbers, and the U.S. Interior Highlands, all regions prone to severe weather. Oklahoma is located at the confluence three major American cultural regions. Historically it served as a government-sanctioned territory for Native Americans removed from east of the Mississippi River, a route for cattle drives from Texas and related regions, and a destination for Southern migrant settlers. Oklahoma is home to twenty-five Native American languages.