Oklahoma is a state in the western area of the south central United States. It is bordered by Colorado and Kansas to the north and Missouri and Arkansas on the east. South and west of Oklahoma is Texas, and also on the western fringe of Oklahoma's Panhandle lays New Mexico.
Oklahoma is a land of great diversity, a transitional state both physically and culturally. Topographically it differs from the wooded mountains of the more humid east on the sparse and dry country of the western plains. The altering surroundings of Oklahoma is reflected in its economic activities, which range from the raising of wheat in western and central areas to the lumbering that is carried on within the Ouachita Mountains in the southeastern area of the state.
The name Oklahoma was taken from by combining the Choctaw words for "red" and "people." Part of the state's area had been actually set aside for settlement of Native Americans and was called Indian Territory. The other section of the state, Oklahoma Territory, was progressively opened for white settlement toward the end of the l9th century. Oklahoma earned its nickname, the Sooner State, from the fact that some land-hungry settlers, known as the Sooners, literally jumped the starting gun that was to open one section of the territory to settlers and rushed in to take land before they were legally entitled to do so.
Oklahoma was admitted to the Union on November 16, 1907, as the 46th state. Caused from the combination of Indian and Oklahoma territories, the state holds marked features of its Native American heritage within the makeup of its population and also the Indian place-names in the state. Oklahoma City is the state's capital as well as largest city.
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