Once known as the Indian Territory, Oklahoma is second to California in Native American population. Cherokee is the state's largest Indian Nation. The name Oklahoma comes from two Choctaw Indian words which mean red people. Located in the Central Lowlands and Great Plains regions of south central United States, Oklahoma is bordered by Colorado and Kansas to the north, by Missouri and Arkansas on the east, by Texas to the south and west, and by New Mexico to the west of the Oklahoma Panhandle. Each year thousands of visitors are attracted to this land of diversity and its changing landscape--grassland prairies and plains, sand dunes and sagebrush, fertile valleys and rugged mountain peaks, rolling hills and swift mountain streams, wilderness and wetlands, towering oil derricks and grain elevators. The states multi cultural population is about 3,250,000. State capital is Oklahoma City, boasting the only capital building in the world with an oil well under it.

Oklahoma has 10 natural land regions: the Ouachita Mountains in the southeast, the Arbuckle Mountains in the south central, the Wichita Mountains in the southwest, the Ozark Plateau in the northeast, the Prairie Plains in the east, the Sandstone Hills in the east central, the Red River Region (largest of the state's land regions, stretching from Kansas to Texas), the Gypsum Hills to the west extending to the High Plains, an area of level grasslands occupying the northwest section of the state, including the Panhandle. Oklahoma has two river systems--the Red and the Arkansas--which drain the state's rivers and streams into the Mississippi. Oklahoma's many lakes cover some 800,000 acres; the largest being Lake Texoma, a popular resort area. The state's four mountain regions are Ouachita, Arbuckle, Wichita, and Kiamichi, and its highest point is the 4,973-foot Black Mesa located in the Panhandle. Oklahoma's natural resources include great reserves of petroleum, natural gas, coal, and other minerals, plus fertile soil, many forests and rivers. Principal cities are Oklahoma City (the largest), Tulsa (called the oil capital of the world), Norman (home of the University of Oklahoma), Lawton (wholesale and retail center), Enid (leading agricultural service center), and Bartlesville (mineral research center).

To date, Oklahoma has produced more astronauts than any other state: Thomas P. Stafford, Gordon Cooper, Owen Garriott, Shannon Lucid, and William Reid Pogue. Some other famous Oklahomans are Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe; baseball stars Dizzy Dean, Mickey Mantle, and Johnny Bench; western cowboy stars Tom Mix and Gene Autry; humorist Will Rogers; actors Lon Chaney, James Garner, Joan Crawford, Donna Reed, Brad Pitt, and Tony Randall; attorney Bland Williamson; newscaster Walter Cronkite; author Ralph Ellison; jazz musician Charlie Christian; folk singer Wood Guthrie; and film director Ron Howard.

Notable points of interest include the Chicasaw National Recreation Area, Washita Battlefield National Memorial Monument, and Oklahoma National Forest; arboretums and botanical Gardens; Alabaster Cavern State Park and Robbers Cave State Park; Guymon Game Reserve and other wildlife sanctuaries; Devil's Den; Indian City, USA; scenic Turner Falls; the Will Rogers Memorial; such frontier outposts as Fort Reno and Fort Gibson; National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Other popular attractions are the Oklahoma City Symphony and Tulsa Philharmonic orchestras; Tulsa's Philbrook Art Center and Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History; Oklahoma City's Art Center and Historical Society Museum; the archeological collections at the Wollaroc Museum near Bartlesville; and the St. Gregory Museum and Art Gallery near Shawnee. View the buffalo herds at Wollaroc Museum Ranch, the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Tallgrass Prairie Reserve, and Pawnee Bill Museum.

Oklahoma is one of the great agricultural states, and ranks fourth in the nation in production of wheat, fourth in cattle, fifth in production of pecans, eighth in peaches. Its chief crop is cotton. Key to Oklahoma's economy are its rich mineral deposits, food processing, service industries, and tourism. Major manufactures include machinery, fabricated metals, aircraft and other transportation equipment; glass and rubber; cement and other building materials, printing, clothing, and furniture. The state is served by Tulsa International Airport, Will Rogers World Airport, Tulsa Port and the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River navigation System which connects Tulsa with the Mississippi, modern rail and highway systems.

The first European to visit Oklahoma in 1541 was the Spanish explorer Coronado in search of gold at the legendary Seven Cities of Cibala. The United States acquired Oklahoma in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Beginning in the 1820s, five Native American tribes--Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole--were relocated to the territory from the southeastern U.S. Following the Civil War, Oklahoma became part of the flourishing cattle industry; the beginning of the Cowboy era. Its nickname, the Sooner State, dates back to the land rush of late 1800s when land runners jumped the gun in search of the best land areas. The state's first oil well was drilled in 1889. On November 16, 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state.

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