Portal:Oklahoma

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The Oklahoma Portal

Oklahoma (/ˌoʊkləˈhoʊmə/ ^ⓘ OH-klə-HOH-mə; Choctaw: Oklahumma, pronounced [oklahómma]) is a landlocked state in the South Central and Southwestern region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northeast, Arkansas to the southeast, New Mexico to the west, and Colorado 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. Its residents are known as Oklahomans, and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City.

The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla, 'people' and humma, which translates as 'red'. Oklahoma is also known informally by its nickname, "The Sooner State", in reference to the Sooners, American settlers who staked their claims in formerly American Indian-owned lands until the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889 authorized the Land Rush of 1889 opening the land to settlement.

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 at a confluence of three major American cultural regions. Historically, it served as a government-sanctioned territory for American Indians moved from east of the Mississippi River, a route for cattle drives from Texas and related regions, and a destination for Southern settlers. There are currently 25. According to the 2020 U.S. census, 14.2 percent of Oklahomans identify as American Indians, the highest Indigenous population by percentage in any state.

A major producer of natural gas, oil, and agricultural products, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly two-thirds of Oklahomans living within their metropolitan statistical areas. (Full article...)

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The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building two days after the bombing, viewed from across the adjacent parking lot

On April 19, 1995, American anti-government extremist Timothy McVeigh, assisted by Terry Nichols, detonated a makeshift bomb stored in a rental truck parked in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in an act of domestic terrorism. The attack killed 167 people, injured 684, and destroyed more than a third of the building. The attack also destroyed or damaged 324 other buildings, destroyed 86 vehicles and caused an estimated $652 million in damage. During rescue operations after the bombing, a rescue worker was killed after being struck on the head by falling debris, bringing the total death toll to 168.

Within 90 minutes of the explosion, McVeigh was stopped by Oklahoma Highway Patrolman Charlie Hanger for driving without a front license plate and arrested for illegal weapons possession. Forensic evidence quickly linked McVeigh and Nichols to the attack; within days, both men were charged. Michael and Lori Fortier were later identified as accomplices. McVeigh, a combat veteran of the Gulf War, rented a Ryder truck, which he later filled with the explosives used in the attack. Nichols had assisted McVeigh in planning the attack, and in making the bomb. McVeigh and Nichols were primarily motivated by their anger at the U.S. federal government, particularly its handling of the law enforcement sieges at Ruby Ridge in 1992 and Waco in 1993, as well as the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban. McVeigh had timed the retaliatory attack to coincide with the second anniversary of the end of the siege in Waco and the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first engagements of the American Revolution. (Full article...)

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Downtown Enid, 2007

Enid (/ˈiːnɪd/ EE-nid) is the ninth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the county seat of Garfield County. In the 2020 census, the population was 51,308. Enid was founded during the opening of the Cherokee Outlet in the Land Run of 1893, and is named after Enid, a character in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King. In 1991, the Oklahoma state legislature designated Enid the "purple martin capital of Oklahoma." Enid holds the nickname of "Queen Wheat City" and "Wheat Capital" of Oklahoma and the United States for its immense grain storage capacity, and has the third-largest grain storage capacity in the world. (Full article...)

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See List of municipalities in Oklahoma for more city articles

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The Tulsa skyline looking west from Central Park.

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Featured content

Featured articles: Black Seminoles • Chickasaw Turnpike • Jim Thorpe • Oklahoma • Tulsa, Oklahoma • Woody Guthrie • Oklahoma City bombing • Brad Pitt

Featured lists: Oklahoma birds • Tallest buildings in Tulsa • List of tallest buildings in Oklahoma City • List of birds of Oklahoma • List of Oklahoma Sooners football seasons • List of Oklahoma Sooners head football coaches • List of Oklahoma Sooners in the NFL Draft

State facts

Nickname:The Sooner State
Capital and largest city: Oklahoma City
Governor: Kevin Stitt (R)
Total area: 181,196 square kilometers (69,960 square miles)
Population (2020 census): 3,959,353
Date admitted to the Union: November 16, 1907
Senators: Markwayne Mullin (R), James Lankford (R)
Representatives: Kevin Hern (R), Josh Brecheen (R), Frank Lucas (R), Tom Cole (R), Stephanie Bice (R)

State symbols

The Scissortail Flycatcher, Oklahoma's state bird

Mammal: Bison
Bird: Scissor-tailed flycatcher
Fish: White bass
Floral emblem: Mistletoe
Flower: Oklahoma Rose
Grass: Indian grass
Insect: Honeybee
Tree: Redbud
Fossil: Allosaurid dinosaur
Rock: Rose Rock
Soil: Port Silt Loam
Song: Oklahoma!
Beverage: Milk

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Mantle in 1957

Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Mick" and "the Commerce Comet", was an American professional baseball player who played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York Yankees, primarily as a center fielder. Mantle is regarded by many as one of the best players and sluggers of all time. He was an American League (AL) Most Valuable Player three times and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.

Born in Spavinaw, Oklahoma, Mantle was raised by his father to become a baseball player and was trained early on to become a switch hitter. Despite a career plagued with injuries, beginning with his knee injury in the 1951 World Series, he became one of the greatest offensive threats in baseball history, and was able to hit for both average and power. He is the only player to hit 150 home runs from each side of the plate. Mantle hit 536 career home runs while batting .300 or more ten times; he is 16th all-time in home runs per at-bat and 17th in on-base percentage. (Full article...)

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... that Joe Eddins helped conservative Oklahoma enact universal preschool?
... that an Oklahoma TV station returned to its original call sign after the death of its founder, Gene Autry?
... that the morning show on an Oklahoma TV station was such a "local phenomenon" that the president of ABC acquiesced to them not airing Good Morning America?
... that the three costliest tornadoes in Oklahoma's history hit the same town in 2013, in 1999 and in 2003?
... that after a 2008 tornado, Michael Chertoff likened Picher, Oklahoma, to a nuclear bomb site?
... that after Cora Victoria Diehl was elected as the first woman to hold office in Oklahoma Territory, county records had to be recovered with dynamite when the incumbent refused to concede?

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The following are images from various Oklahoma-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Geographic map of Oklahoma (from Geography of Oklahoma)
Image 2The Great Plains (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 3Spiro Mounds on the Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma. (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 4Map showing British territorial gains following the Treaty of Paris in pink, and Spanish territorial gains after the Treaty of Fontainebleau in yellow. (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 5Routes to Indian Territory taken by the Five Civilized Tribes, often known as the Trail of Tears. (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 6Oklahoma and Indian Territory, 1890s (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 7Köppen climate types of Oklahoma, using 1991-2020 climate normals. (from Geography of Oklahoma)
Image 8Caddoan Languages (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 9Regional map of Oklahoma (from Geography of Oklahoma)
Image 10Map of the United States with Oklahoma highlighted (from List of municipalities in Oklahoma)
Image 11US 1822 (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 12The modern United States, with Louisiana Purchase overlay (in green) (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 13Allen Wright, a Choctaw minister, scholar and chief, is credited as the state's founding father for creating the state's name in 1865. (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 14The Coronado Expedition 1540–1542 (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 15The Dust Bowl ravaged the Oklahoma Panhandle and nearby areas in the 1930s. (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 16Cartoonist's rendering of Theodore Roosevelt's initial reaction to the Oklahoma Constitution.^{[needs context]} (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 17Oklahoma topographical map (from Geography of Oklahoma)
Image 18Flag of Oklahoma (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 19Poor mother and children during the Great Depression. Elm Grove, Oklahoma (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 20American Indian Movement poster from civil rights era (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 21Map of Indian Territory (Oklahoma) 1889. Britannica 9th ed. (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 22The Republic of Texas. (from History of Oklahoma)
Image 23Gushers brought in many of Oklahoma's early oil fields—this one on February 21, 1922, near Okemah. (from History of Oklahoma)

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WikiProject Oklahoma	Oklahoma State Highways	Missing articles on Oklahoma newspapers	Taskforce Tulsa

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