Oklahoma History, Oklahoma Pride

On November 16, 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state in the union. This year marks our 100th birthday. So it's fitting time to acknowledge some of the rich and vibrant history of our young state.

The state flag of Oklahoma (pictured above) prominently displays an Osage warrior's shield made from buffalo hide and decorated with seven eagle feathers hanging from the lower edge. The shield is centered on a field of blue borrowed from the blue flag that Choctaw soldiers carried during the Civil War. This flag honors more than 60 groups of Native Americans and their ancestors.

The shield is decorated with six white crosses (stars) representing high ideals. Superimposed over the shield are symbols of peace and unity from the cultures of the Native American and European-American settlers in the territory; the calumet or ceremonial peace pipe and the olive branch.

Oklahoma Facts

• Oklahoma City is the state capital of Oklahoma.
• The name "Oklahoma" comes from the Choctaw words: "okla" meaning people and "humma" meaning red, so the state's name literally means "red people."
• Oklahoma has the largest American Indian population of any state. Many of the 252,420 American Indians living in Oklahoma today are descendents from the original 67 tribes inhabiting Indian Territory.
• Thirty-nine of the American Indian tribes currently living in Oklahoma are headquartered in the state.
• The governor of Oklahoma is Brad Henry; the lieutenant governor is Mary Fallin.
• Oklahoma's bipartisan state government houses a bicameral legislature.
• Oklahoma has 43 colleges and universities.
• The highest point in the state is Black Mesa in Cimarron County (4,973 feet); the lowest is due east of Idabel in McCurtain County (287 feet).
• Oklahoma has more man-made lakes that any other state, with over one million surface areas of water and 2,000 more miles of shoreline than the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined.
• Oklahoma is the third largest natural gas-producing state in the nation.
• Oklahoma ranks fourth in the nation in the production of all wheat, fourth in cattle and calf production; fifth in the production of pecans; sixth in peanuts and eight in peaches.
• Oklahoma's four mountain ranges include the Ouachitas, Arbuckles, Wichitas, and the Kiamichis.
• Forests cover approximately 24 percent of Oklahoma.
• Oklahoma is bordered by six states: Texas to the south and west, Arkansas and Missouri to the east, Kansas to the north and Colorado and New Mexico at the tip of the northwestern Oklahoma panhandle.
• Oklahoma is comprised of 77 counties.
• Oklahoma has a land area of 69,919 square miles and ranks 18 in the nation in size.
• According to 1990 U.S. census data, Oklahoma's population is 3,258,000. Of those, 82.1 percent are white, 8 percent American Indian, 7.4 percent African American, 2.7 Hispanics, and 1.1 Asian.
• Oklahoma's two most populous cities are Oklahoma City, with 463,201 residents, and Tulsa, with 374,851. The next largest cities are Norman, with a population of 87,290, and Lawton, which has 86,028 people.