OK · Sooner State · South · admitted 1907 (#46)
Oklahoma map
Oklahoma highlighted on the US map, north of Texas and south of Kansas. Oklahoma City is both the capital and the largest city, near the center of the state; Tulsa lies 100 miles northeast.
- Capital
- Oklahoma City
- Largest city
- Oklahoma City
- Population (2020)
- 3,959,353
- Area
- 69,899 sq mi
- Counties
- 77
- Time zone
- Central
- Region
- South · West South Central
- Statehood
- November 16, 1907
Where Oklahoma is
Oklahoma is the pan-shaped state on the southern Great Plains, with a 34-mile-wide Panhandle running 166 miles west to New Mexico. The main body is about 230 miles north to south and the state is about 465 miles across from the Panhandle tip to the Arkansas line. Clockwise from the north: Kansas and a corner of Colorado along the 37th parallel, Missouri and Arkansas along surveyed lines to the east, Texas along the Red River to the south and along the 100th meridian to the west, and New Mexico at the end of the Panhandle. It is the 20th-largest state by area and 28th by population.
Major cities
| City | Region of state | Population (2020) |
|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma City (capital) | Central | 681,054 |
| Tulsa | Northeast, on the Arkansas River | 413,066 |
| Norman | Central, Oklahoma City metro | 128,026 |
| Broken Arrow | Northeast, Tulsa metro | 113,540 |
| Edmond | Central, Oklahoma City metro | 94,428 |
| Lawton | Southwest, near the Wichita Mountains | 90,381 |
Oklahoma City's city limits cover more than 600 square miles, one of the largest land areas of any US city. About 60 percent of the state's people live in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas.
Geography
- Highest point — Black Mesa, 4,973 ft, at the far western tip of the Panhandle where Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico meet.
- Arkansas River — crosses the northeast through Tulsa and is navigable to Catoosa via the McClellan–Kerr system. See the Arkansas River map.
- Red River — the whole southern border, with the Washita and the North and South Canadian rivers draining the middle of the state into the Arkansas and Red.
- Mountains — the Ouachita Mountains in the southeast (Kiamichi country), the Arbuckles south of Oklahoma City, the Wichita Mountains near Lawton, and the Ozarks in the northeast corner.
- Lakes — no large natural lakes, but more than 200 reservoirs, including Eufaula and Texoma on the Red River.
- Lowest point — about 289 ft on the Little River at the Arkansas line in the southeast.
Borders
The Red River forms the Texas border from the 100th meridian east to Arkansas; the Supreme Court ruled in 1923 that the boundary is the river's south bank. The 100th meridian was surveyed incorrectly in the 19th century, and the Texas Panhandle border still follows the old line rather than the true meridian. The Panhandle itself exists because Texas, on joining the Union as a slave state in 1845, could not hold land north of 36°30'N under the Missouri Compromise, leaving a "No Man's Land" that joined Oklahoma Territory in 1890. The Kansas line is the 37th parallel and the eastern lines with Missouri and Arkansas are surveyed meridians.
Regions of Oklahoma
Central Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, Norman, Edmond), Green Country in the northeast (Tulsa, the Ozark foothills, Grand Lake), Southeastern Oklahoma or Kiamichi Country in the Ouachitas, Southwestern Oklahoma around Lawton, Northwestern Oklahoma with the Gypsum Hills and Great Salt Plains, and the Panhandle of Guymon and Boise City. The state's 39 tribal nations' reservations and jurisdictional areas cover much of the eastern half.
Related maps
- Oklahoma county map — all 77 counties with seats.
- Blank Oklahoma map — outline for printing.
- Printable Oklahoma map.
- Oklahoma City — the capital since 1910, when it replaced Guthrie.
- Neighbors: Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado.
- South, West South Central division, Great Plains, Central Time Zone.
- Geography: Arkansas River, Ozarks, Great Plains.