Oklahoma comes from two Choctaw Indian words, okla, which means "people," and humma, which means "red." In 1889, Congress opened up 2 million acres for white settlement (it was previously open only to Native Americans who were forced to leave their homelands), and the first of a number of land runs began. Some of the state's settlers were called "Sooners" because they had already staked their land claims before the land was officially opened for settlement. Oklahoma was admitted as the 46th state in 1907. Oklahoma's capital and largest city is Oklahoma City, 2003 population estimate 523,303. The state flower is the mistletoe.
The State of Oklahoma grew by 9.7% between 1990 and 2000, and the 2004 population esitmate is 3,523,553. American Indian and Alaska Native persons comprised 7.9% of the population. Covering 68,667 square miles, there were 50.3 persons per square mile in Oklahoma in year 2000. |
