1. The name of the state comes from
two
Choctaw words,
okla and
humma, which mean "red people." There is
evidence that Native peoples travelled through
Oklahoma as early as the last
ice age.
2. Thousands of
Native Americans
were expelled from their homelands during the 1800s and resettled in what is
now Oklahoma. In the early 1900s, attempts were made to establish the area as
an all-Indian state. The state's nickname, "
Sooner State," refers to
non-native settlers who came in advance of the official opening of the
territory.
3. Nearly 2/3 of Oklahomans live
within the metro areas of
Tulsa and
Oklahoma City, but the state has more than
ten distinct ecological regions. Most of the state is in "
Tornado Alley."
4. Oklahoma is a major producer of
natural gas, oil, and agricultural products.
5. The state of Oklahoma had the
second highest Native American population in the country in 2002; about 22,000
people speak
Cherokee (mostly in eastern Oklahoma). More than 25
Native American languages are spoken in Oklahoma. However, Spanish is the second most
common "at home" language spoken in the state after English.
