Oklahoma . . . State 46
The official state flag of Oklahoma was adopted on April 2, 1925. The flag honors more than 60 groups of Native Americans and their ancestors. The blue field comes from a flag carried by Choctaw soldiers during the civil war. The center shield is the battle shield of an Osage warrior. It is made of buffalo hide and decorated with eagle feathers. Two symbols of peace lie across the shield. One is the calumet, or peace pipe. The other is an olive branch. Crosses on the shield are Native American signs for stars, representing high ideals.
The State of Oklahoma was admitted as the 46th US state in 1907. It is located in the south central United States. Oklahoma borders Kansas and Colorado on the north and New Mexico on the west and the Texas Panhandle. On the south the Red River separates Oklahoma from Texas. Arkansas and Missouri are to the east. The state capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. Oklahoma is primarily a plains state but there are some mountainous areas in the south and the far northwest corner of the state.
Oklahoma has a pleasant climate and has a warm, somewhat dry climate. Oklahoma is in America's Tornado Alley and is known for having very strong thunderstorms with frequent tornadoes in the summer. The summers are generally hot, humid and windy with average temperatures in the 80's. In the winter northern cold fronts bering cold temperatures and often heavy snow storms. January is the coldest month, with average high temperatures near 40 degrees. Hotter summers and colder winters, with a lot of snow are not uncommon. Annual precipitation amounts range from 20 - 30 inches central and west, while in the east, 40 - 50 inches are normal.
Oklahoma’s fertile soil and mineral wealth are some of its greatest resources. There is a lot of petroleum throughout the state and in the central and northeastern parts of the state coal is mined. In northeastern Oklahoma zinc and lead are produced and some other important minerals are cement, sand and gravel, stone, gypsum, and clay. Oklahoma’s rich grazing land and an excellent climate that are ideal for livestock.
Oklahoma Economy: Agriculture: Cattle, wheat, milk, poultry, cotton.
Oklahoma Industry: Transportation equipment, machinery, electric products, food processing, rubber and plastic products.
Oklahoma has 77 counties:
Adair Alfalfa
Atoka Beaver Beckham Blaine
Bryan Caddo Canadian Carter
Cherokee Choctaw Cimarron Cleveland
Coal Comanche Cotton Craig Creek
Custer Delaware Dewey Ellis
Garfield Garvin Grady Grant
Greer Harmon Harper Haskell
Hughes Jackson Jefferson Johnston
Kay Kingfisher Kiowa Latimer
Le Flore Lincoln Logan Love
McClain McCurtain McIntosh Major
Marshall Mayes Murray Muskogee
Noble Nowata Okfuskee Oklahoma
Okmulgee Osage Ottawa Pawnee
Payne Pittsburg Pontotoc Pottawatomie
Pushmataha Roger Mills Rogers
Seminole Sequoyah Stephens Texas
Tillman Tulsa Wagoner Washington
Washita Woods Woodward
