Oklahoma is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New Mexico on the west, and Colorado on the northwest. Partially in the western extreme of the Upland South, it is the 20th-most extensive and the 28th-most populous of the 50 United States. Its residents are known as Oklahomans and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City.
Tulsa County is located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of the 2020 census, the population was 669,279, making it the second-most populous county in the state, behind only Oklahoma County. Its county seat and largest city is Tulsa, the second-largest city in the state. Founded at statehood, in 1907, it was named after the previously established city of Tulsa. Before statehood, the area was part of both the Creek Nation and the Cooweescoowee District of Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory.
Tulsa is the second-most populous city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa metropolitan area, a region with 1,023,988 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Tulsa County, the most densely populated county in Oklahoma, with urban development extending into Osage, Rogers and Wagoner counties.
Lake Texoma is one of the largest reservoirs in the United States, the 12th-largest US Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) lake, and the largest in USACE Tulsa District. Lake Texoma is formed by Denison Dam on the Red River in Bryan County, Oklahoma, and Grayson County, Texas, about 726 miles (1,168 km) upstream from the mouth of the river. It is located at the confluence of the Red and Washita Rivers. The project was completed in 1944. The damsite is about 5 miles (8.0 km) northwest of Denison, Texas, and 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Durant, Oklahoma. Lake Texoma is the most developed and most popular lake within the USACE Tulsa District, attracting around 6 million visitors a year. Oklahoma has more of the lake within its boundaries than Texas.
Robert Samuel Kerr was an American businessman and politician from Oklahoma. Kerr formed a petroleum company before turning to politics. He served as the 12th governor of Oklahoma from 1943 to 1947 and was elected three times to the United States Senate. Kerr worked natural resources, and his legacy includes water projects that link the Arkansas River via the Gulf of Mexico. He was the first Oklahoma governor born in the territory of the state.
Lake Murray is a 5,700-acre (23 km2) lake in south central Oklahoma, near Ardmore named for Oklahoma Governor William H. Murray. It was created by damming Anadarche and Fourche Maline Creeks. The lake is wholly within Lake Murray State Park, Oklahoma's largest state park, containing over 12,500 acres (51 km²) of relative wilderness. A state-operated lodge and resort is located on the west shore that serves many visitors to the lake, and serves as a base for numerous cabin and campground facilities near the lake.
Mary Fallin is an American politician who served as the 27th governor of Oklahoma from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected in 2010 and reelected in 2014. She is the first and so far only woman to be elected governor of Oklahoma. She was the first woman to represent Oklahoma in Congress since Alice Mary Robertson in 1920.
Grand Lake o' the Cherokees is situated in Northeast Oklahoma in the foothills of the Ozark Mountain Range. It is often simply called Grand Lake. It is administered by the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA).
The Oklahoma Educational Television Authority (OETA) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The authority operates as a statutory corporation that holds the licenses for all of the PBS stations operating in the state; it is managed by an independent board of gubernatorial appointees, and university and education officials, which is linked to the executive branch of the Oklahoma state government through the Secretary of Education.
The Legislature of the State of Oklahoma is the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The Oklahoma House of Representatives and Oklahoma Senate are the two houses that make up the bicameral state legislature. There are 101 state representatives, each serving a two-year term, and 48 state senators, who serve four-year terms that are staggered so only half of the Oklahoma Senate districts are eligible in each election cycle. Legislators are elected directly by the people from single member districts of equal population. The Oklahoma Legislature meets annually in the Oklahoma State Capitol in Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma Republican Party is the Oklahoma state affiliate of the Republican Party (GOP). Along with the Oklahoma Democratic Party, it is one of the two major parties in the state.
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) is an agency in the government of Oklahoma under the Governor of Oklahoma. OWRB is responsible for managing and protection the water resources of Oklahoma as well as for planning for the state's long-range water needs. The Board is composed of nine members appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Oklahoma Senate. The Board, in turn, appoints an Executive Director to administer the agency.
The Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA) is an agency of the state of Oklahoma created to control, develop, and maintain the Grand River waterway. It was created by the Oklahoma state legislature in 1935, and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. GRDA was designed to be self-funding from the sales of electricity and water. The state of Oklahoma was to provide no funding from taxes. The Authority was authorized to issue revenue bonds to fund large-scale capital investments.
William Rea Holway, commonly known as W. R. Holway, was an American civil engineer who became prominent in Oklahoma. He is best known for his work on major water supply projects for the city of Tulsa, and on the Pensacola Dam at Grand Lake o' the Cherokees.
The Pensacola Dam, also known as the Grand River Dam, is a multiple-arch buttress dam located between the towns of Disney and Langley on the Grand River in Mayes County, Oklahoma. The dam is operated by the Grand River Dam Authority and creates Grand Lake o' the Cherokees. After decades of vision and planning, it was constructed between 1938 and 1940 for the purposes of hydroelectric power generation, flood control and recreation. It is Oklahoma's first hydroelectric power plant and is referred to as the longest multiple-arch dam in the world.
Lake Hudson, also known as Markham Ferry Reservoir, is a man-made reservoir in Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States, about 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Locust Grove, Oklahoma and 8 miles (13 km) southeast of Pryor, Oklahoma. It was created by the completion of the Robert S. Kerr Dam on the Grand River in 1964. It is managed by the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA).
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States.
John Kevin Stitt is an American businessman and politician serving as the 28th governor of Oklahoma since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected in 2018, defeating Democrat and former state Attorney General Drew Edmondson with 54.3% of the vote. Stitt was reelected to a second term in 2022, defeating Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister, a Republican turned Democrat, with 55.4% of the vote. A member of the Cherokee Nation, Stitt is the second governor of Native descent after former Oklahoma governor Johnston Murray.
The 2022 Oklahoma Senate general election were held on November 8, 2022. The primary elections for the Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian parties' nominations took place on June 28, 2022. Runoff primary elections, if no candidate received 50% in the June 28 vote, took place on August 23. All candidates had to file between the days of April 13–15, 2022. Oklahoma voters elected state senators in 24 of the state's 48 Senate districts. State senators served four-year terms in the Oklahoma Senate.
