Historically, it served as a government-sanctioned territory for American Indians moved from east of the Mississippi River, a route for cattle drives from Texas and related regions, and a destination for Southern settlers.

[13] A major producer of natural gas, oil, and agricultural products, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology.

[27] During the 19th century, the U.S. federal government forcibly removed tens of thousands of American Indians from their ancestral homelands from across North America and transported them to the area including and surrounding present-day Oklahoma.

[33] In the period between 1866 and 1899,[25] cattle ranches in Texas strove to meet the demands for food in eastern cities and railroads in Kansas promised to deliver in a timely manner.

[46] Jim Crow laws had established racial segregation since before the start of the 20th century, but Tulsa's Black residents had created a thriving area.

In one of the costliest episodes of racist violence in American history, sixteen hours of rioting resulted in the destruction of 35 city blocks, $1.8 million in property damage, and an estimated death toll of between 75 and 300 people.

This period was known as the Dust Bowl, throughout which areas of Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, and northwestern Oklahoma were hampered by long periods of little rainfall, strong winds, abnormally high temperatures, and most notably, severe dust storms sending thousands of farmers into poverty and forcing them to relocate to more fertile areas of the western United States.

The Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995, in which Timothy McVeigh detonated a large, crude explosive device outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killed 168 people, including 19 children.

[65] Therefore, the Poteau River serves as the Oklahoma-Arkansas boundary for approximately 1 mile, reducing the Choctaw Reservation and later Oklahoma by 57 acres as established in the treaties of the early 1800s.

[71] The semi-arid high plains in the state's northwestern corner harbor few natural forests; the region has a rolling to flat landscape with intermittent canyons and mesa ranges like the Glass Mountains.

The Ozark and Ouachita Mountains rise from west to east over the state's eastern third, gradually increasing in elevation in an eastward direction.

[68][72] More than 500 named creeks and rivers make up Oklahoma's waterways, and with 200 lakes created by dams, it holds the nation's highest number of artificial reservoirs.

[88] The humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) of central, southern, and eastern Oklahoma is influenced heavily by southerly winds bringing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

Mid-summer (July and August) represents a secondary dry season over much of Oklahoma, with long stretches of hot weather with only sporadic thunderstorm activity not uncommon many years.

Both have legislative, judicial, and public power within their boundaries, but cities can choose between a mayor–council, council–manager, or strong mayor form of government, while towns operate through an elected officer system.

[130] According to the Pew Research Center in 2014, the majority of Oklahoma's religious adherents remained Christian accounting for 79% of the population, 9 percent higher than the national average.

[131] The percentage of Evangelical Protestants declined since the last study, but they remain the largest religious group in the state at 47% over 20 percent higher than the national average.

[131] The largest growth over the six years between Pew's 2008 and 2014 survey was in the number of people who identify as unaffiliated in the state with an increase of 6% of the total population.

[137] Oklahoma is host to a diverse range of sectors including aviation, energy, transportation equipment, food processing, electronics, and telecommunications.

The state has 55 post-secondary technical institutions operated by Oklahoma's CareerTech program for training in specific fields of industry or trade.

[194] Oklahomans have a high rate of English, Scotch-Irish, German, and Native American ancestry,[195] with 25 different Indigenous languages spoken in the state.

[200] The state has also been associated with a negative cultural stereotype first popularized by John Steinbeck's 1939 novel The Grapes of Wrath, which described the plight of uneducated, poverty-stricken Dust Bowl-era farmers deemed "Okies".

[229] The Tulsa State Fair attracts more than a million people each year during its ten-day run,[230] and the city's Mayfest festival entertained more than 375,000 in four days during 2007.

[238] The two universities meet several times each year in rivalry matches known as the Bedlam Series, which are some of the greatest sporting draws to the state.

Oklahoma City is home to the governing body of the sport in the United States, USA Softball, which has its headquarters in a complex that also includes Devon Park.

[255] Instances of major diseases are near the national average in Oklahoma, and the state ranks at or slightly above the rest of the country in percentage of people with asthma, diabetes, cancer, and hypertension.

[276] Transportation in Oklahoma is generated by an anchor system of Interstate Highways, inter-city rail lines, airports, inland ports, and mass transit networks.

[291] The state has 77 counties with jurisdiction over most local government functions within each respective domain,[68] five congressional districts, and a voting base with a majority in the Republican Party.

Both county and municipal governments collect taxes, employ a separate police force, hold elections, and operate emergency response services within their jurisdiction.

The author of the resolution stated a constituent researched the Oklahoma Constitution and found no "official" vote regarding "Labor Omnia Vincit", therefore opening the door for an entirely new motto.