<P> Oklahoma is on a confluence of three major American cultural regions and historically served as a route for cattle drives, a destination for Southern settlers, and a government - sanctioned territory for Native Americans . </P> <P> The name Oklahoma comes from the Choctaw phrase okla humma, literally meaning red people . Choctaw Nation Chief Allen Wright suggested the name in 1866 during treaty negotiations with the federal government on the use of Indian Territory, in which he envisioned an all - Indian state controlled by the United States Superintendent of Indian Affairs . Equivalent to the English word Indian, okla humma was a phrase in the Choctaw language that described Native American people as a whole . Oklahoma later became the de facto name for Oklahoma Territory, and it was officially approved in 1890, two years after the area was opened to white settlers . </P> <P> Oklahoma is the 20th - largest state in the United States, covering an area of 69,898 square miles (181,035 km), with 68,667 square miles (177,847 km) of land and 1,281 square miles (3,188 km) of water . It lies partly in the Great Plains near the geographical center of the 48 contiguous states . It is bounded on the east by Arkansas and Missouri, on the north by Kansas, on the northwest by Colorado, on the far west by New Mexico, and on the south and near - west by Texas . Much of its border with Texas lies along the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, a failed continental rift . The geologic figure defines the placement of the Red River . </P> <P> The Oklahoma panhandle's Western edge is out of alignment with its Texas border . The Oklahoma / New Mexico border is 2.1 to 2.2 miles east of the Texas line . The border between Texas and New Mexico was set first as a result of a survey by Spain in 1819 . It was then set along the 103rd Meridian . In the 1890s, when Oklahoma was formally surveyed using more accurate surveying equipment and techniques, it was discovered the Texas line was not set along the 103rd Meridian . Surveying techniques were not as accurate in 1819, and the actual 103rd Meridian was approximately 2.2 miles to the east . It was much easier to leave the mistake than for Texas to cede land to New Mexico to correct the surveying error . The placement of the Oklahoma / New Mexico border represents the true 103rd Meridian . </P>

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