Oklahoma City, often just OKC, is a city located in the South Central part of the United States, the capital of Oklahoma. In 2013, the population of Oklahoma city was estimated at 610 thousand people. Together with the suburbs, Oklahoma city is home to more than 1.2 million people.
Oklahoma City is one of the largest cities in the United States in terms of area. The landscape around the City mainly consists of hills, low trees, and shrubs. The city is crossed by the North Canadian River, in 2004 the section of the river flowing directly within the city was renamed Oklahoma river. In the past, the river often overflowed, but the system of dams allowed to cope with this threat. To the North-West of the city center is Lake Hefner, named after the former mayor of the city. This is a popular place for fishing, sports, walks with numerous recreation areas around.
Oklahoma City is a very young city. It was founded on April 22, 1889, when one of the most interesting events in the history of the development of Western lands, which went down in history as Land run. Then, at the same time about 50 thousand people, competing with each other, rushed on still Unallocated territories to try to stake out for themselves a free piece of the earth. By the evening of the same day, about 10,000 settlers had formed a tent city, which eventually turned into Oklahoma city. In the history of forever came the dramatic episode, when both the signal officer, thousands of settlers on horses and wagons rushed over the river Cranbrook / Canadian River in the hope of extracting a better life for themselves.
Oklahoma city grew rapidly and in the early 20th century became the state capital. In 1928, oil was found in the area, which contributed to the growth of the economy. Other growth factors were infrastructure and production. Today, the city's economy is diversified and is based on energy, agriculture, production, health care. To the South-East is the air base Tinker Air Force Base, which also strongly affects the economy of the region. More than 8.5 thousand military and almost 16 thousand civilian personnel are working at the base, in addition, about 30 thousand people are involved indirectly (housing, food, services).
Oklahoma City is an important transport hub, in particular through the city passes the "main street of America" - the famous Route 66. In total, Oklahoma city is crossed by 3 major highways: I-35, I-40, and I-44. The largest airport in the region-the airport named after Will Rogers World Airport serves annually about 3.5 million passengers. The largest University of Oklahoma, about 30 thousand students, is based in the suburbs of Oklahoma City-Norman, located 20 mi to the south.
An artificial water channel passes through Bricktown, a nearby downtown area, a popular place for recreation and entertainment. Water taxis are available on the canal.
The main professional sports club-basketball - Oklahoma City Thunder, acting in the NBA League. The city got this sports franchise only in 2008 when the extremely popular team of Seattle Supersonics was sold to an investment group from Oklahoma City. Home arena Chesapeake Energy Arena, accommodating 18 thousand spectators, located in downtown.
Oklahoma City offers furnished rooms for students, interns, and working professionals looking for flexible monthly stays.
