November 16 is Oklahoma Statehood Day.

It’s also my birthday.

I was born in Tulsa and I have lived most of my life here in the Great State of Oklahoma. I went to college at The University of Oklahoma and all of our children were born in Tulsa.

It’s a great place to live.

I love Arkansas and Missouri. I haven’t spent much time in Kansas and I like to spend vacations in Colorado. Texas is a fascinating state but it’s too crowded for me to ever want to move there.

The name Oklahoma is from the Choctaw words “okla” and “humma.” They mean “red people.” I have no Indian ancestry but Oklahoma’s history is full of the influence of Native Americans. Twenty-five tribes speak their native languages in our state and 67 tribes are represented in Oklahoma.

The Trail of Tears, an infamous saga in America’s history, was the story of forced relocation the Cherokees and the Choctaws from Southeastern United States to Oklahoma.

Oklahoma is called the Sooner State due to the non-native settlers who staked claims to land before the official opening dates or prior to the Indian Appropriations Act of 1889. When that Act passed, Americans of European descent fell in love with the eastern part of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Territory and Indian Territory were merged on November 16, 1907, to become the State of Oklahoma (the 46th state to enter the Union). I was born in Tulsa exactly 46 years later.

Oil helped build Oklahoma.

At one time, Tulsa was officially the “Oil Capitol of the Word.” That’s not true now (it’s probably Houston). But the state is still a major producer of oil and natural gas.

About four million people live in Oklahoma. It is the 28th largest state in terms of population.

Oklahoma City is the Capitol and the largest city. Tulsa is the second largest city. Nearly two-thirds of the state’s population resides in the Oklahoma City and Tulsa areas. Oklahoma City is the 45th largest city in the nation and Tulsa is 61st.

The lowest spot in Oklahoma is at Little River at the Arkansas border (289 feet above sea level). The highest place in Oklahoma is Black Mesa in northwest tip of the Panhandle (4,975 feet above sea level). By the way, even though Oklahoma is in the Central Time Zone, Kenton, Oklahoma, informally uses Mountain Time.

Oklahoma has been called the “Bible Belt” because of the influence of Evangelical Christianity. According to a study in 2014, almost 70% of Oklahomans consider themselves Protestants and 8% Catholic. The Mormon population is about 1% while other faiths and atheists make up the rest (21%).

Oklahoma is tied with Arkansas for having the highest percentage of Evangelical Christians. There are almost 900,000 Southern Baptists in Oklahoma, almost 300,000 Methodists, 180,000 Roman Catholics,85,000 in the Assemblies of God and 47,000 Mormons.

The U.S. Census Bureau considers Oklahoma to be in the “South” but people look at Oklahoma as being in the Southwest, Midwest and Great Plains.

In 2006, the Catalogue for Philanthropy ranked Oklahoma as seventh in the nation for our generosity. That stands in contrast to the state’s reputation from John Steinbeck’s 1939 novel, The Grapes of Wrath, which profiled “Okies” as dirt poor and uneducated. Now, “Okie” is said in a positive light (except maybe in California.)

Oklahomans love sports.

The University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University and The University of Tulsa all have successful sports programs. Oklahoma has an NBA team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and several minor league baseball, hockey and soccer teams.

Cedar Ridge Country Club in Tulsa regularly hosts LPGA golf tournaments and Southern Hills Country Club has hosted PGA Championships and three U.S. Opens.

This is a great place to raise a family. It’s a great place to run a business and make a living.

The cost of living is low. Houses are comparatively inexpensive. We have a lot of lakes, parks and recreation.

Of course, there are problems in Oklahoma. We are too dependent on the energy sector. We have too many toll roads. We have too many school districts and too many community colleges.

We have a liberal Oklahoma Supreme Court. We don’t maintain the roads as we should. Our taxes are too high. State government, cities, counties and school districts have way too much bonded indebtedness.

Most of these problems are fixable.

Unlike the rest of the country, Oklahoma is more unified. Republicans outnumber Democrats. Conservatives way outnumber progressives. Christians outnumber everyone.

If Republicans would act like Republicans speak, if conservatives would be conservative and if Christians would live the way that God wants us to, this would be a much better state.

But as it is, I still love Oklahoma. And I am glad to be a native son born on the anniversary of statehood day.