Tulsa

Sister cities

• Amiens
• Celle
• Beihai
• Zelenograd
• San Luis Potosí
• Utsunomiya
• Kaohsiung
• Tiberias

History

The area where Tulsa now exists is considered Indian Territory, on the land of the Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), Wahzhazhe Ma zha (Osage), Muscogee (Creek), and Caddo tribes, among others. It was initially named after a Muscogee settlement in the southeastern United States called Tvlahasse with the short form Tallasi in the Muscogee language, which became Tullahassee or Tallise in Spanish. Etvlwv ahassee means "old town" in the Muscogean language. In 1540, Hernando de Soto became the first European to visit and document the original Tulsa in the southeast. Tvlahasse was a member of the Creek Confederacy and had a strong relationship with the town of Locvpokv and members of the two towns largely settled together after Indian Removal and the Trail of Tears in modern-day Tulsa. On March 28, 1836, Opothleyahola and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation established a small settlement called Lochapoka ("place of turtles" in Creek) under the Creek Council Oak Tree at the present-day intersection of Cheyenne Avenue and 18th Street. The area around Tulsa was also settled by members of the other so-called "Five Civilized Tribes" who had been relocated to Oklahoma from the Southern United States. Most of modern Tulsa is located in the Creek Nation, with parts located in the Cherokee and Osage Nations. After the War, the tribes signed Reconstruction treaties with the federal government that in some cases required substantial land concessions. In the years after the Civil War and around the turn of the century, the area along the Arkansas River that is now Tulsa was periodically home to or visited by a series of colorful outlaws, including the legendary Wild Bunch and the Dalton Gang. On August 7, 1882, the town was almost centered at a location just north of the current Whittier Square, when a…

Geography

Tulsa is located in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma between the edge of the Great Plains and the foot of the Ozarks in a generally forested region of rolling hills. The city touches the eastern extent of the Cross Timbers, an ecoregion of forest and prairie transitioning from the drier plains of the west to the wetter forests of the east. With a wetter climate than points westward, Tulsa serves as a gateway to "Green Country", a popular and official designation for northeast Oklahoma that stems from the region's green vegetation and relatively large number of hills and lakes compared to central and western areas of Oklahoma, which lie largely in the drier Great Plains region of the Central United States. Located near the western edge of the U.S. Interior Highlands, northeastern Oklahoma is the most topographically diverse part of the state, containing seven of Oklahoma's 11 eco-regions and more than half of its state parks. The region encompasses 30 lakes or reservoirs and borders the neighboring states of Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas. The city developed on both sides of the prominent Arkansas River, which flows in a wide, sandy-bottomed channel. Its flow through Tulsa is controlled by reservoirs at Keystone Lake, and a low-water dam was built at Zink Lake in downtown Tulsa to maintain a full channel at all times. This dam deteriorated and eventually failed, and was repaired and reopened in 2014. Heavily wooded and with abundant parks and water areas, the city has several prominent hills, such as "Shadow Mountain" and "Turkey Mountain", which create varied terrain, especially in its southern portions. While its central and northern sections are generally flat to gently undulating, the Osage Hills extension into the northwestern part of the city further varies…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  13,474
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  8,804
• Carolina Chickadee

  Poecile carolinensis (Audubon, 1834) · Aves
  8,492
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  8,326
• Carolina Wren

  Thryothorus ludovicianus (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  8,256
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  7,283
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,743
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  6,657

Largest nearby schools

• BROKEN ARROW HS
  High · Broken Arrow · 4,589 students · 20:1 ratio
• JENKS HS
  High · Jenks · 3,547 students · 18.9:1 ratio
• UNION HS
  High · Tulsa · 3,355 students · 21.1:1 ratio
• UNION 6TH-7TH GRADE CTR
  Middle · Tulsa · 2,182 students · 16.7:1 ratio
• JENKS WEST ES
  Elementary · Jenks · 1,998 students · 17.1:1 ratio
• JENKS MS
  Middle · Jenks · 1,831 students · 18.9:1 ratio
• JENKS EAST ES
  Elementary · Jenks · 1,443 students · 16:1 ratio
• BROKEN ARROW FRESHMAN ACADEMY
  Other · Broken Arrow · 1,305 students · 20.1:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2026-05-20
  5 km N of Stroud, Oklahoma
• M 2.82 — 2026-01-06
  8 km SE of Sparks, Oklahoma
• M 2.76 — 2025-11-26
  9 km SE of Sparks, Oklahoma
• M 3.18 — 2025-05-23
  11 km NW of Pawnee, Oklahoma
• M 2.79 — 2025-05-12
  8 km NNW of Prague, Oklahoma
• M 3.1 — 2025-05-10
  8 km NW of Prague, Oklahoma