Geography Chapter 8

Regional Geography - Logan County and Oklahoma

 

Physical and Cultural Characteristics of the Logan County - which includes Crescent
 

  1. Major landforms and waterbodies
    1. Land area - 744 square miles
    2. Water area - 4.5 square miles
     
  2. Climate

    4. Historical tornado activity is slightly above Oklahoma state average. It is 315% greater than the overall U.S. average.
     
  3. Flora and Fauna
    1. Native vegetation is grasslands in which shrubs and trees grow singly or in bunches.
      • Native grass is short-grass prairie - buffalo grass and switchgrass.
      • Native trees are post oak, blackjack oak, and eastern red cedar.
    2. Fauna
     
  4. Natural Resources
    1. Oil
    2. Natural gas
     
  5. Population patterns
    1. Population in July 2007: 36,435 (32% urban, 68% rural)
    2. Population density: 49 people per square mile
    3. Median age - 36.1 years
    4. Race:
      • White - 80.3%
      • Black - 11.0%
      • American Indian - 5.0%
      • Hispanic - 2.9%
      • Others - 4.1%
     
  6. Social patterns
    1. People 25 years of age or older with a high school degree or higher - 81.5%
    2. People 25 years of age or older with a bachelor's degree or higher - 19.1%
    3. Number of foreign born residents - 511 (32% naturalized citizens)
     
  7. Political patterns
    1. 2004 Presidential Election Results
      • Bush/Cheney (Republican) - 70.2%
      • Kerry/Edwards (Democratic) - 29.8%
     
  8. Economic patterns
    1. Personal income
      • Median household income in 2007 - $45,778
      • Residents with income below poverty level in 2007 - 12.9%
    2. Jobs
      • Unemployment in September 2007 - 3.7%
      • Mean travel time to work - 28.5 minutes
      • Residents living and working in the county - 38.1%
    3. Farms
      • Average size of farms - 303 acres
      • Average value of crops sold per acre for harvested cropland - $110.97
      • Irrigated cropland as a percentage of land in farms - 0.42%
      • Percentage of farms operated by a family or individual - 92.03%
     
  9. Subregions
    Rural Water Districts
  10. Location of Towns
    1. Guthrie (county seat) - population, 11,046
    2. Crescent - population, 1361
    3. Langston - population, 690
    4. Coyle - population, 369
    5. Marshall - population, 281
    6. Mulhall - population, 269
    7. Orlando - population, 218
    8. Cimarron City - population, 122
    9. Cedar Valley - population - 62
    10. Meridian - population - 60
     
  11. Relative Importance in State
    1. Farming
    2. Natural gas and petroleum reserves
 

 

Physical and Cultural Characteristics of the Oklahoma
 

  1. Major landforms and waterbodies
    1. Land area - 68,655 square miles
      • Oklahoma extends 464 miles from east to west (including the 165 mile panhandle.
      • Oklahoma extends 230 miles from north to south.
      • Oklahoma rises gently from southeast to northwest from 289 feet above sea-level at Little River in the southeastern corner to 4,973 feet above sea-level at Black Mesa, on the tip of the panhandle.
      • Four mountain ranges cross the state:
       
    2. Water area - 1,301 square miles
      • The northern two-thirds of the state is drained by the Arkansas River. The Arkansas is joined by the Verdigris, Grand, and Illinois rivers from the north and northeast, and by the Cimarron and Canadian rivers from the northwest and west.
      • The southern third of the state is drained by the Red River, which marks most of the state's southern boundary. The Red is joined by the Washita, Salt Fork, Blue, Kiamichi, and many smaller rivers.
         
      • List of Oklahoma Rivers     Map of Rivers
         
      • There are few natural lakes but many artificial ones, of which the largest is Lake Eufaula, covering 102,500 acres in east central Oklahoma. The second largest is Lake Texoma, covering 89,000 acres in south central Oklahoma.
     
  2. Climate
    1. Oklahoma has a continental climate with cold winters and hot summers. Normal daily mean temperatures in Oklahoma City range from 37 oF in January to 82 oF in July. The record low temperature of −27 oF was set at Watts on 18 January 1930; the record high, 120 oF, occurred at Tipton on 27 June 1994.
    2. Dry, sunny weather generally prevails throughout the state. Precipitation varies from an average of 15 inches annually in the panhandle to over 50 inches in the southeast. Average annual precipitation in Oklahoma City (1971-2000) was 35.9 inches. Snowfall averages 9 inches a year in Oklahoma City, which is also one of the windiest cities in the US, with an average annual wind speed of 12.3 mph.
     
  3. Flora and Fauna
    1. Grasses grow in abundance in Oklahoma. Bluestem, buffalo, and grama grasses are native, with the bluestem found mostly in the eastern and central regions, and buffalo grass most common in the western counties, known as the "short grass prairie". Deciduous hardwoods stand in eastern Oklahoma, and red and yellow cactus blossoms brighten the Black Mesa area in the northwest.
    2. The white-tailed deer is found in all counties, and Rio Grande wild turkeys are hunted across much of the state. Pronghorn antelope inhabit the panhandle area, and elk survive in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, where a few herds of American buffalo (bison) are also preserved. The bobwhite quail, ring-necked pheasant, and prairie chicken are common game birds. Native sport fish include largemouth, smallmouth, white, and spotted bass; catfish; crappie; and sunfish.
     
  4. Natural Resources
    1. Coal, petroleum, and natural gas
    2. Water
    3. Forests
    4. High Plains Aquifer
     
  5. Population patterns
    1. Population in 2002: 3,493,714
    2. Population density: 50.3 persons per square mile
    3. Median age: 35.5
      • Percent of population under 18: 25.9%
      • Percent of population over 65: 13.2%
     
  6. Social patterns
    1. People 25 years of age or older with a high school education - 31.5%
    2. People 25 years of age or older with a Bachelor's degree - 13.5%
    3. Number of foreign born residents - 231,747 (1.3% naturalized citizens)
    4. Occupation
      • Management, professional, and related occupations - 30.3%
      • Service occupations - 15.5%
      • Sales and office occupations - 26.6%
      • Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations - 0.9%
      • Construction, extraction, and maintenance occupations - 11.3%
      • Production, transportation, and material moving occupations - 15.4%
     
  7. Political patterns

  8. Economic patterns
    1. Median household income in 2000 - $33,400
    2. Residents with income below poverty level in 2000 - 491,235
     
  9. Subregions
    1. Native American Nations
     
  10. Location of Counties
    1. 77 counties
    2. Largest Cities
      • Oklahoma City - population, 1,046,283
      • Tulsa - population, 786,117
      • Lawton - population, 92,757
     
  11. Relative Importance in U.S.
    1. Fossil fuel resources - Oklahoma Geological Survey
    2. Water resources - Oklahoma Water Atlas