Oklahoma City is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County,[3] the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. [4] The city's estimated population as of 2006 was 537,734[5], with a 2008 estimated population of 1,206,142[6] in the metropolitan area. In 2008, the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical Area had a population of 1,275,758 residents.[7]

Besides Oklahoma County, the city limits extend into Canadian, Cleveland, and Pottawatomie counties. The city ranks as the seventh-largest city in the United States by land area which includes consolidated city-counties; it is the largest city in the United States by land area whose government is not consolidated with that of a county (or, in the case of Alaska, a borough). Oklahoma City is an important livestock market, featuring one of the top livestock markets in the world.[8] Oil is a major product, as the city is situated in the middle of an oil field, with oil derricks even on the capitol grounds. The city has varied light and heavy industries, and the Tinker Air Force Base is also a vital source of civilian employment.

The city was founded during the Land Run of 1889. In 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed by Timothy McVeigh. With the Oklahoma City bombing resulting in 168 deaths, McVeigh caused the most destructive act of domestic terrorism in United States history, and the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil prior to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

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