Central Oklahoma is dominated by the largest urban area in the state, the Greater Oklahoma City area. Oklahoma City is the political, economic, tourism, commercial, industrial, financial, and geographical hub of the state, as well as being its primary cultural center. The only Central Oklahoma city which is not officially considered a suburb of Oklahoma City is Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Geography
Central Oklahoma is a humid-subtropical region dominated by the Cross Timbers, an area of prairie and patches of forest at the eastern extent of the Great Plains.[2] The region is essentially a transition buffer between the wetter and more forested Eastern Oklahoma and the semi-arid high plains of Western Oklahoma, and experiences extreme swings between dry and wet weather patterns. Climate is dominated by large differences in annual rainfall totals, with Central Oklahoma's western boundary receiving far less rain than compared to its eastern boundary.
Because of these convergences of dry and wet weather patterns, Central Oklahoma is at the heart of what is known as Tornado Alley, and is one of the most tornado-prone areas in the United States.
Central Oklahoma is home to The Oklahoman, the most widely circulated in the state. NewsOK.com is the Oklahoman's online presence. okcBIZ is a monthly publication that covers business news affecting those who live and work in Central Oklahoma.
WKY Radio in Oklahoma City was the first radio station transmitting west of the Mississippi River and the third radio station in the United States.[3] WKY received its federal license in 1921 and has broadcast under the same call letters since 1922. In 1928, the station was purchased by the Oklahoma Publishing Company and affiliated with the NBC Red Network. In 1949, WKY-TV (Channel 4) went on the air and later became the first independently owned television station in the U.S. to broadcast in color.[3] In mid-2002, WKY radio was purchased outright by Citadel Broadcasting; in 2011, Citadel merged with Cumulus Media, who owns and operates WKY to this day. WKY-TV, which is now KFOR-TV, is currently owned by Tribune Broadcasting as of December 2013.
There are no sea ports in Central Oklahoma, as water exports must go through Northeastern Oklahoma via Tulsa, which has one of two large-scale seaport in the state.
There are four primary highways in Central Oklahoma. Interstate 35 connects the region with Texas and Kansas to the south and north, Interstate 40 connects with West Texas and Arkansas, and Interstate 44 is a turnpike its entire duration through the region (except within Oklahoma City), and traverses from Southwest Oklahoma to Missouri.
Central Oklahoma is home to the state's oldest and largest single site hospital, St. Anthony Hospital and Physicians Medical Center, and the state's largest teaching hospital and only level-1 trauma center, OU Medical Center. INTEGRIS Health owns multiple hospitals in Central Oklahoma. INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center was named in U.S. News & World Report's 2012 list of Best Hospitals.