The climate of the State is of a conti nental type, with light rainfall. The western and central portions of the State are in general cooler and drier than the east. Thus, at Beaver, in the extreme north-west, the mean annual tempera ture is 57° F and the mean annual rainfall 18.9 in. ; while at Le high, in the south-east these figures are respectively 62° and 35.1 inches. At Oklahoma City, in the centre of the State, the mean annual temperature is
; the mean for the summer (June, July and August) is 78.8°, with an extreme recorded of 108° ; the mean for the winter (December, January and February) is 38.4°, with an extreme recorded of —17°. At Mangum, in the south-west, the mean annual temperature is 6f° ; the mean for the summer is 81° and for the winter 41 °, while the highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded are respectively 114° and —17°. The mean annual precipitation for the State is 31.7 in. ; the variation between the east and the west being about 12 inches.
The prevailing type of soil is a deep dark red loam, sometimes (especially in the east central part of the State) made up of a decomposed sandstone, or (in the north-central part) of shales and decomposed limestone. Not infrequently there are a belt of red sandy loam on uplands north of a river, a rich deposit of black alluvium on valley bottom lands, a belt of red clay loam on uplands south of a river, and a deposit of wind-blown loess on the water parting.
The population of the territory now embraced within the State of Oklahoma increased from 258,657 in 1890, when the first census was taken, to 790,391 in 1900, or 205.6% ; to 1,657,155 in
or 109.7%; and to 2,028,283 in 1920, or 22.4%• The population on April 1, 1930, was 2,396,040, a gain of 367, 757 or 18.1%. Of the total population in 1930, 2,123,424 were whites, 172,198 negroes, 97,725 Indians and 310 Mongolians. In the decade 1920-30 the Indian population increased 35,388, or 61.8%. The only Indians who are natives of this region are a few members of the Kiowa, Comanche and Apache tribes. The others are the remnants of a number of tribes collected here from various parts of the country : Cherokees, Cheyennes, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Foxes, Iowas, Kaws, Kickapoos, Miamis, Osages, Otoes, Ottawas, Pawnees and others. The foreign-born population (26,753) in 1930 constituted 1.3% of the total. Chief among the foreign-born were : Germans, 5,893 ; Russians, 3,613 ; British,
Canadians, 2,119; Czechoslovaks, 1,867; Poles, 1,162.
The density of population per square mile increased from 2 in 1890 to 34.5 in 1930. The distribution of population 1930 was
rural; 821,681 or 34.3%, urban. The principal cities in 1930 were Oklahorr q, City (the capital), Tulsa, Muskogee, Okmulgee, Bartlesville, Enid, Ardmore, Shawnee, Ponca, Mc Alester, Chickasha, Lawton, Seminole, Ada and Sapulpa.
The Constitution now in operation was adopted in Sept. 1907, and is that with which the State was ad mitted into the Union in November of the same year. Amend ments may be submitted through a majority of the members elected to both houses of the legislature or through a petition signed by 15% of the electorate, and a proposed amendment be comes a part of the Constitution if the majority of the votes cast at a popular election are in favour of it. The right of suf frage is conferred on all citizens of the United States, 21 years of age or over, who have resided in the State for one year, in the county six months, and in the precinct for the 3o days preceding the election. General elections are held in even-numbered years; party candidates for State, district, county and municipal offices, and U.S. senators and congressmen are chosen at primary elec tions.
The executive authority of the State is divided among 13 elected officials, including the governor, lieutenant governor, sec retary of State, treasurer, auditor, attorney-general, superinten dent of public instruction, examiner and inspector, commissioner of labour, commissioner of insurance, chief mine inspector, com missioner of charities and corrections and president of the State board of agriculture. They are elected for a term of four years, and the governor, secretary of State, auditor and treasurer are ineligible for the next succeeding term. Other elected State offi cials are the three members of the corporation commission (one elected every two years for a six-year term), the clerk of the supreme court and four assistant mine inspectors. Administrative work is also done by more than 6o other officers, commissions, departments and boards. The governor is a member of some im portant administrative boards, but the number of officers whom he appoints is rather limited and for most of his appointments the confirmation of the senate is required. His right of veto ex tends to items in appropriation bills, and to pass a bill over his veto a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house is required.