Green Country, sometimes referred to as Northeast Oklahoma, is the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, which lies west of the northern half of

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, the southwestern corner the way of

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and south of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Alternate definitions

While the name's usage can be traced to the early part of the 20th century, it was popularized in the 1960s by the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation as one of six travel destination regions within the state. Said tourism designation is an 18-county region including Pawnee, Osage, Washington, Nowata, Craig,

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

Mayes Mayes is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adrian Mayes (born 1980), American football player * Alan Mayes (born 1953), English footballer * Bernard Mayes (1929–2014), British-American lecturer and author * Clifford Mayes (bor ...

, Rogers, Creek, Tulsa, Wagoner,

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

, Adair, Sequoyah, Muskogee, Okmulgee, and McIntosh counties. Another alternate usage of the term can include solely the immediate vicinity of Green Country's principal city, Tulsa; the Tulsa Metropolitan Area or the city of Tulsa proper is often referred to as "Green Country" in its own right. In this case, the terms "Tulsa Metropolitan Area" and "Green Country" are used interchangeably. Average precipitation totals in Green Country are generally above 40 inches per year. The area is also one of the most populous regions of Oklahoma, and is home to some of its largest cities.

Geography

Northeastern Oklahoma has the state's second largest city, Tulsa. In addition to the area's foliage and rolling hills, it has more lakes than any other geographical area of Oklahoma, as well as more than half of the state's registered state parks.
klahoma Department of Tourism/ref> Oklahoma is one of only four states with more than 10 ecoregions, but six of its 11 ecoregions are located in northeastern Oklahoma. The heavily wooded Ozark Mountains and their foothills dominate most of northeast Oklahoma from the immediate Tulsa vicinity south and eastward towards the Arkansas state line, containing both

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

and

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

forests. In its western counties, the far eastern extent of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

transition to woodlands through the Cross Timbers region. This area includes most of Oklahoma's portion of the Flint Hills, some of which is the protected by the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve near Pawhuska, one of the last remnants of

tallgrass prairie The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and Historical ecology#Anthropogenic fire, anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals (primarily bison) provided periodic disturbances to th ...

in the United States. Prairie terrain is most apparent in a strip of Green Country's northern section, which borders

, running roughly from Bartlesville to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, where the landscape is a mix of true prairie and forest. A small portion of the

Ouachita Mountains The Ouachita Mountains (), simply referred to as the Ouachitas, are a mountain range in western Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. They are formed by a thick succession of highly deformed Paleozoic strata constituting the Ouachita Fold and Thru ...

extend into the southern areas of northeast Oklahoma, though the Ozark highlands are the primary range in the area. Northeast Oklahoma has a land area of , comprising 18 entire counties. The region comprises about 19.3 percent of Oklahoma's land area, and is larger than the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Political geography

Based on commuting patterns, the adjacent micropolitan area of Bartlesville, is grouped together in the (CSA). The population of this wider region is 998,438—more than one-fourth of

's population—as of 2012. The 2010 census population of Green Country was 1,301,716 inhabitants, about 30 percent of whom were concentrated in the city of Tulsa.

Counties of the Green Country region (per Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation)

* Adair County * Craig County * Creek County * Cherokee County * Delaware County * Mayes County * McIntosh County * Muskogee County * Nowata County * Okmulgee County * Osage County * Ottawa County * Pawnee County * Rogers County * Sequoyah County * Tulsa County * Wagoner County * Washington County It includes the Deep Fork National Wildlife Refuge, Ozark Plateau National Wildlife Refuge, Arkansas River, Canadian River, Grand River,

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

, and Verdigris River.

Infrastructure

The Tulsa International Airport is the primary commercial flight operation in Green Country. Also in the area, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa and Port of Muskogee are Oklahoma's only seaports, connecting the state directly with international trade routes. From either of these two ports, goods may be transported via the Arkansas River's connection to the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. Intercity bus service is provided by Greyhound Lines and Jefferson Lines. Within the Tulsa metro, Tulsa Transit provides local service. The area's highway system is dominated by turnpikes. Toll roads account for the primary highways in and out of the city of Tulsa in almost every direction. The Will Rogers Turnpike serves the city to the northeast, the Turner Turnpike to the southwest, the Cimarron Turnpike to the west, The Muskogee Turnpike to the southeast, and the Cherokee Turnpike to the east. Interstate 44 is the primary thoroughfare and runs diagonally through Green Country, exiting on the southwest and northeast corners. All portions of the road through northeastern Oklahoma exists as a toll road, except for in the city of Tulsa. Interstate 40 straddles the southernmost border of Green Country, while other highways include the north-south Highway 75 (not a turnpike), The Muskogee Turnpike, the north-south Highway 69, Highway 169, and the east-west Highway 412. In addition, Historic U.S. Route 66 runs (with breaks) between the Kansas line and Stroud, the southwesternmost town in the region.

Cities and towns

* Tulsa * Owasso * Broken Arrow * Bartlesville * Jenks * Bixby * Skiatook * Claremore *

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

* Okmulgee * Muskogee *

* Tahlequah * Vinita * Pryor * Oologah * Sapulpa * Sand Springs * Stilwell * Nowata * Pawhuska * Wagoner

References

External links

Green Country Marketing AssociationGreen Country North Eastern Oklahoma Business and Events Showcase - Features 48,000 Businesses and Hundreds of Local Events Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory
{{Coord, 36.5, N, 95.5, W, format=dec, display=title, type:adm1st_region:US-OK Official tourism regions in Oklahoma Regions of the Southern United States Regions of Oklahoma Ozarks Ouachita Mountains Populated places within the Cherokee Nation reservation