Quiz challenge
Which state connects Arkansas, Missouri, and New Mexico by land borders?
Select an answer to continue.
The correct answer is A) Oklahoma.
The correct answer is Oklahoma.
Testing your knowledge of the map of the United States often comes down to recognizing unique geographic shapes and state borders. While some states are surrounded by coastline or nested deep within a single subregion, others stretch across multiple regions to touch an impressive collection of neighbors. Identifying a state that bridges the American South, the Midwest, and the Desert Southwest requires looking closely at how territorial lines were drawn during nineteenth-century expansion.
The correct answer
A) Oklahoma
The correct answer is Oklahoma.
Oklahoma is the only state in the nation that shares a direct land border with Arkansas, Missouri, and New Mexico. Located in the South Central region of the country, Oklahoma borders a total of six states. Its eastern boundary meets Arkansas and the southwestern tip of Missouri. Moving westward across the narrow strip known as the Oklahoma Panhandle, its territory extends past Kansas and Colorado to touch New Mexico at its far western border. To the south and southwest, Oklahoma shares an extensive border with Texas along the Red River and designated land lines. This unusual configuration allows Oklahoma to serve as a geographic link between the Ozarks of the interior highlands and the high plains of the American West.
More context
The distinctive borders of Oklahoma were largely shaped by nineteenth-century federal legislation and territorial agreements. The shape of the Oklahoma Panhandle, which gives the state its connection to New Mexico and Colorado, resulted directly from the Compromise of 1850. When Texas entered the Union as a slave state in 1845, federal law prohibited slavery north of latitude 36 degrees 30 minutes, a line established by the Missouri Compromise of 1820. To remain a slave state, Texas relinquished its claim to the land north of that boundary. This strip of land, measuring 166 miles long and 34 miles wide, was left without official territorial oversight for decades and became known as No Mans Land. It was eventually annexed into Oklahoma Territory in 1890 under the Organic Act and later became Cimarron, Texas, and Beaver counties when Oklahoma achieved statehood in 1907. Without this panhandle extending west to the 103rd meridian, Oklahoma would not touch New Mexico.
Quick facts
- Oklahoma shares borders with six states: Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Arkansas.
- The Oklahoma Panhandle was formed because Texas surrendered land north of the latitude line set by the Missouri Compromise.
- Cimarron County in the Oklahoma Panhandle is the only county in the United States that borders five different states.
- Oklahoma became the 46th state admitted to the Union on November 16, 1907.
Sources
- Oklahoma QuickFacts — U.S. Census Bureau Confirms Oklahoma land area, geographic location, and bordering states.
- The National Map Viewer — U.S. Geological Survey Provides authoritative national topographic and cartographic border data for Oklahoma and adjacent states.
- Oklahoma State Overview — Encyclopædia Britannica Details Oklahoma boundary history, the creation of the Oklahoma Panhandle, and statehood details.
