Norman, Oklahoma is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and serves as the county seat for Cleveland County. The city of Norman is located 30 km south of downtown Oklahoma City and is the states 3rd-largest city.
Money Magazine named the city of Norman as the country's 6th best small city. It is the center of business and employment in Cleveland County
It was during the Oklahoma Land Rush in 1889 that the city of Norman was founded. Two years afterward, the city of Norman was incorporated. The largest university within the state of Oklahoma is located in the city of Norman, that has helped to develop Norman's scientific and technological research industries. The University of Oklahoma has a student population of 30,000, and a labor force of almost 11,000. The campus's research programs contributed more than $277 million to the economy in 2009.
The central Oklahoma region became part of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase during the year 1803. The U.S. Government relocated the Creek Nation in the region presently referred to as Norman in 1832-1833. Creek Nation was amongst five Native American tribes which the US officially recognized via treaty. Prior to the American Civil War the United States government began relocating the tribes to the state of Oklahoma.
The National Weather Center site is in Norman in addition to some weather-and climate-related organizations. The NWC is part of a collaborative effort between the University of Oklahoma and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The city of Norman is a prime place for a planned National Weather Museum. The public and academic weather research activities in Norman have attracted several private meteorological businesses, such as Weathernews Americas, Inc., Vieux and Associates, Inc., WeatherBank, Inc., Computational Geosciences, Inc. and Weather Decision Technologies
Numerous other public and private scientific ventures are situated within the city of Norman. The renewable energy sector comprises the Oklahoma Renewable Energy Council and the Oklahoma Geological Survey. Bergey Windpower supplies small wind turbines and SouthWest NanoTechnologies manufactures carbon nanotubes.
Other agencies and institutions contributing to the local economy consist of the Griffin Memorial Hospital, the Norman Regional health System and Norman public schools. Significant companies consist of AT&T, Hitachi, Astellas Pharma Technologies, Albon Engineering, Xyant Technology, RiskMetrics Group, Sysco Corporation, Office Max National Sales Center and SITEL.