Shawnee is a city in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 29,857 at the 2010 census, a 4.0 percent increase from 28,692 at the 2000 census. The city is part of the Oklahoma City-Shawnee Combined Statistical Area; it is also the county seat of Pottawatomie County and the principal city of the Shawnee Micropolitan Statistical Area. With access to Interstate 40, Shawnee is about 45 minutes east of the attractions in downtown Oklahoma City. To the east and northeast, Shawnee is 112 miles from the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System that offers shipping barge access to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1930, voters elected to move the county seat of Pottawatomie County from Tecumseh to Shawnee. The courthouse was built with New Deal funding and opened in 1935. The buildup of industry and the armed forces for the Second World War, and in particular the construction of Tinker Air Force Base east of Oklahoma City, benefited Shawnee's economy. At various times, Tinker has employed as many as 3,000 Shawnee residents. After the war, three major manufacturing concerns were important to Shawnee's economy. Sonic, a well-known drive-in fast food chain, originally began in Shawnee in 1953 as the Top Hat. It was renamed to Sonic in 1959 after the owner, Troy N. Smith Sr., learned that the name Top Hat was already trademarked. The franchise expanded as a major drive-in food chain. Beginning in the 1970s, Shawnee's economy improved with the addition of a number of industrial plants north of the city; they added approximately 1,000 jobs to the community base.

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central United States. It is the 20th most extensive and the 28th most populous of the 50 United States. The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma. It is also known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State. On November 16, 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state to enter the union. Its residents are known as Oklahomans, or informally "Okies," and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. A major producer of natural gas, oil, and agricultural products, Oklahoma relies on an economic base of aviation, energy, telecommunications, and biotechnology. In 2007, it had one of the fastest-growing economies in the United States, ranking among the top states in per capita income growth and gross domestic product growth. Oklahoma City and Tulsa serve as Oklahoma's primary economic anchors, with nearly two-thirds of Oklahomans living within their metropolitan statistical areas. With small mountain ranges, prairie, mesas, and eastern forests, most of Oklahoma lies in the Great Plains, Cross Timbers, and the U.S. Interior Highlands—a region especially prone to severe weather. In addition to having a prevalence of English, German, Scottish, Scotch-Irish, and Native American ancestry, more than 25 Native American languages are spoken in Oklahoma, second only to California.