Arkansas

I

Introduction

Arkansas, one of the Midwestern states of the United States, bordered on the north and north-east by Missouri; on the east by Tennessee and Mississippi; on the south by Louisiana; on the south-west by Texas; and on the west by Oklahoma. The Mississippi River forms virtually the entire eastern boundary.

Arkansas entered the Union as the 25th state on June 15, 1836. It was part of the Confederacy during the American Civil War. Long known as an agricultural state with diverse mineral resources, Arkansas by the 1990s had an economy that was dominated by the manufacturing and service sectors, though by most standards it is one of the poorest states in the United States. The name of the state is taken from the Arkansas River, which was named after the indigenous Arkansa people; the s was added as a plural, and the French pronunciation was retained. Arkansas is also known as the “Land of Opportunity”.

II

Land and Resources

Arkansas has an area of 137,741 sq km (53,182 sq mi), the 28th largest state in the United States. Arkansas is roughly square in shape, although narrower in the south, and its extreme dimensions are 386 km (240 mi) from north to south and 444 km (276 mi) from east to west.

A

Physical Geography

Arkansas is divided into two main regions: the Interior Highlands in the west and north, and the lowland area of the Coastal Plain to the east and south. The Interior Highlands are made up of the Ozark Plateau in the north, the Arkansas Valley in the centre, and the Ouachita Mountains in the south. The Coastal Plain to the south is made up of the West Gulf Coastal Plain and the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, which occupies approximately the eastern third of the state. Major mountain ranges include the Boston Mountains to the south of the Ozark Plateau.

The Mississippi River and its major tributary, the Arkansas River, drain most of the state; the majority of rivers in Arkansas flow east or south-east into one of these larger rivers and include the Little Missouri, Ouachita, Saline, and Red rivers in the south and the St Francis, Black, and White rivers in the north. A number of oxbow lakes (naturally cut-off river meanders) have been formed along the Mississippi River, of which Lake Chicot is the largest.

B

Climate

Arkansas has a humid subtropical climate; winters are mild and summers hot, particularly in the lowland areas. The highest recorded temperature in the state was 48.9° C (120° F), at Ozark in 1936; the lowest, -33.9° C (-29° F), at Gravette in 1905. Occasional droughts may occur in the north and west.