|
|
ARKANSAS - USA
Arkansas is a southern state in the southern
United States. The 2000 census was 2,673,400. Its U.S. postal abbreviation
is AR. It was admitted as a slave state in 1836.
USS Arkansas was named in honor of this state.
History
The early French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is probably
a phonetic spelling for the French word for "downriver" people, a reference
to the Quapaw people and the river along which they settled. Other Native
American nations living in present-day Arkansas were Caddo and Osage.
On June 15, 1836, Arkansas
became the 25th state of the United States. Arkansas seceded from the Union
on May 6, 1861 during the American Civil War. Under the Military
Reconstruction Act, Congress, by June 1868, had readmitted Arkansas, as well
as North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and Florida.
The state is the only one with an official pronunciation. The traditional
form "arkanSAW" was made official by the state legislature in 1881.
Law and government
The current governor of Arkansas is Mike Huckabee, a Republican. Huckabee,
who had been elected lieutenant governor in a 1993 special election,
ascended to the governor's office when Governor Jim Guy Tucker, a Democrat,
was convicted of felony mail fraud as part of the Whitewater Scandal. This
led to a state "Constitutional crisis" when Tucker refused to give up the
governor's office for a short period of time, because the Arkansas
Constitution does not allow a convicted felon to be governor of the state.
Tucker had been lieutenant governor under Bill Clinton and had become
governor as a result of Clinton's election to the presidency.
In Arkansas, the lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor
and thus can be from a different political party.
Geography
See: List of Arkansas counties
The capital of Arkansas is Little Rock. Arkansas is the only state in the US
where diamonds are found naturally.
The eastern Arkansas border is the Mississippi River. Arkansas shares its
southern border with Louisiana, its northern border with Missouri, its
eastern border with Tennessee and Mississippi, and its western border with
Texas and Oklahoma. Arkansas is a beautiful land of mountains and valleys,
thick forests and fertile plains. The Ozark and Ouachita mountain ranges in
northern and western Arkansas are known as the Highlands; the southern and
eastern parts of Arkansas are called the Lowlands.
The so called Lowlands are better known as the Delta and the Grand Prairie.
The land along the Mississippi river is referred to as the "Delta" of
Arkansas. It gets this name from the formation of its rich alluvial soils
formed from the flooding of the mighty Mississippi. The Grand Prairie is
slightly away from the Mississippi river in the southeast portion of the
state and consists of a more undulating landscape. Both are fertile
agricultural areas and home to much of the crop agriculture in the state.
Economy
The state's total gross state product for 1999 was $64 billion placing
Arkansas 33rd in the nation. Its Per Capita Personal Income for 2000 was
$22,257, 47th in the nation. The state's argiculture outputs are poultry and
eggs, soybeans, sorghum, cattle, cotton, rice, hogs, and milk. Its
industrial outputs are food processing, electric equipment, fabricated metal
products, machinery, paper products, bromine, and vanadium.
Demographics
As of 2000, the state's population was 2,673,400.
Colleges and universities
Arkansas Baptist College
Arkansas State University
Arkansas Tech University
Central Baptist College
Harding University
Henderson State University
Hendrix College
John Brown University
Lyon College
Ouachita Baptist University
Philander Smith College
Southern Arkansas University
University of Arkansas System
University of Arkansas
University of Arkansas - Fort Smith
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
University of Arkansas at Monticello
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
University of Central Arkansas
University of the Ozarks
Williams Baptist College
|
|
