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MISSISSIPPI - USA
Mississippi is a southern state of the United
States.
Postal abbreviation: MS. Official (long) name: State of Mississippi.
The state takes its name from the Mississippi River, which flows along the
western boundary. The name itself probably comes from Native American words
with various spellings that mean "large waters" or "father of the waters."
Other nicknames attached to Mississippi are the Magnolia State and the
Hospitality State.
USS Mississippi was named in honor of this state.
History
The Mississippi Territory was organized on April 7, 1798, from territory
ceded by Georgia and South Carolina and was later twice expanded to include
disputed territory claimed by both the U.S. and Spain.
Mississippi was the 20th state admitted to the Union, on December 10, 1817.
It was the second state to secede from the Union as one of the Confederate
States of America on January 9, 1861. During the Civil War the Confederate
States were defeated and subsequently Mississippi was readmitted to the
Union on February 23, 1870.
The state was the last to repeal prohibition, in 1966.
On August 17, 1969 Category 5 Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi coast
killing 248 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage (1969 dollars).
Law and Government
capital: Jackson
After the Civil War, perceived mistreatment of Southerners during
Reconstruction by the federally-appointed Republican governors led to
considerable resentment toward the Republican party. As a result,
Mississippi's state government had a very long unbroken record of
single-party dominance. For 116 years, from 1876 to 1992 Mississippians only
elected Democrat governors. For most of that time period, Democrats also
held the majority of seats in the state legislature not to mention most
other elected offices, including the state's federal representation (although
some Republicans began to win Congressional elections in the 1970s).
As with all other U.S. States and the federal government, Mississippi's
government is based on the separation of legislative, executive and judicial
power. Executive authority in the state rests with the the Governor,
currently Haley Barbour (Republican). The Lieutenant Governor, currently Amy
Tuck (originally elected as a Democrat, she switched to the Republican party
in 2002), is elected on a separate ballot. Both the Governor and Lieutenant
Governor are elected to four-year terms of office. Unlike the federal
government, but like many other U.S. States, most of the heads of major
executive departments are elected by the citizens of Mississippi, rather
than appointed by the governor.
Legislative authority resides in the state legislature, composed of the
Senate and House of Representatives. The Lieutenant Governor presides over
the Senate, while the House of Representatives selects their own Speaker.
The state Constitution permits the legislature to establish by law the
number of Senators and Representatives, up to a maximum of 52 Senators and
122 Representatives. Current state law sets the number of Senators at 52 and
Representatives at 122. The term of office for Senators and Representatives
is four years.
Supreme Judicial authority rests with the state Supreme Court, which has
statewide authority. In addition, there is a statewide Court of Appeals, as
well as Circuit Courts, Chancery Courts and Justice Courts, which have more
limited geographical jurisdiction. The nine Judges of the Supreme Court are
elected from three districts (three Judges per district) by the state's
citizens in non-partisan elections to eight-year staggered terms. The ten
Judges of the Court of Appeals are elected from five districts (two Judges
per district) for eight-year staggered terms. Judges for the smaller courts
are elected to four-year terms by the state's citizens who live within that
court's jurisdiction.
At the federal level, Mississippi's two U.S. senators are Trent Lott
(Republican) and Thad Cochran (Republican). As of the 2001 reapportionment,
the state has 4 congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mississippi has 82 counties. Citizens of Mississippi counties elect the five
members of their county Board of Supervisors from single-member districts,
as well as other county officials.
Geography
Physical Geography: Mississippi is bounded by Tennessee on the north,
Alabama on the east, the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana on the south, and on
the west, across the Mississippi River, the states of Louisiana and
Arkansas.
Mississippi's physical geography is characterized by two distinct regions:
the Mississippi River Floodplain and the Gulf Coastal Plain. The Mississippi
Floodplain runs along the western part of the state, adjacent to the
Mississippi River, and includes the Mississippi Delta region, one of the
most fertile regions in the world. Between the southwest corner and
Vicksburg the Floodplain extends only a few miles east of the river, but
north of Vicksburg it extends eastward to the Yazoo River, forming a large,
leaf-shaped region, the Mississippi Delta. The Gulf Coastal Plain covers all
the rest of the state and can be divided into nine distinct regions. The
Tennessee and Tombigbee Rivers' Hills occupy the northeastern part of the
state, where Woodall Mountain, near Iuka, is the state's highest point, at
806 feet above sea level. West of the Hills is the Black Prairie, a narrow,
fertile, crescent-shaped lowland with few trees. Along the western border of
the Black Prairie rises the Pontotoc Ridge, from the Tennessee state line to
near Ackerman. North Mississippi also includes the Flatwoods, a narrow
crescent of sticky clay soil adjacent to both the Tennessee and Alabama
borders. Additionally, the North Central Hills occupy all of north-central
Mississippi and extend as far southeast as Clarke County. To the west, the
Loess Hills (or Bluff Hills) another series of uplands run along the edge of
the Floodplain. These hills border the eastern edge of the Delta in the
north and then curve westward following the line of the Mississippi River
below Vicksburg.
South of the North Central Hills, the Jackson Prairies, a belt of fertile
farmland, run northwest to southeast from Yazoo County into Wayne County.
All of southern Mississippi except for a strip along the gulf, is covered
with the Long Leaf Pine Hills (a.k.a. Piney Woods) south of the Jackson
Prairies, and is the state's chief timber-producing area. Along the southern
edge of the panhandle lie the Coastal Meadows. The lowest part of the state,
along the estuary known as the Mississippi Sound, lies at sea level.
The western part of the state is drained by the Mississippi River and three
of its tributaries -? the Yazoo, Big Black, and Homochitto rivers. The
extreme northeastern corner lies in the basin of the Tennessee River. The
rest of the state drains southward into the Gulf of Mexico, mainly through
the Pearl, Pascagoula, and Tombigbee rivers.
National parks
The National Park Service administers the Natchez Trace Parkway, which runs
approximately 300 miles southwest to northeast across Mississippi from
Natchez in Adams County, then west and north of Jackson, then north past
Kosciusko and Starkville, near Pontotoc and Tupelo, where the Parkway
headquarters are located, until it enters northwest Alabama from Tishomingo
County.
Additionally, Mississippi's four barrier islands, Horn Island, Cat Island,
East and West Ship Islands, and Petit Bois Islands form part of the Gulf
Islands National Seashore adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico.
Demographics
Population: Mississippi currently ranks 31st among U.S. States in
population, with 2,844,658 people as of the 2000 census.
Racial Makeup: Until about 1940 African Americans made up a majority of
Mississippians. Currently, however, blacks make up about 36 percent of the
population. A few thousand Indians (mostly Choctaw) live in the east central
section of the state. The small Chinese population found in the Delta is
descended from farm laborers brought there from California in the 1870s. The
Chinese did not adjust well to the Mississippi plantation system, however,
and most of them became small merchants. The coastal fishing industry has
attracted Southeast Asian refugees.
The white population of Mississippi, slightly over 60% of the state's total,
is remarkably homogeneous. More than 98 percent native-born of native stock,
whites are predominantly of British, Irish, and northern European descent.
The black, Choctaw Indian, and Chinese segments of the population are also
almost entirely native-born.
Religious Makeup: Mississippi's religious affiliations largely consist of
Protestant denominations, particularly Baptists and United Methodists. The
Roman Catholic population is found primarily in urban areas and on the Gulf
Coast. The Jewish population is also mainly concentrated in urban areas.
Education
Colleges and universities
Alcorn State University
Belhaven College
Blue Mountain College
Delta State University
Jackson State University
Magnolia Bible College
Millsaps College
Mississippi College
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Mississippi State University
Mississippi University for Women
Mississippi Valley State University
Rust College
Tougaloo College
University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi Medical Center
University of Southern Mississippi
William Carey College
Miscellaneous information
Motto: "Virtute et Armis" (By Valor and Arms)
Song: "Go, Mississippi", adopted 1962
Patron saint: Our Lady of Sorrows
Flower and Tree: Magnolia
Bird: Mockingbird
Beverage: Milk
Fish: Largemouth Bass
Insect: Honeybee
Water Mammal: Bottlenose Dolphin
Shell: Oyster
Fossil: A whale fossil nicknamed "ziggy"
Land Mammal: White-tailed Deer
Waterfowl: Wood duck
Stone: Petrified wood
Wildflower: Coreopsis
Butterfly: Spicebush Swallowtail
Dance: Square Dance
Statehood Quarter was minted in 2002.
Pledge to the Flag: "I salute the flag of MIssissippi and the sovereign
state for which it stands with pride in her history and achievements and
with confidence in her future under the guidance of Almighty God."
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