The state of Mississippi borders Arkansas on the northwest, Louisiana on the southwest, Tennessee in the north, and Alabama in the east. In the southeast, Mississippi has a coastline on the Gulf of Mexico that is 71 km (44 mi) long. The state stretches for 530 km (330 mi) from north to south and 290 km (180 mi) from east to west. Mississippi ranks 32d in area among the U.S. states and 31st in population. The first European explorer to arrive in the region was the Spaniard Hernando de Soto, in 1540. The first European settlement was established by the French in 1699 near present-day Oceansprings. Controlled by the British for the latter part of the 18th century, Mississippi became part of the United States after the Revolutionary War. The state takes its name from the Mississippi River, which forms most of its western boundary. LAND AND RESOURCES Almost the entire state lies within the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain, which is divided into subregions. The flat Mississippi River Delta stretches along the east bank of the river. The Bluff Hills are located just east of the delta. East of the Bluff Hills three different areas span the state from north to south: the north central hills in the north, the Jackson Prairie in the center, and the Piney Woods in the south. The Black Prairie lies east of the north central hills. In the northeasternmost corner of the state are the Tennessee River Hills, including Woodall Mountain (246 m/806 ft), the highest point in the state. Elevations average 60-155 m (200-510 ft). Soils Mississippi soil types trend north-south approximating the physiographic regions. Alluvial soils compose the delta, and loess soils occupy the bluff region. The interior is composed of sandy and clay loams interspersed with loams and black prairie soils. Rivers and Lakes The major rivers include the \TYazoo\t and the Big Black, which drain into the \TMississippi River\t, and the \TTombigbee\t, Pearl, and Pascagoula, which flow into the Gulf. Marshes exist along the coast. The major lakes are artificial. The state has extensive groundwater resources with producing aquifers located throughout the state. Climate Mississippi's climate is subtropical. Mean annual precipitation is 1,346 mm (53 in); local average annual precipitation ranges from 1,676 mm (66 in) along the coast to 1,219 mm (48 in) in the north. Mean annual temperatures vary from 16 deg C (61 deg F) in the north to 20 deg C (68 deg F) along the coast. Summer maximum temperatures average 35 deg C (95 deg F), and winter minimums vary from 0 deg C (32 deg F) in the north to 11 deg C (44 deg F) in the south. Mississippi is subject to thunderstorms in midsummer and hurricanes in the late summer and early autumn. Snow and sleet are rare. Vegetation and Animal Life About 55% of the state is covered with forests, which include several species of oak, hickory, and pine. In the alluvial areas cypress, gum, pecan, bays, elms, and willows grow. Decorative trees, such as the magnolia and live oak, also abound. Grass predominates on the black prairie soils. Game animals include squirrel, deer, rabbit, wild turkey, and quail. Resources and Environment Mississippi has large forest resources because much of the state is covered with species that are suitable for lumbering, such as slash pine and loblolly pine. Tung trees, introduced from China in 1905, are cultivated for their oil. The state's mineral resource base is small with only petroleum and natural gas being of national significance, although the deposits of sand, gravel, limestone, and clay are significant to the local economy. Lakes formed by dams on the Yazoo, Pearl, and Tennessee rivers provide important recreation and hydroelectric facilities. Mississippi has set up a state-level air-pollution and water-pollution control commission that is responsible for conserving and maintaining the potability of water supplies, especially groundwater. In the past the state has experienced erosion of farmland and deforestation; major efforts, therefore, are devoted to undoing and preventing soil erosion and stream siltation and to reforestation. The damage caused by Mississippi River floods is an ever-present threat. PEOPLE The population of Mississippi (1990 resident) is 2,573,216. The average density is 21 persons per sq km (54.5 per sq mi), although in the most populous counties in the state, Harrison and Hinds, population densities are about 110 persons per sq km (285 per sq mi). The most significant change in the composition of the population is the degree of urbanization. Before World War II the majority of the inhabitants were rural (80% in 1940), but by 1990 about one-third of all Mississippians lived in metropolitan areas. The leading cities in order of population are \TJackson\t, \TBiloxi\t, Greenville, Hattiesburg, \TMeridian\t, and \TGulfport\t. The percentage of Mississippi's white population decreased slightly from 1980 to 1990, while that of the black population increased. Of the total population about 35% are black. Other nonwhite groups, including Choctaw Indians, make up less than 1% of the population. Baptists are the leading religious denomination. Roman Catholics and Jews constitute very small percentages of the population. Education and Cultural Activity The first schools in Mississippi were private academies. By 1817 nine academies had received state charters and two of them later developed into colleges. In 1830, Presbyterians founded Oakland College, which is now Alcorn State University. The University of Mississippi was established in 1844 at Oxford. The Industrial Institute and College was founded in 1884 as the nation's first state-supported college for women. Today it is known as Mississippi University for Women. (See \TMississippi, state universities of\t.) Many Mississippi public schools were battlegrounds in the struggle to desegregate tax-supported schools following the \TBrown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas\t, Supreme Court decision of 1954. Mississippi by the 1980s had a well-integrated public school system. Mississippi's museums include the State Historical Museum in Jackson; the University Museums in Oxford, housing anthropological and archaeological collections; and Beauvoir in Biloxi, the former home of Jefferson Davis. Historical Sites Mississippi has six National Parks Service areas. Rowan Oak, the home where William \TFaulkner\t did most of his writing, is located at Oxford. The Warren County Courthouse in Vicksburg now serves as a Confederate museum. Longwood, an antebellum home, is located at \TNatchez\t and is a classic example of a Southern plantation. Grand Village is an excavated Natchez Indian site. Indian mounds are located near Greenville and in the Lake George-Holly Bluff area. Civil War National Battlefields are located at \TVicksburg\t, Brices Cross Roads, and Tupelo. Life on an 1850 plantation is re-created at Florewood River Plantation, a living history park near Greenwood. Recreation and Sports Mississippi offers year-round opportunities for camping, fishing, and other outdoor activities in its state parks and national and state forests. The Natchez Trace, which began as a series of wilderness trails used by Indians and settlers, is now a 644-km-long (400-mi) national recreational highway, mainly in Mississippi. Communications The state's first newspaper, The Mississippi Gazette, began publication in 1799 in Natchez. Of the daily newspapers now published, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger and the Sun Herald of Biloxi and Gulfport have large circulations. There are numerous weekly newspapers. Mississippi is also very adequately served by television stations and by scores of radio stations broadcasting in both AM and FM. ECONOMIC ACTIVITY Since 1965 manufacturing has been a major source of income and employment in the state. In 1977 the value added by manufacturing was $5.6 billion. In 1980 more than 25% of all nonagricultural employees were employed in manufacturing. Heavy capital-intensive industries such as transportation equipment, chemicals, metalworking, electrical machinery and equipment, and shipbuilding are located along the Gulf Coast, along navigable waterways in the northeast, and in the port cities along the Mississippi River. Food processing is also of importance and produces such varied items as cottonseed oil, beverages, grain products, seasonings, canned shrimp, and dairy products. Light industry such as the apparel industry is found in the interior and the northeast. The lumber-and-wood-products industry is declining in economic significance from the peak it reached before World War I, but sizable amounts of wood pulp, fiberboard, boxes, and naval stores are still produced. In 1988, Mississippi's electric energy net generation was 25.1 billion kW. Most of Mississippi's electricity is thermal power, and electricity is also transmitted into the state from Tennessee Valley Authority generating stations. Agriculture and Foresting Despite industrial growth, agriculture is still significant, and the total value of the 1978 harvest was $1.6 billion. Cotton and soybeans are the leading crops; hay, corn, rice, and wheat are also significant. Cattle, calves, and broilers make up a substantial part of livestock farming. Swine, milk, eggs, and orchard crops (fruit and pecans) compose a much smaller segment of the agricultural economy. Some small subsistence farms are still found in the state. Earlier in this century forests had been seriously overcut, necessitating a major reforestation program. Forestry in Mississippi is now entering an era known as the "third forest." It consists of large acreages of scientifically managed tree farms and woodlands of both softwoods and hardwoods that are run on a sustained yield basis. Fishing Mississippi has both a freshwater and a marine fishing industry with a combined value of $38 million in 1982. Various species of catfish, bass, bluegill, crappie, and perch are freshwater game fish. The primary catch of the marine fishery is white trout, shrimp, spotted sea trout, flounder, red drum, and ground mullet in the inshore area. The outshore region catch is mainly mackerel, lemonfish, bonito, bluefish, marlin, wahoo, sailfish, tuna, oysters, and shrimp. Tourism Gulf Coast beaches are a major year-round attraction due to Mississippi's mild winter climate. Those areas experiencing the greatest growth in tourism include the Natchez-Vicksburg area, the Gulf Coast, and the region south of Memphis, Tennessee. Transportation Mississippi's highway system consists of 108,965 km (67,708 mi) of local, state, and federal roads. The major traffic arteries focus on Jackson, Meridian, the Gulf Coast, and the Mississippi River cities of Natchez, Vicksburg, and Greenville. Eleven railroads operate on more than 5,800 km (3,600 mi) of track throughout the state. Water traffic is significant along the Gulf Coast and Mississippi River ports. Pascagoula, the largest port, receives more than 8,000 ships annually. Vicksburg, the second largest port, serves more than 3,000 ships annually. The Tennessee-Tombigbee Project, scheduled for completion in the mid-1980s, is a 373-km-long (232-mi) waterway, connecting those two rivers to provide a navigable watercourse through Mississippi and Alabama to the Gulf of Mexico at Mobile. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS Mississippi adopted its first constitution in 1817 and the present constitution in 1890. The legislature is bicameral with a 122-member house of representatives and a 52-member senate. The governor is elected for a 4-year term and may not succeed himself. About 90 departments and agencies are under the governor's control. The judicial branch is composed of a supreme court, whose 9 judges serve 8-year terms, and chancery courts, whose 36 judges serve 4-year terms. From 1876, when Reconstruction ended, until the presidential election of 1960 the electorate voted Democratic. After 1960, Democratic strength began to decline, and the party's presidential nominee carried the state only once--Jimmy Carter in 1976. HISTORY Settlement Prior to European exploration, the northern part of what is now Mississippi was occupied by the \LChickasaw\ls, the central and southern areas were the home of the \LChoctaw\ls, and the \TNatchez\t, Biloxi, and Pascagoula lived in the southwest. In 1540, Hernando \Tde Soto\t was the first European to visit the region, and he died there in 1542. Robert Cavelier, sieur de \TLa Salle\t, claimed (1682) the Mississippi River valley for France 150 years later and named it Louisiana. In 1699, Pierre Le Moyne, sieur d'\TIberville\t, established the first permanent French settlement near present-day Oceansprings. In 1717 the financier John \Tlaw\t launched the \TMississippi Scheme\t to bring settlers and commercial development to the French-held Mississippi River valley. Although the plan collapsed in 1720, it brought large numbers of settlers to the region. Following the French and Indian War (1754-63) the region passed to the British, who included most of the settled area in their colony of West Florida until 1799. The second Spanish period began in 1781, when Spanish military forces occupied Natchez (in the west), and lasted until 1795, when the region became part of the United States. The territory of Mississippi, with its capital at Natchez, was organized in 1798, and in 1817 Mississippi became the 20th state. By 1832 most of the Indians had been moved to the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), opening new areas to settlement. From 1832 until secession the state experienced, in succession, a period of prosperity based largely on cotton cultivation and use of slaves, depression, and war with Mexico. It was also a period of growing controversy over slavery. On Jan. 9, 1861, Mississippi seceded from the Union and became the second state to join the Confederate States of America. Jefferson \TDavis\t, a Mississippi politician, became the president of the Confederacy. For the next four years, about 80,000 Mississippians fought in the Civil War, and several battles were fought in the state, including the \TVicksburg Campaign\t (November 1862-December 1863). Modern Era The defeat of the Confederate States ushered in the \TReconstruction\t era, when the state was governed federally. In 1870, Mississippi was readmitted to the Union. In 1890 a new constitution was adopted, which, in part, institutionalized segregation of the races (see \TJim Crow laws\t). In the 1890s much in Mississippi seemed little changed from the 1830s. Population distribution was the same, cotton dominated the economy, and blacks--although now free--became economically trapped in the sharecropping system and experienced little change in their status. During the tenure (1916-20) of Governor Theodore \TBilbo\t, legislation was enacted that altered the economic, political, and social face of the state by improving state services. Nevertheless, Mississippi entered the 1920s as a rural, agrarian state with rigid segregation and a black majority. A devastating Mississippi River flood in 1927 weakened the economy. The Depression of the 1930s was the most trying economic period for the state. In order to induce industrial growth, and thereby improve the economic climate, the state initiated an ambitious and innovative program called Balancing Agriculture With Industry (BAWI). The discovery of petroleum (1939 and 1940) introduced a major new industry. World War II brought Mississippi into the modern era by opening it to the outside world and introduced its people to prosperity. Farmers diversified their crops, becoming less reliant on cotton. With the advent of mechanization, small sharecropping plots were no longer economically viable. Industrialization grew, and by the 1960s employment rolls listed greater numbers of employees in the manufacturing sector than were involved in agriculture. During the 1960s, Mississippi was a center of the \Tcivil rights\t movement. Despite the 1954 Supreme Court decision making segregated schools illegal, the state did not quickly institute racial \Tintegration\t. In 1962 a black student, James Meredith, attempted to attend the University of Mississippi law school. His admission was blocked, and during the subsequent violence, federal troops were sent to restore order. Violent incidents against blacks took place as the struggle for integration continued. After passage of the Federal Voting Rights Act (1965) many blacks were able to register and vote. In 1969, Charles Evers (see \TEvers\t family) was elected mayor of Fayette and became the first black mayor in the history of the state. Mississippi's economic base is now a composite of that of the nation, and social trends are in the direction of national norms rather than southern regionalism. Television, transportation improvements, and the influence of the federal government on the economy and society have greatly affected the state and its people. Ralph D. Cross Bibliography: Bettersworth, John K., Confederate Mississippi (1943; repr. 1978), Mississippi: A History (1959), and Your Mississippi (1975); Cross, Ralph D., and Wales, Robert W., Atlas of Mississippi (1974); Garner, J. W., Reconstruction in Mississippi (1968); King, Blanche B., Under Your Feet: The Story of American Mound Builders (1971); McLemore, Richard A., ed., A History of Mississippi, 2 vols. (1973); Miles, E. A., Jacksonian Democracy in Mississippi (1960); Moore, John H., Agriculture in Ante-bellum Mississippi (1958); Price, David S., and Saillard, Louis R., Natchez Route: A Mississippi Railway Album (1975); Silver, J. W., Mississippi: The Closed Society (1966); Skates, John R., Mississippi's Past and Present (1973).