Arkansas
U.S. state From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arkansas | |
|---|---|
| Nicknames: The Natural State (current) Land of Opportunity (former) | |
| Motto: Regnat populus (Latin: The People Rule) | |
| Anthem: "Arkansas", "Arkansas (You Run Deep in Me)", "Oh, Arkansas", and "The Arkansas Traveler" | |
 Map of the United States with Arkansas highlighted | |
| Country | United States |
| Before statehood | Arkansas Territory |
| Admitted to the Union | June 15, 1836 (25th) |
| Capital (and largest city) | Little Rock |
| Largest county or equivalent | Pulaski |
| Largest metro and urban areas | Central Arkansas |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) |
| • Lieutenant Governor | Leslie Rutledge (R) |
| Legislature | Arkansas General Assembly |
| • Upper house | Senate |
| • Lower house | House of Representatives |
| Judiciary | Arkansas Supreme Court |
| U.S. senators | John Boozman (R) Tom Cotton (R) |
| U.S. House delegation | 4 Republicans (list) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 53,179 sq mi (137,732 km2) |
| • Land | 52,035 sq mi (134,771 km2) |
| • Water | 1,143 sq mi (2,961 km2) 2.15% |
| • Rank | 29th |
| Dimensions | |
| • Length | 240 mi (386 km) |
| • Width | 270 mi (435 km) |
| Elevation | 650 ft (200 m) |
| Highest elevation | 2,753 ft (839 m) |
| Lowest elevation | 55 ft (17 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • Total | 3,011,524[5] |
| • Rank | 34th |
| • Density | 57.9/sq mi (22.4/km2) |
| • Rank | 34th |
| • Median household income | $49,500[6] |
| • Income rank | 48th |
| Demonym | Arkansan Arkansawyer Arkanite[7] |
| Language | |
| • Official language | English[8] |
| Time zone | UTC−06:00 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−05:00 (CDT) |
| USPS abbreviation | AR |
| ISO 3166 code | US-AR |
| Traditional abbreviation | Ark. |
| Latitude | 33° 00′ N to 36° 30′ N |
| Longitude | 89° 39′ W to 94° 37′ W |
| Website | arkansas |
| List of state symbols | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Living insignia | |
| Bird | Mockingbird |
| Butterfly | Diana fritillary |
| Flower | Apple blossom |
| Insect | Western honeybee |
| Mammal | White-tailed deer |
| Tree | Pine tree |
| Vegetable | South Arkansas vine ripe pink tomato |
| Inanimate insignia | |
| Beverage | Milk |
| Dance | Square dance |
| Food | Pecan |
| Gemstone | Diamond |
| Mineral | Quartz |
| Rock | Bauxite |
| Soil | Stuttgart |
| State route marker | |
 | |
| State quarter | |
 Released in 2003 | |
| Lists of United States state symbols | |
Arkansas (/ˈɑːrkənsɔː/ AR-kən-saw[lower-alpha 3]) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States.[9][10] It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma to the west. Its name derives from the Osage language, and refers to their relatives, the Quapaw people.[11] The state's diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands, to the densely forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River and the Arkansas Delta.
Previously part of French Louisiana and the Louisiana Purchase, the Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15, 1836.[12] Much of the Delta had been developed for cotton plantations, and landowners there largely depended on enslaved African Americans' labor. In 1861, Arkansas seceded from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. On returning to the Union in 1868, Arkansas continued to suffer economically, due to its overreliance on the large-scale plantation economy. Cotton remained the leading commodity crop, and the cotton market declined. Because farmers and businessmen did not diversify and there was little industrial investment, the state fell behind in economic opportunity. In the late 19th century, the state instituted various Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise and segregate the African-American population. White interests dominated Arkansas's politics, with disenfranchisement of African Americans and refusal to reapportion the legislature; only after the federal legislation passed were more African Americans able to vote. During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Arkansas and particularly Little Rock were major battlegrounds for efforts to integrate schools. Following World War II in the 1940s, Arkansas began to diversify its economy and see prosperity. During the 1960s, the state became the base of the Walmart corporation, the world's largest company by revenue, headquartered in Bentonville.
Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and the 34th most populous state, with a population of just over three million at the 2020 census.[5] The capital and most populous city is Little Rock, in the central part of the state, a hub for transportation, business, culture, and government. The northwestern corner of the state, including the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area and Fort Smith metropolitan area, is a population, education, and economic center. The largest city in the state's eastern part is Jonesboro. The largest city in the state's southeastern part is Pine Bluff.
In the 21st century, Arkansas's economy is based on service industries, aircraft, poultry, steel, and tourism, along with important commodity crops of cotton, soybeans and rice. The state supports a network of public universities and colleges, including two major university systems: Arkansas State University System and University of Arkansas System. Arkansas's culture is observable in museums, theaters, novels, television shows, restaurants, and athletic venues across the state.
The name Arkansas initially applied to the Arkansas River. It derives from a French term, Arcansas, their plural term for their transliteration of akansa, an Algonquian term for the Quapaw people,[13] which is believed to translate to "south wind people."[14][15] These were a Dhegiha Siouan-speaking people who settled in Arkansas around the 13th century. Kansa is likely also the root term for Kansas, which was named after the related Kaw people.[13]
The name has been pronounced and spelled in a variety of ways.[lower-alpha 3] In 1881, the state legislature defined the official pronunciation of Arkansas as having the final "s" be silent (as it would be in French). A dispute had arisen between the state's two senators over the pronunciation issue. One favored /ˈɑːrkənsɔː/ (AR-kən-saw), the other /ɑːrˈkænzəs/ (ar-KAN-zəs).[lower-alpha 3]
In 2007, the state legislature passed a non-binding resolution declaring that the possessive form of the state's name is Arkansas's, which the state government has increasingly followed.[17][18]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2022) |
Early history
Before European settlement of North America, Arkansas, was inhabited by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The Caddo, Osage, and Quapaw peoples encountered European explorers. The first of these Europeans was Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1541, who crossed the Mississippi and marched across central Arkansas and the Ozark Mountains. After finding nothing he considered of value and encountering native resistance the entire way, he and his men returned to the Mississippi River where de Soto fell ill. From his deathbed he ordered his men to massacre all the men of the nearby village of Anilco, who he feared had been plotting with a powerful polity down the Mississippi River, Quigualtam. His men obeyed and did not stop with the men, but were said to have massacred women and children as well. He died the following day in what is believed to be the vicinity of modern-day McArthur, Arkansas, in May 1542. His body was weighted down with sand and he was consigned to a watery grave in the Mississippi River under cover of darkness by his men. De Soto had attempted to deceive the native population into thinking he was an immortal deity, sun of the sun, in order to forestall attack by outraged Native Americans on his by then weakened and bedraggled army. In order to keep the ruse up, his men informed the locals that de Soto had ascended into the sky. His will at the time of his death listed "four Indian slaves, three horses and 700 hogs" which were auctioned off. The starving men, who had been living off maize stolen from natives, immediately started butchering the hogs and later, commanded by former aide-de-camp Moscoso, attempted an overland return to Mexico. They made it as far as Texas before running into territory too dry for maize farming and too thinly populated to sustain themselves by stealing food from the locals. The expedition promptly backtracked to Arkansas. After building a small fleet of boats they then headed down the Mississippi River and eventually on to Mexico by water.[19][20]
Later explorers included the French Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet in 1673, and Frenchmen Robert La Salle and Henri de Tonti in 1681.[21][22] Tonti established Arkansas Post at a Quapaw village in 1686, making it the first European settlement in the territory.[23] The early Spanish or French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is probably a phonetic spelling of the Illinois tribe's name for the Quapaw people, who lived downriver from them.[24][lower-alpha 3] The name Arkansas has been pronounced and spelled in a variety of fashions. The region was organized as the Territory of Arkansaw on July 4, 1819, with the territory admitted to the United States as the state of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically /ˈɑːrkənsɔː/, /ɑːrˈkænzəs/, and several other variants. Historically and modernly, the people of Arkansas call themselves either "Arkansans" or "Arkansawyers". In 1881, the Arkansas General Assembly passed Arkansas Code 1-4-105 (official text):
Whereas, confusion of practice has arisen in the pronunciation of the name of our state and it is deemed important that the true pronunciation should be determined for use in oral official proceedings.
And, whereas, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the State Historical Society and the Eclectic Society of Little Rock, which have agreed upon the correct pronunciation as derived from history, and the early usage of the American immigrants.
Be it therefore resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, that the only true pronunciation of the name of the state, in the opinion of this body, is that received by the French from the native Indians and committed to writing in the French word representing the sound. It should be pronounced in three (3) syllables, with the final "s" silent, the "a" in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables. The pronunciation with the accent on the second syllable with the sound of "a" in "man" and the sounding of the terminal "s" is an innovation to be discouraged.
Citizens of the state of Kansas often pronounce the Arkansas River as /ɑːrˈkænzəs/, in a manner similar to the common pronunciation of the name of their state.
Settlers, such as fur trappers, moved to Arkansas in the early 18th century. These people used Arkansas Post as a home base and entrepôt.[23] During the colonial period, Arkansas changed hands between France and Spain following the Seven Years' War, although neither showed interest in the remote settlement of Arkansas Post.[25] In April 1783, Arkansas saw its only battle of the American Revolutionary War, a brief siege of the post by British Captain James Colbert with the assistance of the Choctaw and Chickasaw.[26]
Purchase and statehood
Napoleon Bonaparte sold French Louisiana to the United States in 1803, including all of Arkansas, in a transaction known today as the Louisiana Purchase. French soldiers remained as a garrison at Arkansas Post. Following the purchase, the balanced give-and-take relationship between settlers and Native Americans began to change all along the frontier, including in Arkansas.[27] Following a controversy over allowing slavery in the territory, the Territory of Arkansas was organized on July 4, 1819.[lower-alpha 3] Gradual emancipation in Arkansas was struck down by one vote, the Speaker of the House Henry Clay, allowing Arkansas to organize as a slave territory.[28]
Slavery became a wedge issue in Arkansas, forming a geographic divide that remained for decades. Owners and operators of the cotton plantation economy in southeast Arkansas firmly supported slavery, as they perceived slave labor as the best or "only" economically viable method of harvesting their commodity crops.[29] The "hill country" of northwest Arkansas was unable to grow cotton and relied on a cash-scarce, subsistence farming economy.[30]
As European Americans settled throughout the East Coast and into the Midwest, in the 1830s the United States government forced the removal of many Native American tribes to Arkansas and Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River.
Additional Native American removals began in earnest during the territorial period, with final Quapaw removal complete by 1833 as they were pushed into Indian Territory.[32] The capital was relocated from Arkansas Post to Little Rock in 1821, during the territorial period.[33]
When Arkansas applied for statehood, the slavery issue was again raised in Washington, D.C. Congress eventually approved the Arkansas Constitution after a 25-hour session, admitting Arkansas on June 15, 1836, as the 25th state and the 13th slave state, having a population of about 60,000.[34] Arkansas struggled with taxation to support its new state government, a problem made worse by a state banking scandal and worse yet by the Panic of 1837.
Civil War and Reconstruction
In early antebellum Arkansas, the southeast Arkansas slave-based economy developed rapidly. On the eve of the American Civil War in 1860, enslaved African Americans numbered 111,115 people, just over 25% of the state's population.[35] A plantation system based largely on cotton agriculture developed that, after the war, kept the state and region behind the nation for decades.[36] The wealth developed among planters of southeast Arkansas caused a political rift between the northwest and southeast.[37]
Many politicians were elected to office from the Family, the Southern rights political force in antebellum Arkansas. Residents generally wanted to avoid a civil war. When the Gulf states seceded in early 1861, delegates to a convention called to determine whether Arkansas should secede referred the question back to the voters for a referendum to be held in August.[37] Arkansas did not secede until Abraham Lincoln demanded Arkansas troops be sent to Fort Sumter to quell the rebellion there. On May 6, the members of the state convention, having been recalled by the convention president, voted to terminate Arkansas's membership in the Union and join the Confederate States of America.[37]
Arkansas held a very important position for the Rebels, maintaining control of the Mississippi River and surrounding Southern states. The bloody Battle of Wilson's Creek just across the border in Missouri shocked many Arkansans who thought the war would be a quick and decisive Southern victory. Battles early in the war took place in northwest Arkansas, including the Battle of Cane Hill, Battle of Pea Ridge, and Battle of Prairie Grove. Union general Samuel Curtis swept across the state to Helena in the Delta in 1862. Little Rock was captured the following year. The government shifted the state Confederate capital to Hot Springs, and then again to Washington from 1863 to 1865, for the remainder of the war. Throughout the state, guerrilla warfare ravaged the countryside and destroyed cities.[38] Passion for the Confederate cause waned after implementation of programs such as the draft, high taxes, and martial law.
Under the Military Reconstruction Act, Congress declared Arkansas restored to the Union in June 1868, after the Legislature accepted the 14th Amendment. The Republican-controlled reconstruction legislature established universal male suffrage (though temporarily disfranchising former Confederate Army officers, who were all Democrats), a public education system for blacks and whites, and passed general issues to improve the state and help more of the population. The State soon came under control of the Radical Republicans and Unionists, and led by Governor Powell Clayton, they presided over a time of great upheaval as Confederate sympathizers and the Ku Klux Klan fought the new developments, particularly voting rights for African Americans.
End of Reconstruction and late 19th century
In 1874, the Brooks-Baxter War, a political struggle between factions of the Republican Party shook Little Rock and the state governorship. It was settled only when President Ulysses S. Grant ordered Joseph Brooks to disperse his militant supporters.[39]
Following the Brooks-Baxter War, a new state constitution was ratified, re-enfranchising former Confederates and effectively bringing an end to Reconstruction.
In 1881, the Arkansas state legislature enacted a bill that adopted an official pronunciation of the state's name, to combat a controversy then simmering. (See Law and Government below.)
After Reconstruction, the state began to receive more immigrants and migrants. Chinese, Italian, and Syrian men were recruited for farm labor in the developing Delta region. None of these nationalities stayed long at farm labor; the Chinese especially, as they quickly became small merchants in towns around the Delta. Many Chinese became such successful merchants in small towns that they were able to educate their children at college.[40]
Construction of railroads enabled more farmers to get their products to market. It also brought new development into different parts of the state, including the Ozarks, where some areas were developed as resorts. In a few years at the end of the 19th century, for instance, Eureka Springs in Carroll County grew to 10,000 people, rapidly becoming a tourist destination and the fourth-largest city of the state. It featured newly constructed, elegant resort hotels and spas planned around its natural springs, considered to have healthful properties. The town's attractions included horse racing and other entertainment. It appealed to a wide variety of classes, becoming almost as popular as Hot Springs.
Rise of the Jim Crow laws and early 20th century
In the late 1880s, the worsening agricultural depression catalyzed Populist and third party movements, leading to interracial coalitions. Struggling to stay in power, in the 1890s the Democrats in Arkansas followed other Southern states in passing legislation and constitutional amendments that disfranchised blacks and poor whites. In 1891 state legislators passed a requirement for a literacy test, knowing it would exclude many blacks and whites. At the time, more than 25% of the population could neither read nor write. In 1892, they amended the state constitution to require a poll tax and more complex residency requirements, both of which adversely affected poor people and sharecroppers, forcing most blacks and many poor whites from voter rolls.
By 1900 the Democratic Party expanded use of the white primary in county and state elections, further denying blacks a part in the political process. Only in the primary was there any competition among candidates, as Democrats held all the power. The state was a Democratic one-party state for decades, until after passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 to enforce constitutional rights.[41]
Between 1905 and 1911, Arkansas began to receive a small immigration of German, Slovak, and Scots-Irish from Europe. The German and Slovak peoples settled in the eastern part of the state known as the Prairie, and the Irish founded small communities in the southeast part of the state. The Germans were mostly Lutheran and the Slovaks were primarily Catholic. The Irish were mostly Protestant from Ulster, of Scots and Northern Borders descent. Some early 20th-century immigration included people from eastern Europe. Together, these immigrants made the Delta more diverse than the rest of the state. In the same years, some black migrants moved into the area because of opportunities to develop the bottomlands and own their own property.
Black sharecroppers began to try to organize a farmers' union after World War I. They were seeking better conditions of payment and accounting from white landowners of the area cotton plantations. Whites resisted any change and often tried to break up their meetings. On September 30, 1919, two white men, including a local deputy, tried to break up a meeting of black sharecroppers who were trying to organize a farmers' union. After a white deputy was killed in a confrontation with guards at the meeting, word spread to town and around the area.[citation needed] Hundreds of whites from Phillips and neighboring areas rushed to suppress the blacks, and started attacking blacks at large. Governor Charles Hillman Brough requested federal troops to stop what was called the Elaine massacre. White mobs spread throughout the county, killing an estimated 237 blacks before most of the violence was suppressed after October 1.[42] Five whites also died in the incident. The governor accompanied the troops to the scene; President Woodrow Wilson had approved their use.
The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 flooded the areas along the Ouachita Rivers along with many other rivers.
Based on the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt given shortly after Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, nearly 16,000 Japanese Americans were forcibly removed from the West Coast of the United States and incarcerated in two internment camps in the Arkansas Delta.[43] The Rohwer Camp in Desha County operated from September 1942 to November 1945 and at its peak interned 8,475 prisoners.[43] The Jerome War Relocation Center in Drew County operated from October 1942 to June 1944 and held about 8,000.[43]
Fall of segregation
After the Supreme Court ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954), some students worked to integrate schools in the state. The Little Rock Nine brought Arkansas to national attention in 1957 when the federal government had to intervene to protect African-American students trying to integrate a high school in the capital. Governor Orval Faubus had ordered the Arkansas National Guard to help segregationists prevent nine African-American students from enrolling at Little Rock's Central High School. After attempting three times to contact Faubus, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1,000 troops from the active-duty 101st Airborne Division to escort and protect the African-American students as they entered school on September 25, 1957. In defiance of federal court orders to integrate, the governor and city of Little Rock decided to close the high schools for the remainder of the school year. By the fall of 1959, the Little Rock high schools were completely integrated.[44]
Boundaries
Arkansas borders Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, Oklahoma to the west, Missouri to the north, and Tennessee and Mississippi to the east. The United States Census Bureau classifies Arkansas as a southern state, sub-categorized among the West South Central States.[10] The Mississippi River forms most of its eastern border, except in Clay and Greene counties, where the St. Francis River forms the western boundary of the Missouri Bootheel, and in many places where the channel of the Mississippi has meandered (or been straightened by man) from its original 1836 course.[citation needed]
Terrain
Arkansas can generally be split into two halves, the highlands in the northwest and the lowlands of the southeast.[45] The highlands are part of the Southern Interior Highlands, including The Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains. The southern lowlands include the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Arkansas Delta.[46] This split can yield to a regional division into northwest, southwest, northeast, southeast, and central Arkansas. These regions are broad and not defined along county lines. Arkansas has seven distinct natural regions: the Ozark Mountains, Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas River Valley, Gulf Coastal Plain, Crowley's Ridge, and the Arkansas Delta, with Central Arkansas sometimes included as a blend of multiple regions.[47]
The southeastern part of Arkansas along the Mississippi Alluvial Plain is sometimes called the Arkansas Delta. This region is a flat landscape of rich alluvial soils formed by repeated flooding of the adjacent Mississippi. Farther from the river, in the southeastern part of the state, the Grand Prairie has a more undulating landscape. Both are fertile agricultural areas. The Delta region is bisected by a geological formation known as Crowley's Ridge. A narrow band of rolling hills, Crowley's Ridge rises 250 to 500 feet (76 to 152 m) above the surrounding alluvial plain and underlies many of eastern Arkansas's major towns.[48]
Northwest Arkansas is part of the Ozark Plateau including the Ozark Mountains, to the south are the Ouachita Mountains, and these regions are divided by the Arkansas River; the southern and eastern parts of Arkansas are called the Lowlands.[49] These mountain ranges are part of the U.S. Interior Highlands region, the only major mountainous region between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains.[50] The state's highest point is Mount Magazine in the Ouachita Mountains,[51] which is 2,753 feet (839 m) above sea level.[4]
Arkansas is home to many caves, such as Blanchard Springs Caverns. The State Archeologist has catalogued more than 43,000 Native American living, hunting and tool-making sites, many of them Pre-Columbian burial mounds and rock shelters. Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro is the world's only diamond-bearing site accessible to the public for digging.[52][53] Arkansas is home to a dozen Wilderness Areas totaling 158,444 acres (641.20 km2).[54] These areas are set aside for outdoor recreation and are open to hunting, fishing, hiking, and primitive camping. No mechanized vehicles nor developed campgrounds are allowed in these areas.[55]
Hydrology
Arkansas has many rivers, lakes, and reservoirs within or along its borders. Major tributaries to the Mississippi River include the Arkansas River, the White River, and the St. Francis River.[56] The Arkansas is fed by the Mulberry and Fourche LaFave Rivers in the Arkansas River Valley, which is also home to Lake Dardanelle. The Buffalo, Little Red, Black and Cache Rivers are all tributaries to the White River, which also empties into the Mississippi. Bayou Bartholomew and the Saline, Little Missouri, and Caddo Rivers are all tributaries to the Ouachita River in south Arkansas, which empties into the Mississippi in Louisiana. The Red River briefly forms the state's boundary with Texas.[57] Arkansas has few natural lakes and many reservoirs,[quantify] such as Bull Shoals Lake, Lake Ouachita, Greers Ferry Lake, Millwood Lake, Beaver Lake, Norfork Lake, DeGray Lake, and Lake Conway.[58]
Flora and fauna
Arkansas's temperate deciduous forest is divided into three broad ecoregions: the Ozark, Ouachita-Appalachian Forests, the Mississippi Alluvial and Southeast USA Coastal Plains, and the Southeastern USA Plains.[59] The state is further divided into seven subregions: the Arkansas Valley, Boston Mountains, Mississippi Alluvial Plain, Mississippi Valley Loess Plain, Ozark Highlands, Ouachita Mountains, and the South Central Plains.[60] A 2010 United States Forest Service survey determined 18,720,000 acres (7,580,000 ha) of Arkansas's land is forestland, or 56% of the state's total area.[61] Dominant species in Arkansas's forests include Quercus (oak), Carya (hickory), Pinus echinata (shortleaf pine) and Pinus taeda (loblolly pine).[62][63]
Arkansas's plant life varies with its climate and elevation. The pine belt stretching from the Arkansas delta to Texas consists of dense oak-hickory-pine growth. Lumbering and paper milling activity is active throughout the region.[64] In eastern Arkansas, one can find Taxodium (cypress), Quercus nigra (water oaks), and hickories with their roots submerged in the Mississippi Valley bayous indicative of the deep south.[65] Nearby Crowley's Ridge is the only home of the tulip tree in the state, and generally hosts more northeastern plant life such as the beech tree.[66] The northwestern highlands are covered in an oak-hickory mixture, with Ozark white cedars, cornus (dogwoods), and Cercis canadensis (redbuds) also present. The higher peaks in the Arkansas River Valley play host to scores of ferns, including the Physematium scopulinum and Adiantum (maidenhair fern) on Mount Magazine.[67] Arkansas wildlife is famous for the white-tailed deer, elk, and bald eagle. The white-tailed deer is the official state mammal.[68]
Climate
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Arkansas generally has a humid subtropical climate. While not bordering the Gulf of Mexico, Arkansas, is still close enough to the warm, large body of water for it to influence the weather in the state. Generally, Arkansas, has hot, humid summers and slightly drier, mild to cool winters. In Little Rock, the daily high temperatures average around 93 °F (34 °C) with lows around 73 °F (23 °C) in July. In January highs average around 51 °F (11 °C) and lows around 32 °F (0 °C). In Siloam Springs in the northwest part of the state, the average high and low temperatures in July are 89 and 67 °F (32 and 19 °C) and in January the average high and low are 44 and 23 °F (7 and −5 °C). Annual precipitation throughout the state averages between about 40 and 60 inches (1,000 and 1,500 mm); it is somewhat wetter in the south and drier in the northern part of the state.[69] Snowfall is infrequent but most common in the northern half of the state.[56] The half of the state south of Little Rock is apter to see ice storms. Arkansas's record high is 120 °F (49 °C) at Ozark on August 10, 1936; the record low is −29 °F (−34 °C) at Gravette, on February 13, 1905.[70]
Arkansas is known for extreme weather and frequent storms. A typical year brings thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail, snow and ice storms. Between both the Great Plains and the Gulf States, Arkansas, receives around 60 days of thunderstorms. Arkansas is located in Tornado Alley, and as a result, a few of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history have struck the state. While sufficiently far from the coast to avoid a direct hit from a hurricane, Arkansas can often get the remnants of a tropical system, which dumps tremendous amounts of rain in a short time and often spawns smaller tornadoes.[citation needed]
| Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Various Arkansas Cities | |||||||||||||
| City | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fayetteville[71] | 44/24 (7/-4) |
51/29 (10/-2) |
59/38 (15/3) |
69/46 (20/8) |
76/55 (24/13) |
84/64 (29/18) |
89/69 (32/20) |
89/67 (32/19) |
81/59 (27/15) |
70/47 (21/9) |
57/37 (14/3) |
48/28 (9/-2) |
68/47 (20/8) |
| Jonesboro[72] | 45/26 (7/-3) |
51/30 (11/-1) |
61/40 (16/4) |
71/49 (22/9) |
80/58 (26/15) |
88/67 (31/19) |
92/71 (34/22) |
91/69 (33/20) |
84/61 (29/16) |
74/49 (23/9) |
60/39 (15/4) |
49/30 (10/-1) |
71/49 (21/9) |
| Little Rock[73] | 51/31 (11/-1) |
55/35 (13/2) |
64/43 (18/6) |
73/51 (23/11) |
81/61 (27/16) |
89/69 (32/21) |
93/73 (34/23) |
93/72 (34/22) |
86/65 (30/18) |
75/53 (24/12) |
63/42 (17/6) |
52/34 (11/1) |
73/51 (23/11) |
| Texarkana[74] | 53/31 (11/-1) |
58/34 (15/1) |
67/42 (19/5) |
75/50 (24/10) |
82/60 (28/16) |
89/68 (32/20) |
93/72 (34/22) |
93/71 (34/21) |
86/64 (30/18) |
76/52 (25/11) |
64/41 (18/5) |
55/33 (13/1) |
74/52 (23/11) |
| Monticello[75] | 52/30 (11/-1) |
58/34 (14/1) |
66/43 (19/6) |
74/49 (23/10) |
82/59 (28/15) |
89/66 (32/19) |
92/70 (34/21) |
92/68 (33/20) |
86/62 (30/17) |
76/50 (25/10) |
64/41 (18/5) |
55/34 (13/1) |
74/51 (23/10) |
| Fort Smith[76] | 48/27 (8/-2) |
54/32 (12/0) |
64/40 (17/4) |
73/49 (22/9) |
80/58 (26/14) |
87/67 (30/19) |
92/71 (33/21) |
92/70 (33/21) |
84/62 (29/17) |
75/50 (23/10) |
61/39 (16/4) |
50/31 (10/0) |
72/50 (22/10) |
| Average high °F/average low °F (average high °C/average low°C) | |||||||||||||
Cities and towns
Little Rock has been Arkansas's capital city since 1821 when it replaced Arkansas Post as the capital of the Territory of Arkansas.[77] The state capitol was moved to Hot Springs and later Washington during the American Civil War when the Union armies threatened the city in 1862, and state government did not return to Little Rock until after the war ended. Today, the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway metropolitan area is the largest in the state, with a population of 724,385 in 2013.[78]
The Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area is the second-largest metropolitan area in Arkansas, growing at the fastest rate due to the influx of businesses and the growth of the University of Arkansas and Walmart.[79]
The state has eight cities with populations above 50,000 (based on 2010 census). In descending order of size, they are Little Rock, Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Springdale, Jonesboro, North Little Rock, Conway, and Rogers. Of these, only Fort Smith and Jonesboro are outside the two largest metropolitan areas. Other cities in Arkansas include Pine Bluff, Crossett, Bryant, Lake Village, Hot Springs, Bentonville, Texarkana, Sherwood, Jacksonville, Russellville, Bella Vista, West Memphis, Paragould, Cabot, Searcy, Van Buren, El Dorado, Blytheville, Harrison, Dumas, Rison, Warren, and Mountain Home.[80]
| Rank | Name | County | Pop. | Rank | Name | County | Pop. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Little Rock  Fort Smith |
1 | Little Rock | Pulaski | 198,606 | 11 | Hot Springs | Garland | 36,915 |  Fayetteville |
| 2 | Fort Smith | Sebastian | 88,037 | 12 | Benton | Saline | 35,789 | ||
| 3 | Fayetteville | Washington | 85,257 | 13 | Sherwood | Pulaski | 31,081 | ||
| 4 | Springdale | Washington | 79,599 | 14 | Texarkana | Miller | 30,259 | ||
| 5 | Jonesboro | Craighead | 75,866 | 15 | Russellville | Pope | 29,318 | ||
| 6 | Rogers | Benton | 66,430 | 16 | Jacksonville | Pulaski | 28,513 | ||
| 7 | North Little Rock | Pulaski | 65,911 | 17 | Bella Vista | Benton | 28,511 | ||
| 8 | Conway | Faulkner | 65,782 | 18 | Paragould | Greene | 28,488 | ||
| 9 | Bentonville | Benton | 49,298 | 19 | Cabot | Lonoke | 26,141 | ||
| 10 | Pine Bluff | Jefferson | 42,984 | 20 | West Memphis | Crittenden | 24,860 | ||
Population
Left: Arkansas's population distribution. Red indicates high density in urban areas, green indicates low density in rural areas, blue indicates water.
Right: Map showing population changes by county between 2000 and 2010. Blue indicates population gain, purple indicates population loss, and shade indicates magnitude.
Right: Map showing population changes by county between 2000 and 2010. Blue indicates population gain, purple indicates population loss, and shade indicates magnitude.
The United States Census Bureau estimated that the population of Arkansas was 3,017,804 on July 1, 2019, a 3.49% increase since the 2010 United States census.[82] At the 2020 U.S. census, Arkansas had a resident population of 3,011,524.
From fewer than 15,000 in 1820, Arkansas's population grew to 52,240 during a special census in 1835, far exceeding the 40,000 required to apply for statehood.[83] Following statehood in 1836, the population doubled each decade until the 1870 census conducted following the American Civil War. The state recorded growth in each successive decade, although it gradually slowed in the 20th century.
It recorded population losses in the 1950 and 1960 censuses. This outmigration was a result of multiple factors, including farm mechanization, decreasing labor demand, and young educated people leaving the state due to a lack of non-farming industry in the state.[84] Arkansas again began to grow, recording positive growth rates ever since and exceeding two million by the 1980 census.[85] Arkansas's rate of change, age distributions, and gender distributions mirror national averages. Minority group data also approximates national averages. There are fewer people in Arkansas of Hispanic or Latino origin than the national average.[86] The center of population of Arkansas for 2000 was located in Perry County, near Nogal.[87]
According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 2,459 homeless people in Arkansas.[88][89]
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1810 | 1,062 | — | |
| 1820 | 14,273 | 1,244.0% | |
| 1830 | 30,388 | 112.9% | |
| 1840 | 97,574 | 221.1% | |
| 1850 | 209,897 | 115.1% | |
| 1860 | 435,450 | 107.5% | |
| 1870 | 484,471 | 11.3% | |
| 1880 | 802,525 | 65.6% | |
| 1890 | 1,128,211 | 40.6% | |
| 1900 | 1,311,564 | 16.3% | |
| 1910 | 1,574,449 | 20.0% | |
| 1920 | 1,752,204 | 11.3% | |
| 1930 | 1,854,482 | 5.8% | |
| 1940 | 1,949,387 | 5.1% | |
| 1950 | 1,909,511 | −2.0% | |
| 1960 | 1,786,272 | −6.5% | |
| 1970 | 1,923,295 | 7.7% | |
| 1980 | 2,286,435 | 18.9% | |
| 1990 | 2,350,725 | 2.8% | |
| 2000 | 2,673,400 | 13.7% | |
| 2010 | 2,915,918 | 9.1% | |
| 2020 | 3,011,524 | 3.3% | |
| 2023 (est.) | 3,067,732 | [90] | 1.9% |
| Source: 1910–2020[91] | |||
Race and ethnicity
Per the 2019 census estimates, Arkansas was 72.0% non-Hispanic white, 15.4% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% Asian, 0.4% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 0.1% some other race, 2.4% two or more races, and 7.7% Hispanic or Latin American of any race.[92] In 2011, the state was 80.1% white (74.2% non-Hispanic white), 15.6% Black or African American, 0.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% Asian, and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 6.6% of the population.[93] As of 2011, 39.0% of Arkansas's population younger than age 1 were minorities.[94]
| Race and ethnicity[95] | Alone | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White (non-Hispanic) | 68.5% | 73.2% | ||
| African American (non-Hispanic) | 14.9% | 16.2% | ||
| Hispanic or Latino[lower-alpha 4] | — | 8.5% | ||
| Asian | 1.7% | 2.2% | ||
| Native American | 0.7% | 3.4% | ||
| Pacific Islander | 0.5% | 0.6% | ||
| Other | 0.3% | 1.1% | ||
Legend
Non-Hispanic White 40–50%50–60%60–70%70–80%80–90%90%+Black or African American 40–50%50–60%60–70%
| Racial composition | 1990[96] | 2000[97] | 2010[98] | 2020[99] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 82.7% | 80.0% | 77.0% | 70.2% |
| African American | 15.9% | 15.7% | 15.4% | 15.1% |
| Asian | 0.5% | 0.8% | 1.2% | 1.7% |
| Native | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 0.9% |
| Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander | – | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.5% |
| Other race | 0.3% | 1.5% | 3.4% | 4.5% |
| Two or more races | – | 1.3% | 2.0% | 7.1% |
European Americans have a strong presence in the northwestern Ozarks and the central part of the state. African Americans live mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the state. Arkansans of Irish, English and German ancestry are mostly found in the far northwestern Ozarks near the Missouri border. Ancestors of the Irish in the Ozarks were chiefly Scots-Irish, Protestants from Northern Ireland, the Scottish lowlands and northern England part of the largest group of immigrants from Great Britain and Ireland before the American Revolution. English and Scots-Irish immigrants settled throughout the back country of the South and in the more mountainous areas. Americans of English stock are found throughout the state.[100]
A 2010 survey of the principal ancestries of Arkansas's residents revealed the following:[101] 15.5% African American, 12.3% Irish, 11.5% German, 11.0% American, 10.1% English, 4.7% Mexican, 2.1% French, 1.7% Scottish, 1.7% Dutch, 1.6% Italian, and 1.4% Scots-Irish.
Most people identifying as "American" are of English descent or Scots-Irish descent. Their families have been in the state so long, in many cases since before statehood, that they choose to identify simply as having American ancestry or do not in fact know their ancestry. Their ancestry primarily goes back to the original 13 colonies and for this reason many of them today simply claim American ancestry. Many people who identify as of Irish descent are in fact of Scots-Irish descent.[102][103][104][105]
According to the American Immigration Council, in 2015, the top countries of origin for Arkansas' immigrants were Mexico, El Salvador, India, Vietnam, and Guatemala.[106]
According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, 93.8% of Arkansas's population (over the age of five) spoke only English at home. About 4.5% of the state's population spoke Spanish at home. About 0.7% of the state's population spoke another Indo-European language. About 0.8% of the state's population spoke an Asian language, and 0.2% spoke other languages.[clarification needed dubious]
Religion
| Religion in Arkansas (2014)[107] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion | Percent | |||
| Protestant | 70% | |||
| Unaffiliated | 18% | |||
| Catholic | 8% | |||
| Muslim | 2% | |||
| Mormon | 1% | |||
| Other | 1% | |||
Like most other Southern states, Arkansas is part of the Bible Belt and predominantly Protestant. The largest denominations by number of adherents in 2010 were the Southern Baptist Convention with 661,382; the United Methodist Church with 158,574; non-denominational Evangelical Protestants with 129,638; the Catholic Church with 122,662; and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 31,254. Some residents of the state have other religions, such as Islam, Judaism, Wicca/Paganism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and some have no religious affiliation.[108]
In 2014, the Pew Research Center determined that 79% of the population was Christian, dominated by evangelicals in the Southern Baptist and independent Baptist churches. In contrast with many other states, the Catholic Church as of 2014 was not the largest Christian denomination in Arkansas. Of the unaffiliated population, 2% were atheist in 2014.[109] By 2020, the Public Religion Research Institute determined 71% of the population was Christian.[110] Arkansas continued to be dominated by evangelicals, followed by mainline Protestants and historically black or African American churches.
Once a state with a cashless society in the uplands and plantation agriculture in the lowlands, Arkansas's economy has evolved and diversified. The state's gross domestic product (GDP) was $176.24 billion in 2023.[111] Six Fortune 500 companies are based in Arkansas, including the world's #1 retailer, Walmart; Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt, Dillard's, Murphy USA, and Windstream are also headquartered in the state.[112] The per capita personal income in 2023 was $54,347, ranking 46th in the nation, and the median household income was $55,432, which ranked 47th.[113][114] The state's agriculture 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, and paper products. Arkansas's mines produce natural gas, oil, crushed stone, bromine, and vanadium.[115] According to CNBC, Arkansas is the 20th-best state for business, with the 2nd-lowest cost of doing business, 5th-lowest cost of living, 11th-best workforce, 20th-best economic climate, 28th-best-educated workforce, 31st-best infrastructure and the 32nd-friendliest regulatory environment.[citation needed] Arkansas gained 12 spots in the best state for business rankings since 2011.[116] As of 2014, it was the most affordable state to live in.[citation needed]
As of July 2023, the state's unemployment rate was 2.6%; the preliminary rate for December 2023 is 3.4%.[117]
Industry and commerce
Arkansas's earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture, with development of cotton plantations in the areas near the Mississippi River. They were dependent on slave labor through the American Civil War.[118]
Today only about three percent of the population are employed in the agricultural sector,[119] it remains a major part of the state's economy, ranking 13th in the nation in the value of products sold.[120] Arkansas is the nation's largest producer of rice, broilers, and turkeys,[121]