All About Arkansas
Arkansas is a constituent state of the United States of America. Arkansas's 53,187 square miles (137,754 square km) make it 27th in area among the states, but, except for Louisiana and Hawaii, it is the smallest state west of the Mississippi River. Its neighbours are Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma to the west. Arkansas has the high Ozark and Ouachita mountains in the north and west and a heavy tracery of rivers that cut through its rich agricultural lands. Nearly all of the rivers flow from northwest to southeast and empty via the Arkansas and the Red into the Mississippi, which forms the major eastern boundary. The state's name was used by the early French explorers for the Quapaw Indians and the river along which they settled. It probably was a phonetic spelling of the Illinois term for ''downriver'' people, a reference to the Quapaw.
Ever since Arkansas was admitted as the 25th member of the United States in 1836, its people have maintained a remarkable homogeneity, and today most of them are native to the state. Striking cultural contrasts exist within Arkansas, however, with the long-isolated mountain people who eked out subsistence livings in the north and west counterposed to the people to the east and south who created a Southern environment in which cotton growing and sharecropping long were the dominant modes of economic life. Between the two regions lies Little Rock, the capital and the urban and economic centre of the state. Its location and increasingly cosmopolitan character are symbolic of Arkansas's growing unification and urbanization.
Arkansans are concerned about the state's relative poverty and lack of development. Although Arkansas remains among the lowest-ranking states in income per capita and other economic indicators, the overall economy in recent years has gained faster than the national average, and the population has increased, reversing a long decline. Programs have been developed to increase these trends and to continue the process of equalizing the educational, economic, and social opportunities of the state's citizens.
A line drawn from the southwestern corner to the northeastern corner of the state approximates the division between the highlands lying west and north and the lowlands lying south and east. The highlands are divided by the Arkansas River valley into the Ouachita Province on the south and the Ozark Plateau on the north. The lowlands include the Mississippi alluvial plain in the east and the western Gulf Coastal Plain in the south and extreme southwest. The highlands are covered with the dense pine and hardwood forests of the Ouachita and Ozark national forests. The Ozark Plateau is broken by broad, flat-topped ridges and steep valleys with fast-flowing streams. The more rugged southern edge, known as the Boston Mountains, contains the highest elevations.
Cotton is no longer king in Arkansas, and the state is no longer primarily agricultural. Industrialization and urbanization are major factors in Arkansas's recent record of economic progress. Labour unions are strong in transportation, utilities, construction, and heavy industry, but most of the state's labour force is unorganized. In both political and economic policy-making, labour is less influential than business. The demand for increased revenue has led to cooperation between leaders in the private sector and public agencies in the promotion of economic growth. Progress in overhauling the state tax structure and in improving methods of tax collection has been slow but steady. The state attempts to generate more revenue by raising income per capita through increasing employment opportunities and developing human resources to their maximum.
Arkansas devotes considerable effort to attract out-of-state vacationers, who annually contribute millions of dollars to its economy. State and national agencies stock lakes and streams with fish, and the state's preserves and conservation practices assure ample game in hunting seasons. The largest single attraction in Arkansas is Hot Springs National Park, which offers both outdoor recreation and luxury hotels throughout the year. The Buffalo National River, Blanchard Springs Caverns, and the resort town of Eureka Springs, known for its arts community and Victorian architecture, attract thousands of visitors annually. In addition to the five national park sites, there are numerous state parks affording a great variety of recreational activities.
Several major railroads provide freight service within Arkansas, as well as to major cities in the central United States. Airline service is provided by national carriers from a number of airports to any point in the nation. By interstate highways more than half of the nation's population is within a two-day driving radius of Arkansas. Motor-fuel tax revenues are reserved for public highways and streets. As funds are available, major routes are being rebuilt as four-lane, limited-access roads. The McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System for navigation and flood control is the largest civil works project ever undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The project provides access to more than one-half of the nation's navigable inland waterways. Annual freight tonnage along it has exceeded estimates, and significant industrial growth has been attributed to the project.
