Quick Facts: Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Mississippi is bordered on the north by Tennessee, on the east by Alabama, on the south by Louisiana and a narrow coast on the Gulf of Mexico and on the west, across the Mississippi River, by Louisiana and Arkansas.

ABBREVIATION: MS
NICKNAME: The Magnolia State
POPULATION: 2,943,045 (2024 est.)
CAPITAL: Jackson
STATE BIRD: Mockingbird
STATE FLOWER: Magnolia
AREA: 48,430 sq. mi.
TIME ZONE: Central
ENTERED UNION: Dec. 10, 1817
ALTITUDE: High, 807 ft. Woodall Mountain
CLIMATE: Long, hot, humid summers with many thunder showers; short, mild winters.

This is where cotton was once king, and it is still the traditional cotton belt. But here, too, as elsewhere in the south, the breakup of the vast semi-feudal plantations and the depredations of the boll weevil, as well as of erosion, have forced Mississippi into a diversity of crops-notably soybeans, corn, wheat, rice and peanuts.

The agricultural stable of the Old South grows in vast fields stretching from the fertile plains along the great Mississippi, across the Pontotoc Ridge to the east, and far south through the pine hills.

Like its sister states in the south, Mississippi has turned towards industries in addition to agriculture. Manufacturing and Casinos help subsidize income for the ‘poorest state in the nation’. Production in furniture, chemicals, motor vehicles, electrical products, ocean-going freighters and tankers help provide much needed jobs.

However, wages are low, the median household income in Mississippi is under $35,000. In recent years more than 100,000 residents have moved away from the Magnolia State in search of higher incomes.

The Vicksburg Bridge, Vicksburg, Mississippi

As the countryside empties and the cities grow, the state’s population growth rate is 40th of all the states, while it’s economic growth rate is 17th.

But Mississippi’s acceptance of the economic realities of the 21st Century has not diminished the homage they pay to an earlier, heroic era. In this state are the sites of such famous and hard-fought battles as Vicksburg, Jackson, and Corinth-and “old times…are not forgotten”.

Fun Facts:

Natchez, settled by the French in 1716, is the oldest permanent European settlement in Mississippi.
NASA space shuttle engines were tested at the John C. Stennis Space Center, near Bay St. Louis.
Mississippi is the country’s leading supplier of farm-raised catfish. This industry supports other segments of the economy, such as corn, soybeans, and cottonseed, all of which are used as fish food.
The famous crash of the Cannonball Express, which killed folk-song hero Jonathan Luther ‘Casey’ Jones, occurred in Vaughn on April 30, 1900.
In 1902 while on a hunting expedition in Mississippi, President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt refused to shoot a captured bear. The act resulted in the creation of the world-famous teddy bear.
Edward Adolf Barq Sr. invented Root beer in Biloxi in 1898.

History:

The state of Mississippi, located in the Deep South of the United States, has a rich and layered history shaped by Native American civilizations, European colonization, slavery, the Civil War, and the Civil Rights Movement. Known for its fertile soil and powerful river systems, Mississippi has played a central role in America’s agricultural, political, and cultural history.

Long before European arrival, the region was inhabited by powerful Indigenous cultures, including the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Natchez peoples. These nations built complex societies with permanent settlements, agriculture, and extensive trade networks. The Natchez, in particular, were known for their elaborate ceremonial mound-building and unique religious practices.

In 1540, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto became the first European to set foot in the Mississippi region. Although his expedition failed to establish lasting settlements, it opened the way for later European interest.

By the late 17th century, French explorers such as Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville founded settlements along the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi River. In 1716, the French built Fort Rosalie at what is now Natchez—the oldest permanent European settlement in Mississippi.

Throughout the 18th century, control of the region shifted between the French, British, and Spanish, until it finally came under U.S. control after the American Revolutionary War. In 1798, the United States organized the Mississippi Territory. As settlers poured in, conflicts with Native nations increased.

Over time, treaties and forced removals, especially under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, led to the displacement of most Native peoples from Mississippi.

Mississippi became the 20th U.S. state on December 10, 1817. Its economy quickly grew around cotton production, made possible by enslaved African labor. By the mid-19th century, Mississippi was one of the wealthiest states in the nation due to its plantations and slave-based economy.

This dependence on slavery led Mississippi to be one of the first states to secede from the Union in 1861, joining the Confederacy during the American Civil War.

The Civil War devastated Mississippi’s economy and infrastructure. After the war, during Reconstruction, formerly enslaved people gained some political and social freedoms. However, these gains were rolled back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries through segregation laws and racial violence. Jim Crow laws enforced strict racial divisions, and Mississippi became notorious for voter suppression and civil rights abuses.

Despite this oppression, Mississippi was central to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The state saw major events such as the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers in Jackson in 1963, and the Freedom Summer of 1964, when activists pushed for African American voting rights. These efforts helped lead to national legislation, including the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act.

Today, Mississippi continues to grapple with its complex history, while also celebrating its contributions to American culture—particularly through music, as the birthplace of blues, and literature, through figures like William Faulkner.

The state’s journey reflects both the challenges and resilience that have shaped the American South.