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Arkansas, United States
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Arkansas (are-can-saw) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River. Its diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River. The capital and most populous city is Little Rock, located in the central portion of the state.
The name Arkansas derives from the same root as the name for the State of Kansas. The Kansas tribe of American Indians are closely associated with the Sioux tribes. The word is a French pronunciation of a Quapaw (a related "Kaw" tribe) word meaning "land of downriver people" or "people of the south wind". The pronunciation of Arkansas (ar-kan-saw) was made official by an act of the state legislature in 1881 after a dispute between the two U.S. Senators from Arkansas. One wanted to pronounce the word ar-kan-sas and the other wanted ar-kan-saw.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, but the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically , and several other variants.
The name Arkansas derives from the same root as the name for the State of Kansas. The Kansas tribe of American Indians are closely associated with the Sioux tribes. The word is a French pronunciation of a Quapaw (a related "Kaw" tribe) word meaning "land of downriver people" or "people of the south wind". The pronunciation of Arkansas (ar-kan-saw) was made official by an act of the state legislature in 1881 after a dispute between the two U.S. Senators from Arkansas. One wanted to pronounce the word ar-kan-sas and the other wanted ar-kan-saw.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, but the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically , and several other variants. In 1881, the Arkansas General Assembly passed the following concurrent resolution (Arkansas Statutes, Title 1, Chapter 4, Section 105):
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 in a manner similar to the common pronunciation of the name of their state.
GeographyWith the exception of Hawaii, Arkansas is the smallest state entirely west of the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River forms most of Arkansas's eastern border, except in Clay and Greene counties where the St. Francis River forms the western boundary of the Missouri Bootheel, and in dozens of places where the current channel of the Mississippi has meandered from where it had last been legally specified. Arkansas shares its southern border with Louisiana, its northern border with Missouri, its eastern border with Tennessee and Mississippi, and its western border with Texas and Oklahoma.
Arkansas is a land of mountains and valleys, thick forests and fertile plains. Northwest Arkansas is part of the Ozark Plateau including the Boston 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. All of these mountains ranges are part of the U.S. Interior Highlands region, the only major mountainous region between the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. The highest point in the state is Mount Magazine in the Ouachita Mountains; it rises to 2,753 feet above sea level.
The so-called Lowlands are better known by names of their two regions, the Delta and the Grand Prairie. The Arkansas Delta is a flat landscape of rich alluvial soils formed by repeated flooding of the adjacent Mississippi. Further away from the river, in the southeast portion of the state, the Grand Prairie consists of a more undulating landscape. Both are fertile agricultural areas.
The Delta region is bisected by an unusual geological formation known as Crowley's Ridge. A narrow band of rolling hills, Crowley's Ridge rises from 250 to 500 feet above the surrounding alluvial plain and underlies many of the major towns of eastern Arkansas.
Arkansas is home to many caves, such as Blanchard Springs Caverns.
It is also the first U.S. state in which diamonds were found (near Murfreesboro).
Arkansas is home to many areas protected by the National Park System. These include:
Arkansas Post National Memorial at GillettBuffalo National RiverFort Smith National Historic SiteHot Springs National ParkLittle Rock Central High School National Historic SitePea Ridge National Military Park
The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail also runs through Arkansas.
ClimateArkansas generally has a humid subtropical climate, which borders on humid continental in some northern highland areas. While not bordering the Gulf of Mexico, Arkansas is still close enough to this warm, large body of water for it to be the main weather influence in the state. Generally, Arkansas has very hot, humid summers and mild, slightly drier winters. In Little Rock, the daily high temperatures average around 90 °F (32 °C) in the summer and close to 50 °F (10 °C) in winter. Annual precipitation throughout the state averages between about 40 and 60 inches (1,000 to 1,500 mm); somewhat wetter in the south and drier in the northern part of the state. Snowfall is not uncommon, but certainly not excessive in most years as the average snowfall is around 5 inches (13 cm).
Despite its subtropical climate, Arkansas is known for occasional extreme weather. Between both the Great Plains and the Gulf States, Arkansas receives around 60 days of thunderstorms. As a part of Tornado Alley, tornadoes are not an uncommon occurrence in Arkansas, and a few of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history have struck the state. While being sufficiently away from the coast to be safe from 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.
History- See main article History of Arkansas.
The first European to reach Arkansas was the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto at the end of the 16th century. Arkansas is one of several U.S. states formed from the territory purchased from Napoleon Bonaparte in the Louisiana Purchase. The early Spanish or French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is probably a phonetic spelling for the Illinois word for the Quapaw people, who lived downriver from them . Other Native American nations that lived in Arkansas prior to westward movement were the Quapaw, Caddo, and Osage nations. While moving westward, the Five Civilized Tribes inhabited Arkansas during its territorial period.
The Territory of Arkansaw was organized on July 4, 1819, and on June 15, 1836, the State of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state and the 13th slave state.
Arkansas played a key role in aiding Texas in its war for independence with Mexico, sending troops and materials to Texas to help fight the war. The proximity of the city of Washington to the Texas border involved the town in the Texas Revolution of 1835-36. Some evidence suggests Sam Houston and his compatriots planned the revolt in a tavern at Washington in 1834. When the fighting began a stream of volunteers from Arkansas and the eastern states flowed through the town toward the Texas battle fields.
When the Mexican-American War began in 1846, Washington became a rendezvous for volunteer troops. Governor Thomas S. Drew issued a proclamation calling on the state to furnish one regiment of cavalry and one battalion of infantry to join the United States Army. Ten companies of men assembled here where they were formed into the first Regiment of Arkansas Cavalry.
Arkansas refused to join the Confederate States of America until after United States President Abraham Lincoln called for troops to respond to the attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, by Confederate forces. The State of Arkansas seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861. While not often cited in history, the state was the scene of numerous small-scale battles during the American Civil War. Arkansans of note during the Civil War include Confederate Major General Patrick Cleburne. Considered by many to be one of the most brilliant Confederate division commanders of the war, Cleburne is often referred to as The Stonewall of the West. Also of note is Major General Thomas C. Hindman. A former United States Representative, Hindman commanded Confederate forces at the Battle of Cane Hill and Battle of Prairie Grove.
Under the Military Reconstruction Act, Congress readmitted Arkansas in June 1868.
In 1874, the Brooks-Baxter War shook Little Rock and the state governorship which was finally settled when Grant ordered that Joseph Brooks disperse his militant supporters.
In 1881, the Arkansas state legislature enacted a bill that adopted an official pronunciation, to combat a controversy then raging around the proper pronunciation of the state's name. (See Law and Government below).
In 1905-1911, Arkansas began to receive a small migration of German, Slovak, and Irish immigrants. The German and Slovak peoples settled in eastern part of the state, known as the Prairie, and the Irish found small communities in the southeast part of the state. The German and Slovaks that settled the areas were Roman Catholic families. The Irish were usually protestant of only one or two persons of a certain family from Ulster, Ireland.
After the case Brown v. Topeka Board of Education in 1957, the Little Rock Nine incident again brought Arkansas to national attention when the Federal government was forced to again interfere in the Arkansan capital. Orval Faubus, governor at the time, sent the Arkansas National Guard to aid segregationists in preventing nine African American students from enrolling at Little Rock's Central High School. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, after attempting to contact Orval Faubus 3 times, sent 1000 paratroops to escort the African American students on September 25, 1957. This incident eventually led to the closing of Little Rock high schools for the rest of the school year. The Little Rock high schools were completely integrated by the fall of 1959.
Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, was born in Hope, Arkansas. Before his presidency, Clinton served nearly twelve years as the 50th and 52nd Governor of Arkansas.
Law and governmentThe current Governor of Arkansas is Mike Beebe, a Democrat. He was elected on November 7 2006.
Both of Arkansas's U.S. Senators are Democrats: Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor. The state has four seats in U.S. House of Representatives. Three seats are held by Democrats - Marion Berry (map), Vic Snyder (map), and Mike Ross (map). The state's lone Republican congressman is John Boozman (map).
The Democratic Party holds super-majority status in the Arkansas General Assembly. A majority of local and statewide offices are also held by Democrats. This is rare in the modern South, where a majority of statewide offices are held by Republicans. Arkansas had the distinction in 1992 of being the only state in the country to give the majority of its vote to a single candidate in the presidential election—native son Bill Clinton—while every other state's electoral votes were won by pluralities of the vote among the three candidates. In 2004, George W. Bush won the state of Arkansas by 9 points, leading some to speculate that the state was shifting toward the Republicans. In 2006, however, Democrats were elected to all statewide offices by the voters in a Democratic sweep that included the Arkansas Democratic Party regaining the governorship.
Most Republican strength lies mainly in northwest Arkansas in the areas around Fort Smith and Bentonville, and especially in North Central Arkansas around the Mountain Home area where voters have often voted 90 percent Republican. The rest of the state is strongly Democratic, especially Little Rock and the areas along the Mississippi River. Arkansas has only elected one Republican to the U.S. Senate since Reconstruction, Tim Hutchinson, who was defeated after one term by Mark Pryor. The General Assembly has not been controlled by the Republican Party since Reconstruction and is the fourth most heavily Democratic Legislature in the country, after Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Connecticut. Arkansas is also the only state among the states of the former Confederacy that sends two Democrats to the U.S. Senate and the overwhelming majority of registered voters in the state are Democrats. The state is socially conservative – its voters passed a ban on gay marriage with 74% voting yes, the Arkansas Constitution protects right to work, and the state is one of a handful that has legislation on its books banning abortion in the event Roe vs. Wade is ever overturned.
In Arkansas, the lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor and thus can be from a different political party.
Each officer's term is four years long. Office holders are term-limited to two full terms plus any partial terms prior to the first full term. Arkansas gubernatorial terms became four years with the 1986 general election; before this, the terms were two years long.
Some of Arkansas's counties have two county seats, as opposed to the usual one seat. The arrangement dates back to when travel was extremely difficult in the state. The seats are usually on opposite sides of the county. Though travel is no longer the difficulty it once was, there are few efforts to eliminate the two seat arrangement where it exists, since the county seat is a source of pride (and jobs) to the city involved.
Arkansas is the only state to specify the pronunciation of its name by law. This is in response to residents of Kansas who used to pronounce the state's name as ar-KANSAS.
Article 19 (Miscellaneous Provisions), Item 1 in the Arkansas Constitution is entitled "Atheists disqualified from holding office or testifying as witness," and states that "No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil departments of this State, nor be competent to testify as a witness in any Court," despite unanimous decision by the United States Supreme Court in Torcaso v. Watkins (1961) that a similar requirement in Maryland violated protections under First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution.
Metropolitan areasThe Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combined Statistical Area had 829,032 people in the 2006 census estimates and is the largest in Arkansas.
The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers metropolitan area is increasingly important to the state and its economy. The US Census estimated the population of the MSA to be 420,876 in 2006, up from 347,045 in 2000, making it the sixth fastest growing region in the natio. It is home to the corporate headquarters of Fortune 1000 companies Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt, as well as representatives of numerous vendors drawn by Wal-Mart. It is also home to the University of Arkansas and the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.
See also Arkansas Metropolitan Areas.
Top 15 Largest Cities in Arkansas
1. Little Rock 184,422 Central Arkansas
2. Fort Smith 83,461 Northwest Arkansas
3. Fayetteville 67,158 Northwest Arkansas
4. Springdale 60,096 Northwest Arkansas
5. Jonesboro 59,358 Northeast Arkansas
6. North Little Rock 58,833 Central Arkansas
7. Pine Bluff 52,693 Southeast Arkansas
8. Conway 52,430 Central Arkansas
9. Rogers 48,666 Northwest Arkansas
10.Hot Springs 37,847 Southwest Arkansas
11.Jacksonville 30,367 Central Arkansas
12.Texarkana 30,006 Southwest Arkansas
13.Bentonville 29,538 Northwest Arkansas
14.West Memphis 28,181 Northeast Arkansas
15.Benton 27,700 Central Arkansas
Important cities and townsNames in bold have populations greater than 20,000.
EducationPublic school districts List of school districts in Arkansas
Centers of research National Center for Toxicological Research
Colleges and universitiesArkansas Baptist CollegeArkansas State University SystemArkansas State University - JonesboroArkansas State University - Mountain HomeArkansas Tech UniversityCentral Baptist CollegeHarding UniversityHenderson State UniversityHendrix CollegeJohn Brown UniversityLyon CollegeOuachita Baptist UniversityOzarka CollegePhilander Smith CollegeSouthern Arkansas University
University of Arkansas SystemUniversity of Arkansas, FayettevilleUniversity of Arkansas at Fort SmithUniversity of Arkansas at Little RockUniversity of Arkansas for Medical SciencesUniversity of Arkansas at MonticelloUniversity of Arkansas at Pine BluffUniversity of Central ArkansasUniversity of the OzarksWilliams Baptist CollegeExternal linksOfficial State websiteOfficial State tourism websiteThe Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & CultureUSGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of ArkansasU.S. Census BureauArkansas State Code (the state statutes of Arkansas)Arkansas State Facts
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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By McDonald
4 days
A great 4-Day family vacation, which among other great things to do, includes the Hot Springs Trolley at the restored depot which holds trolleys to take visitors through historic downtown Hot Springs.
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By JulieTin313
8 days
This trip gives you 8 FULL days to explore the area of Hot Springs, Arkansas, and believe me, each day is filled to the brim! Lots of fun things to do with the kids...and happy kids means happy parents!
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5 people reviewed Arkansas
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Top
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at 3:42PM May 29, 2008
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at 5:20AM April 5, 2009
w.belding st. hot spring ar.
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at 10:01AM August 8, 2008
Pretty much only stayed in Hotels every time ive been there. Never got to explore.
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at 3:17PM May 29, 2008
I live in Arkansas
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at 8:15PM May 27, 2008
Well, its definitely different than the city, so if you want to experience a more laid back adventure... :) this would be the state
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