Mississippi (MS).

• Region: Gulf Coast
• Population: 2,940,057 (ranked 34th) (2022 estimate)
• Capital: Jackson (pop. 145,995) (2022 estimate)
• Largest city: Jackson (pop. 145,995) (2022 estimate)
• Number of counties: 82
• State nickname: Magnolia State
• State motto: Virtute et armis (By valor and arms)
• State flag: Until 2020, modified Confederate flag in upper left corner, over red, white, and blue stripes

With the Mississippi River, for which it is named, serving as its western border, the state of Mississippi lies in the southeast of the United States. Its eastern border is the state of Alabama and Tennessee is its northern neighbor. Mississippi has about eighty miles of coastline along the tropical waters of the Gulf of Mexico, where commercial fishing is a multimillion dollar industry.

Mississippi joined the Union on December 10, 1817, as the twentieth state. However, in 1861, Mississippi seceded from the Union and was the second former US state to join the Confederate States of America. Some of the fiercest battles of the Civil War were fought on Mississippi soil, and after the war concluded in 1865 the state was readmitted to the Union in 1870.

State Name: The state of Mississippi was named for the mighty river that serves as its western border. The Chippewa Indians called the river "mici zibi" or "great river" and the Algonquian word for the river is "Messipi."

Capital:Natchez was the original capital of the Mississippi Territory, though the capital was moved to Washington in 1802. Less than twenty years later, the capital was again moved and remains to this day in Jackson. Located on a bluff along the banks of the Pearl River, the city was founded in 1821 and named for Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States. During the Civil War the city was destroyed several times by the Union troops, and in 1903 a new capital building was built at a cost of $1 million.

Flag: On January 7, 1894, the legislature appointed a committee to design an official state flag for Mississippi. By that time, Mississippi had lived under six different flags, beginning as early as 1540 with the Spanish flag and ending with the Magnolia flag adopted when the state seceded in 1861. The flag designed in 1894 has a red union square that sits in the upper left hand corner with the Confederate battle flag's blue saltire inside the square. Along the inside of the bars of the diagonal cross are thirteen five-pointed stars. The remainder of the flag has three equal horizontal bars. The top bar is blue, the center bar is white, and the bottom bar, which extends the entire length of the flag, is red. The use of Confederate symbolism was long controversial, however, and in 2020 state lawmakers passed a measure that discontinued use of the 1894 flag and called for a replacement design. Over one thousand designs were submitted to the state commission in charge of creating the new flag.

Official Symbols

• Flower: Magnolia
• Bird: Mockingbird
• Tree: Magnolia
• Fish: Largemouth or black bass
• Song: "Go Mississippi" by Houston Davis

State and National Historic Sites

• Bay St. Louis Old Town (Bay St. Louis)
• Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site (Tupelo)
• Fort Massachusetts (Ship Island)
• Grand Gulf Military State Park (Grand Gulf)
• Gulf Islands National Seashore (Gulf Islands)
• Natchez Trace Parkway (Natchez)
• Old Brick House (Biloxi)
• Old Capitol (Jackson)
• Old Warren County Court House Museum (Vicksburg)
• Rowan Oak (Oxford)
• Tullis-Toledano Manor (Biloxi)
• Tupelo National Battlefield (Tupelo)
• Vicksburg National Military Park (Vicksburg)

DEMOGRAPHICS

• Population: 2,940,057 (ranked 34th) (2022 estimate)
• Population density: 63.1/sq mi (2020)
• Urban population: 46.3% (2020 estimate)
• Rural population: 53.7% (2020 estimate)
• Population under 18: 23.1% (2022 estimate)
• Population over 65: 17.3% (2022 estimate)
• White alone: 58.8% (2022 estimate)
• Black or African American alone: 37.8%
• Hispanic or Latino: 3.6%
• American Indian and Alaska Native alone: 0.6%
• Asian alone: 1.2%
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone: 0.1%
• Two or More Races: 1.5%
• Per capita income: $$26,807 (ranked 50th)
• Unemployment: 3.9%

American Indians: During the 1500s, when Spanish explorers roamed what is now the Mississippi River region, the area was inhabited by several American Indian tribes. The predominant tribes were the Choctaws, the Chickasaws, and the Natchez, though there were also smaller tribes along the river.

The Choctaw were the largest tribe at the time, with approximately fifty villages. They were a farming community that lived in the central and southern part of the state in mud and bark houses with thatched roofs.

In 1729, the Choctaws joined forces with the French to drive out the Natchez people. The Natchez inhabited the southeast area of Mississippi, and in 1729 they attacked the French at Fort Rosalie. After the massacre, many of the Natchez joined the Choctaw Nation. A century later the Choctaws were forced to leave their native homes and move to Oklahoma where they joined the Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Seminole Indians and became one of the so-called five civilized tribes.

In the twenty-first century, the only federally recognized tribe in Mississippi is the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY

• Total area: 48,432 sq mi (ranked 32nd)
• Land area: 46,923 sq mi (96.9% of total area)
• Water area: 1,509 sq mi (3.1% of total area)
• Shoreline: 359 miles
• National parks: 9
• Highest point: Woodall Mountain (806 feet)
• Lowest point: Gulf of Mexico (sea level)
• Highest temperature: 115° F (Holly Springs, July 29, 1930)
• Lowest temperature: -19° F (Corinth, January 30, 1966)

Topography: Thin and narrow in shape, Mississippi measures 340 miles from north to south, and approximately 142 miles from east to west. The majority of the state is an extension of the East Gulf Coastal Plain, which features lower hills in the south and the higher elevations in the northeastern area of the state. It is in these areas of higher elevation that the soil is more fertile. With the coast of the Gulf of Mexico acting as the state's southern border, Mississippi has 80 miles of coastline beaches, marshes, and bayous. The barrier islands Petit Bois, Horn, Ship, and Cat protect the coastline.

The remainder of Mississippi is part of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, also known as the Delta. The Delta is narrow in the southern part of the state and widens north of Vicksburg. The rich soil is comprised of silt deposits from the floodwaters of the Mississippi River.

For travel and tourism purposes the state is divided into five areas: the Hills region in the north, the Delta region in the northwest, the Capital River region in the southwest, the Coastal Region in the southeast, and the Pines region in the eastern central part of the state.

Major Lakes

• Arkabutla Lake on Coldwater River
• Dockery Lake
• Grenada Lake on Yalobusha River
• Kemper County Lake
• Lake Bill Waller
• Lake Bogue Homa
• Lake Claude Bennett
• Lake Columbia
• Lake Jeff Davis
• Lake Lamar Bruce
• Lake Mary Crawford
• Lake Mike Conner
• Lake Monroe
• Lake Perry
• Lake Ross Barnett
• Lake Tom Bailey
• Lake Walthall
• Neshoba County Lake
• Oktibbeha County Lake
• Pickwick Lake on Tennessee River
• Simpson County Lake
• Tippah County Lake

Major Rivers

• Big Black River
• Mississippi River
• Pascagoula River
• Pearl River
• Tombigbee River
• Yazoo River

State and National Parks: Mississippi has nine areas managed by the National Park Service (NPS), including the Natchez Historic Site, the Natchez Trace Parkway and scenic trail, and other historic sites and battlefields. There are also a variety of state parks and nature areas in Mississippi where visitors can fish, golf, hike, or tour historic antebellum homes and plantations. These parks include Buccaneer State Park (Waveland), Golden Memorial State Park (Walnut Grove), Holmes County State Park (Durant), Lake Lowndes State Park (Columbus), Leroy Percy State Park (Hollandale), and Trace State Park (Belden).

Natural Resources: The two most valuable natural resources found in Mississippi are petroleum and natural gas, which are found in considerable amounts in the southern half of the state and account for a good portion of the state's gross domestic product. Other important natural resources include clay and sand, gravel, iron ore, limestone, lignite, and salt. Mississippi's extensive forests, which make up more than half of the state, provide wood and wood products that benefit the economy. Mississippi typically ranks as one of the top ten states in the value of forestry production.

Plants and Animals: Forests cover 62 percent of the state's area. In the northern woodlands hardwood trees such as elms, hickories, oaks, cedars, and short leaf pines grow. In the south, the forests are comprised primarily of loblolly, longleaf, and slash pines as well as oak, magnolias, and sweet gum trees. The forests are the habitat of a variety of animals including beaver, fox, opossum, rabbit, skunk, and squirrel as well as ducks, quail, and wild turkeys.

In the spring, flowing plants such as azaleas and dogwoods color the Mississippi landscape. Other flowering plants that are found throughout the state include the black-eyed Susan, camellia, iris, trillium, and violets. As in other Southern states, the invasive plant known as kudzu has infested much of the landscape.

Mississippi's fresh water lakes are full of black bass, large mouth bass, bream, catfish, and perch. In addition, the state supplies much of the world's pond-raised catfish. The gulf waters are home to crab, oyster, shrimp, menhaden, and tarpon. The islands off the coast of Mississippi are prime locations to see migrating ducks, egrets, herons, and terns, all of which make their winter nests there.

Climate: Overall, the climate of Mississippi is hot and humid with long summers and short, mild winters. While there is some reprieve from the heat in the form of coastal breezes coming in off the Gulf of Mexico, the Delta region is not close enough to the water to benefit from the cooling effect. Average temperatures statewide range between 70 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer with up to 90 percent humidity, and 35 and 58 degrees in the winter months. Winter tends to be the rainiest season. Annual rainfall averages about 55 inches across the state. There is sometimes a small amount of snowfall in the north and central part of the state, but accumulations rarely occur.

Hurricane season lasts from June until October, with the majority of the strong storms occurring in the late summer or fall. In 1969, Hurricane Camille hit the shores of Mississippi with 220 mile-per-hour winds and 30-foot storm surges. Two hundred lives were lost in that storm. Hurricane Katrina killed two hundred and thirty-eight people in the state in 2005. Mississippi is also prone to tornadoes from January until May.

Like most southern states, Mississippi enjoys a pleasant, mild autumn, with vivid foliage in the northern counties from September until the end of December.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE

Major Colleges and Universities

• Alcorn State University (Lorman)
• Blue Mountain College (Blue Mountain)
• Delta State University (Cleveland)
• Jackson State University (Jackson)
• Mississippi College (Clinton)
• Mississippi State University (Starkville)
• Mississippi University for Women (Columbus)
• Mississippi Valley State University (Itta Bena)
• Rust College (Holly Springs)
• Tougaloo College (Tougaloo)
• University of Mississippi (Jackson, Oxford)
• University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg)
• William Carey University (Hattiesburg)

Major Museums

• Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life Museum (Jackson)
• Lauren Rogers Museum of Art (Laurel)
• Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum (Jackson)
• Mississippi Museum of Art (Jackson)
• Mississippi Museum of Natural Science (Jackson)
• Museum of Mississippi History (Jackson)
• Old Warren County Court House Museum (Vicksburg)
• The University of Mississippi Museum (Oxford)
• Vicksburg National Military Park Historical Museum (Vicksburg)

Major Libraries

• Grisham Law Library, University of Mississippi (University)
• J. D. Williams Library, University of Mississippi (University)
• Lauren Rogers Library (Laurel)
• Mississippi Department of Archives and History Library (Jackson)

Media

There are various daily papers and other newspapers, weeklies, and journals published in Mississippi. The Daily Journal serves all of northeast Mississippi while the Sun Herald covers news from the Gulf Coast. The Mississippi Business Journal provides residents with business news from around the state.

In addition to newspapers, a variety of periodicals are published in Mississippi. The state also has about twenty television stations and more than two hundred radio stations.

ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

• Gross domestic product (in millions $USD): 138,739.7 (ranked 36th) (2022)
• GDP percent change: 0.2%

Major Industries: In 2022, Mississippi's largest single industry based on GDP was government and government enterprises. The next largest industry was finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing. Transportation, communications, and public utilities as well as the agricultural, forestry, and fishing industries are also key sectors of the economy.

Mississippi's durable goods manufacturing industry accounted for 9.2 percent of the state's GDP in 2022. The primary goods produced in the state are furniture, electronics, lumber and wood products, food products, transportation equipment, industrial machinery, and apparel and textiles. Mississippi is typically ranked among the largest manufacturers of upholstered furniture in the United States. The farming industry in Mississippi is also significant. Field crops, including cotton, soybeans, rice, hay, and wheat, account for nearly half of agricultural income. The remainder of the state's agricultural income is from chicken, cattle, milk, and eggs. The commercial fishing industry and mining further contribute significantly to the state's economy.

Tourism: Tourism is a multibillion dollar industry, with more than 20 million travelers typically visiting Mississippi annually. Popular tourist destinations include the Gulf Coast beaches and the historic Natchez Trace Parkway. Other historic sites include the many Civil War battlefields and forts that are scattered across the state. In addition, the state's gambling casinos have become a major tourist draw in recent years.

Energy Production: The major sources of energy produced in Mississippi are petroleum, nuclear power, and natural gas. Renewable resources and coal are also important. The Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, located near Port Gibson, is among the largest single-unit nuclear power plants in the United States and generates a significant percentage of the state's electricity.

Agriculture: Agricultural products are an important part of Mississippi's economy. Cotton remains one of the top money-making crops in Mississippi. Also important are soybeans, rice, hay, and sweet potatoes. The sale of chickens and cattle and their by-products, such as milk and eggs, are also major contributors to the state's agricultural revenues. Agriculture is the state's number-one industry, employing nearly one-third of the workforce either directly or indirectly, according to the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.

Airports: Mississippi has a variety of airports, including the Jackson International Airport, which is the state's busiest. Passengers can fly direct to a number of United States cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, and Dallas, as well as international destinations.

Seaports: There are four seaports on Mississippi's Gulf Coast: the Port of Pascagoula, Port of Biloxi, Port of Gulfport, and Port Bienville. They all handle containers, refrigerated products, and general bulk cargo. Some of the products that pass through the seaports include steel, refrigerated meat, wood pulp, lumber, machinery and equipment, chemicals, bulk grains, and natural rubber.

There are another fourteen inland ports located along the rivers of Mississippi that are primarily responsible for general and bulk cargo. The busiest of the river ports are at Vicksburg and Greenville, on the Mississippi River. The products that pass through those ports include potash, rice, corn, wheat, grain feed ingredients, fertilizer, and scrap.

GOVERNMENT

• Governor: Tate Reeves (Republican)
• Present constitution date: November 1, 1890
• Electoral votes: 6
• Number of counties: 82
• Violent crime rate: 291.2 (per 100,000 residents)
• Death penalty: Yes

Constitution: After living under four prior constitutions, the Constitution of the State of Mississippi was adopted on November 1, 1890. The state's first constitution was written in 1817, when Mississippi first entered the Union. It was rewritten in 1832, and again in 1868 when slavery was abolished after the Civil War. Amendments to the state constitution must be approved by a two-thirds majority in each house of the legislature, followed by the same majority in a statewide popular election. Also, a majority vote in both legislative houses is required to call a constitutional convention.

Branches of Government

Executive: According to the state constitution, the chief executive of the state is the governor, who is elected to a four-year term and cannot serve more than two consecutive terms in office. The governor is considered to be the commander in chief of the state's army, navy, and militia, except when the president calls them to service. Other executive branch officers include the lieutenant governor, who also acts as the president of the senate and is bound by the same term limits as the governor. Other elected executives include the secretary of state, treasurer, auditor, attorney general, commissioner of agriculture and commerce, and the commissioner of insurance.

Legislative: The Mississippi legislature is comprised of a 52-member senate and a 122-member House of Representatives. All state congressmen are popularly elected to four-year terms.

Judicial: The highest court in the state is the supreme court, which is comprised of nine justices who are elected for eight-year terms. The justice who has the most seniority serves as the chief justice for the remainder of their term. Throughout the remainder of the state's court system there are seventy-nine judges elected to four-year terms.

HISTORY

ca. 800 The first American Indian settlements begin forming along the Mississippi River.

1539Hernando de Soto leads a Spanish exploration team across what is now known as northeastern Mississippi in search of gold.

1540–42 De Soto explores the Mississippi River area and spends considerable time with the Chickasaw Indians. He dies in 1542 and his body is committed to the river.

1673 French explorer and missionary Jacques Marquette and his partner, fur-trapper Louis Joliet, pass through present-day northern Mississippi on their way down the Mississippi River.

1682René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, sails down the Mississippi River and claims the entire valley for King Louis XIV of France.

1699 Pierre LeMoyne, sieur d'Iberville establishes Mississippi's first French settlement, Fort Maurepas, in the Biloxi area, with two hundred settlers.

1716 Three hundred French settlers build Fort Rosalie in Natchez.

1729 On November 28, the Natchez attack Fort Rosalie, killing two hundred people in less than two hours. The event is referred to as the Natchez revolt of 1729.

1732 In retaliation for the Natchez revolt, the French, with help from the Choctaw Indian tribe, attack the Natchez, murdering hundreds of Natchez men and enslaving the women and children.

1736 Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville battles the Chickasaw tribe, which has joined forces with the British. He is defeated.

1763 In the aftermath of the French and Indian War, the French settlers withdraw and cede the Mississippi River territory to England.

1764 The boundaries of British settlements in West Florida are extended to include the Mississippi territory.

1775 During the American Revolution, the Mississippi territory remains loyal to the British crown, prompting an influx of loyalists to the area.

1779 Spanish forces overtake Natchez and wrest control of West Florida when Spain declares war against England.

1795 Spanish troops cede the area to the newly formed United States.

1798 Spain finally leaves the area and the Mississippi Territory, between the Mississippi and Chattahoochee Rivers, is formed by the United States. President Thomas Jefferson appoints Winthrop Sargent as governor of the territory.

1801 As a result of the Treaty of Chickasaw Bluffs between the US and local Indian tribes, the Natchez Trace is developed as a major road. The territorial capital moves from Natchez to Washington, Mississippi.

1803 The Louisiana Purchase gives ownership of the land to the west and north of the Mississippi River to the United States, and the entire area is opened to trade.

1805 The United States government purchases 4.5 million acres of land from the Choctaw Indians in the Treaty of Mount Dexter.

1806 The Mexican seed cotton known as Petit Gulf is introduced in the territory, ushering in an era of increased cotton production.

1811 Jefferson College, Mississippi's first college, opens in Washington, east of Natchez.

1812 The War of 1812 begins. The Mississippi Territory is expanded to include lands east of the Pearl River down to the Gulf of Mexico.

1817 The Mississippi Territory is divided in half and the western portion joins the Union as the twentieth state.

1820 The Choctaw Indians cede another 5.5 million acres of land to the United States.

1821 The state's first public school is opened in Columbus.

1822 The state capital is moved from Washington to Jackson, the city named for President Andrew Jackson.

1830 Most of the Choctaw Indians leave the state after they are forced to surrender their remaining land. The Chickasaw tribe soon follows, ceding their land and leaving Mississippi for Oklahoma.

1831 On January 9, the Mississippi Constitutional Convention produces the Constitution of 1832.

1861 Mississippi cedes from the Union and joins the Confederate States of America. It is the second state to do so. Union forces gain control of the Mississippi Gulf Coast after seizing Ship Island.

1862 Former US Senator from Mississippi Jefferson Davis is inaugurated as president of the Confederacy.

1863 The Emancipation Proclamation abolishes slavery. Vicksburg falls to the Union Army after the forty-seven-day Siege of Vicksburg, granting the Union access to the Mississippi River.

1865 The Civil War ends; Mississippi drops to last place in terms of per capita wealth in the United States.

1867 The United States Congress rejects Mississippi's plans for reconstruction and establishes a military government.

1868 The "Black and Tan Convention" (the first biracial constitutional convention) drafts a constitution that is rejected by voters. The document allowed for the protection of the rights of freed slaves and the punishment of former Confederate soldiers.

1869 The Constitution of 1868 is ratified under the leadership of James Alcorn. It grants African Americans in Mississippi the right to both vote and hold political office.

1870 Mississippi is readmitted to the Union, and Hiram R. Revels, the first African American Senator in US history, is elected. The state establishes its first free public school system.

1874 Seventy African Americans are killed during a race riot near Vicksburg.

1890 A new constitution is adopted. This is the state's current body of law.

1903 A new capitol building is constructed in Jackson at a cost of $1 million.

1904 The legislature passes a law allowing "separate but equal" seating for whites and African Americans on public transportation.

1907 The boll weevil destroys most of the state's vast cotton crops in an epidemic that eventually causes millions of dollars in damage.

1908 Mississippi adopts statewide prohibition.

1927 Hundreds are killed in the Great Mississippi Flood when the Mississippi River inundates the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta. More than 2.5 million acres are flooded and approximately 100,000 residents are left homeless.

1932 At the height of the Great Depression, Mississippi institutes its first statewide sales tax.

1941-45 During World War II, the port of Pascagoula is used as an assembly station for convoys going to war.

1948 The State's Rights Party is formed by Southern Democrats and nominates segregationist Strom Thurmond as its presidential candidate. He loses the election, but receives 87.2 percent of the vote in Mississippi.

1954 The Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education establishes the framework for racial desegregation.

1963 Decatur native Medgar Evers, a civil rights activist and field secretary for the NAACP, is murdered by a sniper is his home in Jackson.

1964Segregation is outlawed by the Civil Rights Act; Three civil rights workers are killed in Neshoba County.

1965–67 Racially charged demonstrations and violent confrontations erupt across Mississippi as the state attempts to adjust to racial integration and the burgeoning civil rights movement.

1969 Segregation in Mississippi public schools is forbidden when the public school system becomes mandated by the federal government; Hurricane Camille strikes Mississippi with 220-mile-per-hour winds and 30-foot storm surges. Two hundred people die. The first African American mayor in the state's history, Charles Evers, is elected mayor of Fayette.

1972 The Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway project begins, designed to connect the Tennessee River to the Gulf of Mexico. The project is completed in 1985.

1973 Tens of thousands are left homeless and more than half of the state's counties are incapacitated in Mississippi's worst flooding since 1927.

1979 The city of Jackson is flooded along with smaller towns along the Pearl River.

1984 Public radio goes on the air in Mississippi.

1988 Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus, along with several other southern governors, signs a pact to improve economic conditions in the Mississippi Delta, one of the most poverty-stricken areas in the United States.

1992 Kirk Fordice is elected governor of Mississippi, the first Republican to hold the office since 1876. Mississippi colleges are ordered to desegregate. Offshore casino gambling is legalized.

1994 After three trials, former Ku Klux Klan member Byron de la Beckwith is convicted of the murder of Medgar Evers and sentenced to life in prison. The conviction has implications across the South as more civil rights cases are reopened.

1998 Formerly secret state files are unsealed, revealing abuses, including jury-tampering and intimidation, committed by Mississippi officials against civil rights workers between 1955 and 1975.

2000 After failing to win the required majority in the state's gubernatorial election, Democrat Ronnie Musgrove is declared Mississippi's new governor by the state House of Representatives, in accordance with state law. He received 8,300 more votes than his opponent, Republican Mike Parker.

2005 Hurricane Katrina devastates the Mississippi Gulf Coast, killing 235 people over two days. The state was declared a disaster area. Billions of dollars in federal aid are pledged to help the state's economy and infrastructure recover from the storm.

2010 Oil from the BP (British Petroleum) oil disaster appears on Mississippi's Gulf Coast. In the weeks following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, Mississippi's fishing industry and tourism industry suffers severe damage as a result of regional water pollution. In addition, regional wildlife is also affected.

2011 Hundreds are killed after an outbreak of tornadoes wreaks havoc throughout the south. More than thirty people are killed in Mississippi. The storms cause widespread destruction, which eliminate entire neighborhoods and communities and leave thousands seeking shelter and basic necessities.

2020 Governor Tate Reeves signs a law retiring the state flag and providing guidelines for a creation of a new one, with no Confederate imagery.

2021 A new flag is officially designated.

FAMOUS NATIVES

Red Barber, 1908–92 (Columbus) , Sports broadcaster.

Jimmy Buffett, 1946–2023 (Pascagoula) , Popular singer.

Craig Claiborne, 1921–2000 (Sunflower) , New York Times food critic.

Bo Diddley, 1928–2008 (McComb) , Musician.

Medgar Evers, 1925–63 (Decatur) , Civil rights leader.

William Faulkner, 1897–1962 (New Albany) , Nobel Prize-winning novelist, short story writer.

Shelby Foote, 1916–2005 (Greenville) , Historian.

Elizabeth Lee Hazen, 1885–1975 (Rich) , Microbiologist, co-inventor of the antibiotic nystatin.

Jim Henson, 1936–1990 (Greenville) , Entertainer, creator of the Muppets.

Faith Hill, 1967– (Jackson) , Popular singer.

John Lee Hooker, 1917–2001 (Clarksdale) , Blues musician.

Mississippi John Hurt, 1892–1966 (Teoc) , Blues singer and guitarist.

Ray J, 1981– (McComb) , Rapper; entrepreneur

Robert Johnson, 1911–38 (Hazelhurst) , Blues musician.

James Earl Jones, 1931– (Arkabutla) , Actor.

B. B. King, 1925–2015 (Indianola) , Blues musician.

Willie Morris, 1934–99 (Jackson) , Writer.

Brandy Norwood, 1979– (McComb), Singer, actor.

Walter Payton, 1954–99 (Columbia) , Professional football player.

Robert Pittman, 1954– (Brookhaven) , Media executive, founder of MTV.

Elvis Presley, 1935–1977 (Tupelo) , Singer, actor.

Charley Pride, 1938–2020 (Sledge) , Country singer.

Leontyne Price, 1927– (Laurel) , Opera singer.

LeAnn Rimes, 1982– (Jackson) , Country music singer.

William Grant Still, 1895–1978 (Woodville) , Composer.

Muddy Waters, 1915–1983 (Rolling Fork) , Blues musician.

Ida B. Wells, 1862–1931 (Holly Springs) , Civil rights activist.

Tennessee Williams, 1911–83 (Columbus) , Playwright.

Oprah Winfrey, 1954– (Kosciusko) , Entertainer.

Richard Wright, 1908–1960 (Roxie) , Poet, author, and journalist.

Tammy Wynette, 1942–98 (Tupelo) , Country music singer.

TRIVIA

• As a result of President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt's refusal to shoot a bear while on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902, the Teddy Bear was created.
• The first human lung transplant in the world was performed in 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi. The world's first human heart transplant was performed at the same medical center in 1964.
• In 1907, the 4-H Club was founded in Holmes County.
• Coca-Cola was first bottled in 1894 in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Four years later, in 1898, Edward Barq developed Barq's root beer in Biloxi.
• Petal, Mississippi, is the home of the International Checkers Hall of Fame.
• The second largest Indian mound in the nation, Emerald Mound, is located on the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is an eight-acre ceremonial mound built between 1250 and 1600.

Bibliography

Cobb, James C. The Most Southern Place on Earth: The Mississippi Delta and the Roots of Regional Identity. Oxford UP, 1992.

"Economic Profile for Mississippi." BearFacts, US Bureau of Economic Analysis, 31 Mar. 2023, apps.bea.gov/regional/bearfacts/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.

"Mississippi." Quick Facts, US Census Bureau, 1 July 2022, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MS/PST045221. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.

"Mississippi: 2020 Census." US Census Bureau, 25 Aug. 2021, www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/mississippi-population-change-between-census-decade.html. Accessed 23 Oct. 2021.

Morris, Christopher. The Big Muddy: An Environmental History of the Mississippi and Its Peoples. Oxford UP, 2012.

Walton, Anthony. Mississippi: An American Journey. Vintage, 1997.

Jennifer Petersen