Mississippi Mississippi is a southern state of the United States. Postal abbreviation: MS. Official (long) name: State of Mississippi. The state takes its name from the Mississippi River, which flows along the western boundary. The name itself probably comes from Native American words with various spellings that mean "large waters" or "father of the waters." Other nicknames attached to Mississippi are the Magnolia State and the Hospitality State. USS Mississippi was named in honor of this state. History The Mississippi Territory was organized on April 7, 1798, from territory ceded by Georgia and South Carolina and was later twice expanded to include disputed territory claimed by both the U.S. and Spain. Mississippi was the 20th state admitted to the Union, on December 10, 1817. It was the second state to secede from the Union as one of the Confederate States of America on January 9, 1861. During the Civil War the Confederate States were defeated and subsequently Mississippi was readmitted to the Union on February 23, 1870. The state was the last to repeal prohibition, in 1966. On August 17, 1969 Category 5 Hurricane Camille hit the Mississippi coast killing 248 people and causing US$1.5 billion in damage (1969 dollars). Law and Government capital: Jackson After the Civil War, perceived mistreatment of Southerners during Reconstruction by the federally-appointed Republican governors led to considerable resentment toward the Republican party. As a result, Mississippi's state government had a very long unbroken record of single-party dominance. For 116 years, from 1876 to 1992 Mississippians only elected Democrat governors. For most of that time period, Democrats also held the majority of seats in the state legislature not to mention most other elected offices, including the state's federal representation (although some Republicans began to win Congressional elections in the 1970s). As with all other U.S. States and the federal government, Mississippi's government is based on the separation of legislative, executive and judicial power. Executive authority in the state rests with the Governor, currently Haley Barbour (Republican). The Lieutenant Governor, currently Amy Tuck (originally elected as a Democrat, she switched to the Republican party in 2002), is elected on a separate ballot. Both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are elected to four-year terms of office. Unlike the federal government, but like many other U.S. States, most of the heads of major executive departments are elected by the citizens of Mississippi, rather than appointed by the governor. (See: list of Mississippi Governors.) Legislative authority resides in the state legislature, composed of the Senate and House of Representatives. The Lieutenant Governor presides over the Senate, while the House of Representatives selects their own Speaker. The state Constitution permits the legislature to establish by law the number of Senators and Representatives, up to a maximum of 52 Senators and 122 Representatives. Current state law sets the number of Senators at 52 and Representatives at 122. The term of office for Senators and Representatives is four years. (See: List of state legislatures of the United States.) Supreme Judicial authority rests with the state Supreme Court, which has statewide authority. In addition, there is a statewide Court of Appeals, as well as Circuit Courts, Chancery Courts and Justice Courts, which have more limited geographical jurisdiction. The nine Judges of the Supreme Court are elected from three districts (three Judges per district) by the state's citizens in non-partisan elections to eight-year staggered terms. The ten Judges of the Court of Appeals are elected from five districts (two Judges per district) for eight-year staggered terms. Judges for the smaller courts are elected to four-year terms by the state's citizens who live within that court's jurisdiction. At the federal level, Mississippi's two U.S. senators are Trent Lott (Republican) and Thad Cochran (Republican). As of the 2001 reapportionment, the state has 4 congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives. Mississippi has 82 counties. Citizens of Mississippi counties elect the five members of their county Board of Supervisors from single-member districts, as well as other county officials. See: List of Mississippi counties Geography See: List of Mississippi counties Mississippi's geographical and political features Physical Geography: Mississippi is bounded by Tennessee on the north, Alabama on the east, the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana on the south, and on the west, across the Mississippi River, the states of Louisiana and Arkansas. Mississippi's physical geography is characterized by two distinct regions: the Mississippi River Floodplain and the Gulf Coastal Plain. The Mississippi Floodplain runs along the western part of the state, adjacent to the Mississippi River, and includes the Mississippi Delta region, one of the most fertile regions in the world. Between the southwest corner and Vicksburg the Floodplain extends only a few miles east of the river, but north of Vicksburg it extends eastward to the Yazoo River, forming a large, leaf-shaped region, the Mississippi Delta. The Gulf Coastal Plain covers all the rest of the state and can be divided into nine distinct regions. The Tennessee and Tombigbee Rivers' Hills occupy the northeastern part of the state, where Woodall Mountain, near Iuka, is the state's highest point, at 806 feet above sea level. West of the Hills is the Black Prairie, a narrow, fertile, crescent-shaped lowland with few trees. Along the western border of the Black Prairie rises the Pontotoc Ridge, from the Tennessee state line to near Ackerman. North Mississippi also includes the Flatwoods, a narrow crescent of sticky clay soil adjacent to both the Tennessee and Alabama borders. Additionally, the North Central Hills occupy all of north-central Mississippi and extend as far southeast as Clarke County. To the west, the Loess Hills (or Bluff Hills) another series of uplands run along the edge of the Floodplain. These hills border the eastern edge of the Delta in the north and then curve westward following the line of the Mississippi River below Vicksburg. South of the North Central Hills, the Jackson Prairies, a belt of fertile farmland, run northwest to southeast from Yazoo County into Wayne County. All of southern Mississippi except for a strip along the gulf, is covered with the Long Leaf Pine Hills (a.k.a. Piney Woods) south of the Jackson Prairies, and is the state's chief timber-producing area. Along the southern edge of the panhandle lie the Coastal Meadows. The lowest part of the state, along the estuary known as the Mississippi Sound, lies at sea level. The western part of the state is drained by the Mississippi River and three of its tributaries -? the Yazoo, Big Black, and Homochitto rivers. The extreme northeastern corner lies in the basin of the Tennessee River. The rest of the state drains southward into the Gulf of Mexico, mainly through the Pearl, Pascagoula, and Tombigbee rivers. National parks The National Park Service administers the Natchez Trace Parkway, which runs approximately 300 miles southwest to northeast across Mississippi from Natchez in Adams County, then west and north of Jackson, then north past Kosciusko and Starkville, near Pontotoc and Tupelo, where the Parkway headquarters are located, until it enters northwest Alabama from Tishomingo County. Additionally, Mississippi's four barrier islands, Horn Island, Cat Island, East and West Ship Islands, and Petit Bois Islands form part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. Demographics In 2000, Mississippi's population was 2,844,658. Mississippi's population in 2003 was estimated at 2,881,281. 2000 Census rankings: 1st among the 50 states in its percentage of blacks; 45th in its percentage of Hispanics/Latinos. The 2000 Census data on the racial/ethnic makeup of Mississippi is as follows:   White persons (a) 61.4% Black or African American persons (a) 36.3% American Indian and Alaska Native persons (a) 0.4% Asian persons (a) 0.7% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander persons (a) (z) Persons reporting some other race (a) 0.5% Persons reporting two or more races 0.7% Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin (b) 1.4% White persons, not of Hispanic/Latino origin 60.7%   (a) Includes persons reporting only one race. (b) Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories. (z) Value greater than zero but less than half unit of measure shown. Source: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/08000.html. Racial Makeup: Until about 1940 African Americans made up a majority of Mississippians. However, this has changed, as Mississippi is now 36.3% black. A few thousand Native Americans (mostly Choctaw) live in the east central section of the state. The small Chinese population found in the Delta is descended from farm laborers brought there from California in the 1870s. The Chinese did not adjust well to the Mississippi plantation system, however, and most of them became small merchants. The coastal fishing industry has attracted Southeast Asian refugees. The white population of Mississippi is remarkably homogeneous. More than 98 percent native-born of native stock, whites are predominantly of British, Irish, and northern European descent. The black, Choctaw Indian, and Chinese segments of the population are also almost entirely native-born. Religious Makeup: Mississippi's religious affiliations largely consist of Protestant denominations, particularly Baptists and United Methodists. The Roman Catholic population is found primarily in urban areas and on the Gulf Coast. The Jewish population is also mainly concentrated in urban areas. Important cities and towns Jackson Gulfport Biloxi Natchez Vicksburg Columbus Greenville Greenwood Kosciusko Tupelo Hattiesburg Grenada Ridgeland Clinton Florence Richland Picayune Bay St. Louis Hernando Holly Springs Moss Point Meridian Oxford Laurel McComb Batesville Flowood Madison Brandon Clarksdale Yazoo City Pearl Brookhaven Pascagoula Pontotoc Poplarville Corinth Southaven Starkville West Point D'Iberville Itta Bena Woodville Port Gibson Canton Gautier Petal Cleveland Waveland Winona Education Colleges and universities Alcorn State University Belhaven College Blue Mountain College Delta State University Jackson State University Magnolia Bible College Millsaps College Mississippi College Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Mississippi State University Mississippi University for Women Mississippi Valley State University Rust College Tougaloo College University of Mississippi University of Mississippi Medical Center University of Southern Mississippi William Carey College Miscellaneous information State motto: "Virtute et Armis" (By Valor and Arms) State song: "Go, Mississippi", adopted 1962 Patron saint: Our Lady of Sorrows State flower and state tree: Magnolia State bird: Mockingbird State beverage: Milk State fish: Largemouth Bass State insect: Honeybee State water mammal: Bottlenose Dolphin State shell: Oyster State fossil: A whale fossil nicknamed "ziggy" State land mammal: White-tailed Deer State waterfowl: Wood duck State stone: Petrified wood State wildflower: Coreopsis State butterfly: Spicebush Swallowtail State dance: Square Dance Statehood Quarter was minted in 2002. Pledge to the Flag: "I salute the flag of Mississippi and the sovereign state for which it stands with pride in her history and achievements and with confidence in her future under the guidance of Almighty God." State of Mississippi symbols See also List of Mississippians State Treasurers of Mississippi The Mississippi Company External link http://www.state.ms.us FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi