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NATURAL STATE AREA: 137,754 sq km (53,187 sq mi). POPULATION: 2,453,000. CAPITAL: Little Rock, pop. 176,900. ECONOMY: Industry: food processing, electric equipment, fabricated metal products, machinery, paper products, bromine, vanadium. Agriculture: poultry and eggs, soybeans, sorghum, cattle, cotton, rice, hogs, milk. PCI: $16,900. Admission: 1836 as 25th state.
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Migrants from the southern Appalachians settled the forested Ozark Plateau and Ouachita Mountains in the early 19th century. Meanwhile, rich black soils along the Mississippi River attracted cotton planters to the east and south. Cotton has declined somewhat, but Arkansas now leads the nation in rice and broiler chickens and ranks high in soybeans and sorghum. No other place in the world produces more bromine and no other state more vanadium, used in metal alloys. Hot Springs National Park and the scenic Ozarks attract a growing number of visitors.
The number of urban residents only recently exceeded that of country dwellers; Little Rock and Fort Smith are the largest cities.
Text source: National Geographic Atlas of the World Revised Sixth Edition, 1995
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