Nicknamed the Natural State, Arkansas was the twenty-fifth state to
enter the Union (June 15, 1836). It is located in the western south-central United States, bordered by Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, and Tennessee. Arkansas ranks twenty-seventh in size
among the fifty states, with a total area of 53,187 square miles (137,754
square kilometers).
The first Europeans to explore Arkansas were Spaniards, led by
Hernando de Soto (c.1496–1542), in 1541. Prior to their appearance,
the region was inhabited by Quapaw, Caddo, Osage, and Choctaw as
well as Cherokee tribes.
In 2006, Arkansas ranked thirty-second in the nation’s population,
with an estimated total of 2,810,872 residents. Its capital city, Little
Rock, was home to just under 185,000 people. Although much of
Arkansas’s population was once African American, the state lost a substantial portion of its farm population during the Great Depression
(1929–41; a worldwide economic crisis), and many African Americans migrated to industrialized states to look for work. Modern Arkansas is
predominantly white.
Although Arkansas has a diverse manufacturing economy ranging
from textiles to bicycle production and including a major woodworking
industry, its economy continues to be enhanced by the cotton industry.
Other major agricultural industries in the state include soybeans, poultry, and fish farming. Arkansas is home to more than fifty Fortune 500
firms, including Tyson Foods and Wal-Mart Stores.
Arkansas is a poor state. In 2004, 17.9 percent of its population lived
below the poverty line, which made Arkansas the fifth poorest state in
the nation. In 2003, 18 percent of the state’s total population had no
health insurance. Of that population, 47 percent had family members
who worked full time, year-round.
In 1957, the Little Rock school system became the site for public
controversy when the school board announced its voluntary compliance
with the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision,
which called for the desegregation of public schools. On September 5
of that year, nine African American students attempted to enter Central
High School. (See Little Rock Central High School Desegregation.)
Governor Orval Faubus (1910–1994) ordered the National Guard to take
over the school to prevent these children from attending. Guardsmen
were removed via court order later that month. By 1980, Central High
was one of the most racially balanced schools in the South.