Mississippi State Facts, Symbols and History

Mississippi Fast Facts

Capital: Jackson (popularity). 175,710 (2008 est.)

Mississippi population: 2,984,926 ( 2012 est.) (31st)

Mississippi Quarter The fifth and final quarter, released in 2002, honored Mississippi and 20th in the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters® Program.Mississippi was admitted to the Union on December 10, 1817, becoming our National 20th State. Called the “Magnolia State,” the Mississippi quarter displays the beauty and elegance of the state’s flower by combining the blossoms and leaves of two magnolias.The coin bears the inscription “State of Magnolia”.

Language: English, others

Largest Cities: (by population) Jackson, Gulfport, Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Meridian, Greenville

Name: The name, Mississippi, is derived from an Indian word meaning “Father Waters”

Statehood: December 10, 1817 (20th state)

Mississippi symbols

• Animal: white-tailed deer
• Bird: mockingbird
• Fish: Largemouth (black) bass
• Flag of Mississippi
• Flower and tree: magnolia
• Motto: Virtute and Armis (“By Valor and Hands”)
• Nicknames: (most used) Magnolia State; Bayou state
• Official Butterfly: Spicebush Forked Tail
• Song: “Go Mississippi”
• State seal
• Stone: fossil wood

Mississippi Geostatistics

• Land area:
  (land)46,907 sq. miles
  (water) 1,520 sq. miles
  (TOTAL) 48,427 sq. miles
• Land area: (all states)
• Horizontal Width: 191 miles from the far southwest border of Louisiana, direct east to the Alabama border
• Vertical Length: 333 miles from the Gulf Coast, north to the Tennessee borderNote: Maximum lengths and widths are two-point, rectilinear measurements from the Mercator map projection and will vary some uses of other map projections
• Border States: (4) Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama
• Districts: (82) map
• County: (largest in population) Hinds, 250,900
• Geographic Center: Approximately 9 miles to WNW Carthage in Leek County
• Highest Point: Mount Woodall 806 feet.
• Lowest Point: Gulf of Mexico, 0 ft.
• Latitude and longitude
• Average Elevation: 311 ft.

Mississippi – a state in the south of the United States, the 20th state in a row, which became part of the union state. Population 2,984,926 (2012 data). The capital and largest city is Jackson. The official nickname is “Magnolia State” (Magnolia State), unofficial – “State of hospitality.” See cities and towns in Mississippi.

The Mississippi covers an area of 125,546 km. The state borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, Louisiana to the southwest, and Arkansas to the northwest. In the south, the Mississippi is washed by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The state got its name from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western border.
At the beginning of the second millennium AD, the so-called “Indian Mississippi culture” was developed in the state. The first Europeans to explore the region were the Spaniards, who arrived here in 1540 as part of the expedition of Hernando de Soto.

The Mississippi Territory was admitted to the United States as a state on December 10, 1817.

• AbbreviationFinder: Demonstrates how the two-letter acronym of MS stands for Mississippi and a list of frequently used abbreviations related to the state of Mississippi.

The state lies on the gently rolling Coastal Plain. Within the state, a low and flat area stands out between the Mississippi River and its left tributary of the Yazoo River, bounded from the east by a low ridge and called Delta. It is distinguished by the most fertile chernozem-like soils. Summer – hot and humid throughout the state, except for the northeast, where there is no such suffocating heat. Winter is warm, the average January temperature rises from 6°С of precipitation from north to south, on average about 1300 mm per year.

In winter, a small amount of snow falls. The largest river is the border Mississippi with tributaries Yazoo and Big Black. Over half of the state is covered with forests, mostly pine, in the north – deciduous. There are 7 national parks in the state. One of the features of the state is the regular arrival of tornado hurricanes from the Gulf of Mexico, especially the southern part of the state suffers. On average, 27 tornadoes of varying strength and duration pass through the state per year.

According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2003 Mississippi’s GDP was $72 billion, or $23,466 per capita.