The Mississippi Portal
 |
 |
 | |
Mississippi (/ˌmɪsɪˈsɪpi/ (
listen)) is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississippi's western boundary is largely defined by the Mississippi River. Mississippi is the 32nd largest and 35th-most populous of the 50 U.S. states and has the lowest per-capita income in the United States. Jackson is both the state's capital and largest city. Greater Jackson is the state's most populous metropolitan area, with a population of 591,978 in 2020.
On December 10, 1817, Mississippi became the 20th state admitted to the Union. By 1860, Mississippi was the nation's top cotton-producing state and slaves accounted for 55% of the state population. Mississippi declared its secession from the Union on January 9, 1861, and was one of the seven original Confederate States, which constituted the largest slaveholding states in the nation. Following the Civil War, it was restored to the Union on February 23, 1870.
Until the Great Migration of the 1930s, African Americans were a majority of Mississippi's population. In 2020, 37.6% of Mississippi's population was African American, the highest percentage of any state. Mississippi was the site of many prominent events during the civil rights movement, including the Ole Miss riot of 1962 by white students objecting to desegregation, the 1963 assassination of Medgar Evers, and the 1964 Freedom Summer murders of three activists working on voting rights.
Mississippi frequently ranks low among U.S. states in measures of health, education, and development, while ranking high in measures of poverty. Top economic industries in Mississippi today are agriculture and forestry. Mississippi produces more than half of the country's farm-raised catfish, and is also a top producer of sweet potatoes, cotton and pulpwood. Other main industries in Mississippi include advanced manufacturing, utilities, transportation, and health services. (Full article...)
Selected article -
Did you know?
- ... that Nellah Massey Bailey became the first woman to be elected statewide in Mississippi in 1947, less than a year after the death of her husband Governor Thomas L. Bailey?
- ... that 19-year-old Union Army colonel Charles R. Ellet ran two separate steam-powered ram ships past the batteries at Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the American Civil War?
- ... that Barbara Yancy, who succeeded her husband in the Mississippi Senate after his death, later became an advocate for other widowed homemakers?
- ... that Mississippi legislator Thelma Farr Baxter introduced a bill to keep livestock off the roads after her husband was fatally injured in a highway collision with a cow?
- ... that the street from which Mississippi radio station WMPR broadcasts was renamed in honor of the station's longtime owner and general manager, former politician Charles Evers?
- ... that the owner of Mississippi radio stations WGUF and WGUF-FM purposefully fell behind on his royalty payments because he did not like copyright fees?
- ... that financial troubles at a television station in Florida led to the bankruptcy that caused the 1994 demise of Mississippi radio station WHSY?
- ... that the Enterprise, a black newspaper in Omaha, supported a separate African American department at the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition?
Related portals
General images -
Before 1945, times were good when the price of cotton was above 20 cents. (from History of Mississippi)
Battle of Brice's Crossroads (from History of Mississippi)
A Choctaw family in traditional clothing, 1908 (from Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians)
Confederate lines, Vicksburg, May 19, 1863. Shows assault by US 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry (from History of Mississippi)
Mt. Zion Church state history marker near Philadelphia, Mississippi (from Freedom Summer)
Memorial "commemorating the service of the 1st and 3rd Mississippi infantry regiments, and all Mississippians of African Descent who participated in the Vicksburg Campaign" (from History of Mississippi)
A poster showing the members of the 1890 Mississippian state constitutional convention. The members were overwhelmingly white Democrats; the only black member was a man who was allowed into the convention for his willingness to support black disenfranchisement. (from History of Mississippi)
From left to right, Chief Wesley Johnson, T. B. Sullivan, Culberson Davis, James E. Arnold, and Emil John. (from Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians)
A proposed route for the de Soto Expedition, based on Charles M. Hudson map of 1997. (from History of Mississippi)
Location of Mississippi Choctaw Indian Reservation (from Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians)
The legislature of the State of Mississippi in 1890 (from History of Mississippi)
Holly Bluff site, located in Yazoo County, Mississippi (from History of Mississippi)
Group of Mississippi Choctaw males in the late 50s or early 60s. Photograph by Bob Ferguson. (from Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians)
Map of Old Choctaw country in Mississippi before removal. (from Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians)
Newton Knight, Unionist leader of "The Free State of Jones" in Jones County, Mississippi (from History of Mississippi)
.png)
Selected picture -
WikiProjects
|
Hello! As a past or current member of WikiProject Mississippi, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Mississippi, you are cordially invited to edit, assess, and improve our coverage of all things Mississippi on Wikipedia! |
Mississippi topics
Topics: Constitution - Supreme Court - History - Music
Regions: Golden Triangle - Mississippi Plain - Mississippi Delta - Mississippi Gulf Coast - Natchez District - Pine Belt - Tennessee Valley
Cities: Biloxi - Clarksdale - Clinton - Columbus - Greenville - Gulfport - Hattiesburg - Jackson - Meridian - Olive Branch - Pascagoula - Pearl - Ridgeland - Southaven - Starkville - Tupelo - Vicksburg
Geography: Rivers - Lakes - Mountains - National forests - Islands - Wilderness areas - Natural disasters - Parks - State Parks
Industries: Agriculture - Oil
CDPs: Byram - Diamondhead - Kiln - Lyman - Pearlington - Saucier - Shoreline Park - West Hattiesburg
Metros: Gulfport‑Biloxi - Hattiesburg - Jackson - Memphis - Pascagoula
Statistics: Population
Lists: Mississippi-related lists
Categories
State symbols
| Flower | Magnolia | 
|
|---|---|---|
| Motto | Virtute et armis (By Valor and Arms) | |
| Nickname | The Magnolia State | |
| Toy | Teddy bear | |
| Rock | Petrified wood | |
| See: | Mississippi Symbols for more |
Things you can do
 |
Here are some tasks awaiting attention:
|
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikispecies
Directory of species -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Web resources
| Official State of Mississippi website |
- Mississippi Governor
- Mississippi Lieutenant Governor
- Mississippi Attorney General
- Mississippi Secretary of State
- Mississippi State Auditor
- Mississippi State Treasurer
- Mississippi State Insurance Commissioner
- Mississippi State Supreme Court
- Mississippi State Legislature
- U.S. Census Bureau Mississippi Data
- USDA Mississippi Statistical Facts
- USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Mississippi
