Arkansas State Guide

Arkansas is a Southern state in the United States. The spelling and pronunciation of "Arkansas" reflect the state's heritage. The name is a French pronunciation of a Siouxan word meaning "land of downriver people" and was prescribed by law in 1881. It used to be illegal to mispronounce the name, so be careful!

Arkansas State Guide - Geography

The capital of Arkansas is Little Rock. Arkansas is the first state in the U.S. where diamonds were found naturally (near Murfreesboro, Arkansas).

The eastern border for most of Arkansas is the Mississippi River except in Clay and Greene counties where the St. Francis River forms the western boundary of the Missouri Bootheel. Arkansas shares its southern border with Louisiana, its northern border with Missouri, its eastern border with Tennessee and Mississippi, and its western border with Texas and Oklahoma.

Arkansas is a land of mountains and valleys, thick forests and fertile plains. Northwest Arkansas is part of the Ozark Plateau including the Boston Mountains, to the south are the Ouachita Mountains and these regions are divided by the Arkansas River; the southern and eastern parts of Arkansas are called the Lowlands.

The so called Lowlands are better known as the Delta and the Grand Prairie. The land along the Mississippi River is referred to as the "Delta" of Arkansas. It gets this name from the formation of its rich alluvial soils formed from the flooding of the mighty Mississippi. The Grand Prairie is slightly away from the Mississippi river in the southeast portion of the state and consists of a more undulating landscape. Both are fertile agricultural areas and home to much of the crop agriculture in the state.

Arkansas is home to many caves, such as Blanchard Springs Caverns.

Arkansas is home to many areas protected by the National Park System. These include:

* Arkansas Post National Memorial at Gillett
* Buffalo National River
* Fort Smith National Historic Site
* Hot Springs National Park
* Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
* Pea Ridge National Military Park

The Trail of Tears National Historic Trail also runs through Arkansas.

Arkansas State Guide - Climate

Arkansas has weather which borders on being a humid subtropical climate. While not bordering the Gulf of Mexico, Arkansas is still close enough to this warm, large body of water for it to be the main weather influence in the state. Generally, Arkansas has very hot, humid summers and mild, slightly drier winters. In Little Rock, the daily high temperatures average around 90° F in the summer and close to 50° F in the winters. Annual precipitation throughout the state averages between 40 and 50 inches getting gradually wetter as you go from west to east. Snowfall is not uncommon, but certainly not excessive in most years as the average snowfall is around 5 inches.

In spite of what seems like "average" weather, Arkansas can have extreme weather from time to time. Bordering both Great Plains states with their late spring supercell thunderstorms and Gulf States with frequent summer thunderstorms, Arkansas gets a combination of both averaging around 60 days of thunderstorms a year. While not considered part of "Tornado Alley", Arkansas does border Texas and Oklahoma, two states which are known for their tornadoes (and nearly borders another one, Kansas). As such, tornadoes are not an uncommon occurrence in Arkansas, and a few of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history have struck the state. While being sufficiently away from the coast to be safe from a direct hit from a hurricane, Arkansas can often get the remnants of a tropical system which dumps tremendous amounts of rain in a short time and often spawns smaller tornadoes. Arkansas can also have its share of freak winter storms which can disrupt the lives of its residents for several days., although that does not happen every year.

Arkansas State Guide - History

The first European who arrived in Arkansas was the Spaniard Hernando de Soto, explorer at the end of the 16th century. The early Spanish or French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is probably a phonetic spelling for the Illinois word for the Quapaw people, who lived downriver from them. Other Native American nations that lived in Arkansas prior to westward movement were the Quapaw, Caddo, and Osage Nations. While moving westward, the Five Civilized Tribes inhabited Arkansas during the territorial period. The Five Civilized Tribes are the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole. They were recognized as the "civilized tribes" because they eventually adopted Western customs such as plantation living and Christianity. Prior to statehood, it was known as the Arkansaw Territory.

On June 15, 1836, Arkansas became the 25th state of the United States as a slave state. Arkansas refused to join the Confederate States of America until after Abraham Lincoln called for troops to respond to the provoked attack of Fort Sumter by Confederates in South Carolina. It seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861. The state was the scene of numerous small-scale battles during the American Civil War. Arkansans of note during the Civil War include Confederate General Patrick R. Cleburne. Considered by many to be one of the most brilliant infantry generals of the war, Cleburne is often referred to as The Stonewall of the West. Also of note is Sam McGee. A wealthy plantation owner before the war, McGee served as a cavalry general during the conflict.

Under the Military Reconstruction Act, Congress readmitted Arkansas in June 1868.

In 1881, the Arkansas state legislature enacted a bill that adopted "arkansaw" as the official pronunciation - note the distinctive pronunciation of the last syllable.

Arkansas State Guide - Economy

The state's total gross state product for 2003 was $76 billion. Its Per Capita Personal Income for 2003 was $24,384, 50th in the nation. The state's agriculture outputs are poultry and eggs, soybeans, sorghum, cattle, cotton, rice, hogs, and milk. Its industrial outputs are food processing, electric equipment, fabricated metal products, machinery, paper products, bromine, and vanadium.

In recent years, automobile parts manufacturers have opened factories in eastern Arkansas to support auto plants in other states (though Arkansas does not yet have an auto plant itself, it is rumored to be a future site for a Toyota plant as well as for a truck plant to be built by Toyota subsidiary Hino Motors).

Tourism is also very important to the Arkansas economy; the official state nickname "The Natural State" was originally created (as "Arkansas Is A Natural") for state tourism advertising in the 1970's, and is still regularly used there to this day.

The effect of Tyson Foods, Wal-Mart, J.B. Hunt and other multinational companies located in NW Arkansas cannot be overstated. The area is currently in a long-running economic boom due to being the forefront of global trade. Wal-Mart alone accounts for $8.90 out of every $100 spent in U.S. retail stores.

Taxation

Arkansas imposes a state income tax with six brackets, ranging from 1.0% to 7.0%. The first $9,000 of military pay of enlisted personnel is exempt from Arkansas tax; officers do not have to pay state income tax on the first $6,000 of their military pay. Retirees pay no tax on Social Security, or on the first $6,000 in gain on their pensions (in addition to recovery of cost basis). Residents of Texarkana, Arkansas are exempt from Arkansas income tax; wages and business income earned there by residents of Texarkana, Texas are also exempt. Arkansas's gross receipts (sales) tax and compensating (use) tax rate is currently 6%. The state has also mandated that various services be subject to sales tax collection. They include wrecker and towing services; dry cleaning and laundry; body piercing, tattooing and electrolysis; pest control; security and alarm monitoring; self-storage facilities; boat storage and docking; and pet grooming and kennel services.

In addition to the state sales tax, there are more than 300 local taxes in Arkansas. Cities and counties have the authority to enact additional local sales and use taxes if they are passed by the voters in their area. These local taxes have a ceiling or cap; they cannot exceed $25 for each 1% of tax assessed. These additional taxes are collected by the state, which distributes the money back to the local jurisdictions monthly. Low-income taxpayers with a total annual household income of less than $12,000 are permitted a sales tax exemption for electricity usage.

Sales of alcoholic beverages account for added taxes. A 10% supplemental mixed drink tax is imposed on the sale of alcoholic beverages (excluding beer) at restaurants. A 4% tax is due on the sale of all mixed drinks (except beer and wine) sold for "on-premises" consumption. And a 3% tax is due on beer sold for off-premises consumption.

Property taxes are assessed on real and personal property; only 20% of the value is used as the tax base.

Arkansas State Guide - Education

Centers of research

* Arkansas Cherokee Indian Research
* Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center website
* National Center for Toxicological Research website

Colleges and universities

* University of Arkansas System
   o University of Arkansas at Fayetteville
   o University of Arkansas at Fort Smith
   o University of Arkansas at Little Rock
   o University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
   o University of Arkansas at Monticello
   o University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
* Arkansas Arts Center
* Arkansas Baptist College
* Arkansas Tech University
* Central Baptist College
* Harding University
* Henderson State University
* Hendrix College
* John Brown University
* Lyon College
* Northwest Arkansas Community College
* Ouachita Baptist University
* Philander Smith College
* Southern Arkansas University
* University of Central Arkansas
* University of the Ozarks
* Williams Baptist College
* Arkansas State University System
   o Arkansas State University - Jonesboro
   o Arkansas State University - Beebe
   o Arkansas State University - Mountain Home
   o Arkansas State University - Newport
   o Arkansas State University - Marked Tree
   o Arkansas State University - Heber Springs
   o Arkansas State University - Searcy

Article Source: Wikipedia