 Mississippi
Information
Capital
City: Jackson
Economy: Industry,
agriculture, textiles tourism, gambling and fishing.
Language Description:
English
Passport/Visa U.S.:
Canadians need to show proof of citizenship accompanied by a photo
ID (we recommend a passport). Reconfirm travel document requirements
with your carrier prior to departure.
Population: 2,768,620
Religion: Christian
(Roman Catholic, Protestant), though other major religions are represented.
Time Zone: 6 hours
behind Greenwich Mean Time (-6 GMT). Daylight Saving Time is observed
from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October
Voltage Requirements: 110
volts
Mississippi's
Flag: The committee to design a State Flag was appointed
by legislative action February 7, 1894, and provided that the flag
reported by the committee should become the official flag. The committee
recommended for the flag "one with width two-thirds of its
length; with the union square, in width two-thirds of the width
of the flag; the ground of the union to be red and a broad blue
saltier thereon, bordered with white and emblazoned with thirteen
(13) mullets or five-pointed stars, corresponding with the number
of the original States of the Union; the field to be divided into
three bars of equal width, the upper one blue, the center one white,
and the lower one extending the whole length of the flag.
History of Mississippi: First
explored for Spain by Hernando De Soto, who discovered the Mississippi
River in 1540, the region was later claimed by France. In 1699,
a French group under Sieur d'Iberville established the first permanent
settlement near present-day Ocean Springs. Great Britain took over
the area in 1763 after the French and Indian Wars, ceding it to
the U.S. in 1783 after the Revolution. Spain did not relinquish
its claims until 1798, and in 1810 the U.S. annexed West Florida
from Spain, including what is now southern Mississippi. For a little
more than one hundred years, from shortly after the state's founding
through the Great Depression, cotton was the undisputed king of
Mississippi's largely agrarian economy. Over the last half-century,
however, Mississippi has progressively deepened its commitment to
diversification by balancing agricultural output with increased
industrial activity. Today, agriculture continues as a major segment
of the state's economy. While the most acreage is devoted to soybeans,
cotton is the largest cash crop—Mississippi remains third
in the nation in cotton production. The state's farmlands yield
important harvests of corn, peanuts, pecans, rice, sugar cane, sweet
potatoes, soybeans, and food grains as well as poultry, eggs, meat
animals, dairy products, feed crops, and horticultural crops. Mississippi
remains the world's leading producer of pond-raised catfish. Mississippi
boasts 100,000 of the 140,000 total acres nationwide of catfish
ponds. The state abounds in historical landmarks and is the home
of the Vicksburg National Military Park. Other National Park Service
areas are Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site, Tupelo National
Battlefield, and part of Natchez Trace National Parkway. Pre–Civil
War mansions are the special pride of Natchez, Oxford, Columbus,
Vicksburg, and Jackson. Copyright ? Information Please, a Division
of Family Education Company. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Other Mississippi Links:
Department
of Economic and Community Development
Mississippi Department of Education
Mississippi Division of Tourism Development
Mississippi Web Sites
Mississippi Economic Council
Mississippi Municipal Association |
