The state of Arkansas is situated in the southeast of the United States. It’s also known by the nickname ‘The Natural State’. Many explorers have crossed the territory of Arkansas driven by its diverse nature and new possibilities. Even today Arkansas boasts diversity, not only in nature and wildlife but also in population. Take a look below for 30 incredible and awesome facts about Arkansas.
1. Among the early European explorers to visit Arkansas in the mid-16th century, was Spaniard Hernando De Soto.
2. Later on, the Frenchman Henri de Tonti was the one who founded the first permanent white settlement in 1686.
3. The state of Arkansas became a separate territory in 1819 and achieved its statehood in 1836.
4. Arkansas, a slave state became the ninth state to secede from the union and join the Confederate States of America.
5. Today, among the 50 states in the area Arkansas ranks 27th.
6. Except for Louisiana and Hawaii, Arkansas is the smallest state west of the Mississippi River.
7. Arkansas’ neighbouring countries are Missouri to the north, Tennessee, and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma to the west.
8. Early French explorers used the name Arkansas to refer to the Quapaw people, an indigenous group in the area, as well as to the river along which they settled.
9. The state capital, Little Rock, is located in the central part of the state.
10. Arkansas has a diverse landscape. The Ozark and Ouachita mountains stand opposite the rich, flat, river-laced agricultural lands.
11. Established in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt, Ouachita National Forest in the western portion of Arkansas rules as the oldest national forest in the South.
12. What’s interesting about the Ouachita Mountains is that their ridges run east to west as opposed to north to south.
13. Covering 1.2 million acres the Ozark National Forest has more than 500 species of trees and woody plants.
14. The territory now known as Hot Springs National Park in central Garland County, Arkansas was originally set aside by Congress as a U.S. government reservation years before Yellowstone National Park was established as the “first” national park.
15. The hot springs have been used for centuries as therapeutic baths due to its average temperature of 143 degrees Fahrenheit.
16. Since the 1830s celebrities as diverse as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, and Al Capone bathed in the Hot Springs National Park.
17. The park is surrounded by the city of Hot Springs, the boyhood home of ex-President Bill Clinton.
18. The Arkansas River valley has the highest point in the state, Mount Magazine, which rises to 2,753 feet (839 metres).
19. Numerous mountains in the Ouachita Province reach heights of about 2,500 feet (760 metres).
20. In 1957, the focus of national attention was on the Little Rock Central High School when federal troops were deployed to the campus to enforce integration.
21. The school became a battlefield in the fight for civil rights when the Arkansas National Guard denied nine African-American students entry in 1957.
22. On the 25th of September, the students attended their first full day of school under federal troop chaperon by the order of President Dwight Eisenhower.
23. Every Arkansas governor between 1874 and 1967, was a member of the Democratic Party.
24. Since the 1970s the cultural and economic outline of Arkansas has changed, as the swift economic and urban development in selected areas brought population growth and increased diversity.
25. In the 1980s and ’90s under the governorship and U.S. presidency of Arkansas native Bill Clinton, the state had an arrival of immigrants from outside the South. Although most came from other regions of the U.S., many moved from abroad, from Asia and Mexico.
26. Arkansas is the nation’s leading manufacturer of rice and poultry. Nearly every crop produced in the United States except for citrus fruits is grown in Arkansas.
27. Arkansas is also known to have many natural resources like petroleum, natural gas, bromine, and silica stone.
28. The state was responsible for providing roughly 90% of all domestic Bauxite, from which aluminium is made throughout the 20th century.
29. If you love diamonds then you’re probably familiar with the fact that Arkansas is the only U.S. state that actively mines diamonds.
30. Enthusiastic prospectors are allowed to search for precious gems including diamonds, amethyst, garnet, jasper, agate, and quartz in the Crater of Diamonds State Park. Interesting right?
