Dontia Durham12/6/111st pd.

MississippiMississippi takes its name from the Mississippi River, which runs along the state's western border. The Indians called the river the "Father of Waters." The word "Mississippi" probably comes from "mici zibi," a Chippewa Indian word meaning "great river" or "gathering-in of all the waters." Mississippi is nicknamed the "Magnolia State" because of its beautiful magnolia trees. Mississippi residents are sometimes called "Mudcats," after the catfish found in the state's streams.

Capital

State Seal When Mississippi gained statehood in 1817, it decided to use the seal that it had been using since 1798 when Mississippi was still a territory. And even today, this is Mississippi's Great Seal. The design of the seal is based upon the American eagle of the national arms.

The eagle is proudly positioned in the center of the seal, with its wings spread wide and its head held high. A bunting of stars and stripes adorns its chest. In its talons, the eagle grasps an olive branch symbolizing a desire for peace and a quiver of arrows representing the power to wage war. The outer circle of the seal holds the words "The Great Seal of the State of Mississippi".

State Flag

The official state flag of Mississippi was adopted in 1894, replacing the older Magnolia Flag (which had been adopted in 1861, after Mississippi seceded from the union). Today's Mississippi state flag has a small Confederate Battle Flag in the upper left corner (it is also called the "union square"). There are thirteen white stars on a St. Andrew's Cross, and horizontal blue, white and red stripes.

State Bird

Found in all sections of Mississippi, the cheerful Mockingbird was selected as the official State Bird by the Women's Federated Clubs and by the State Legislature in 1944.

State Flower & Tree

“Magnolia”

Area

Mississippi is an East South Central state bordered by Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, Mexico to the west, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south.48,434 square miles .Mississippi is the 32nd biggest state in the USA]

Elevation• This elevation map of Mississippi

illustrates the number of feet or meters the state rises above sea level. As you can see, virtually all of Mississippi resides at, or less than 500 feet above, sea level. In the northeast, sandy hills rise above 500 feet.

• Mississippi's low point is sea level at the Gulf of Mexico.

• Only 806 feet above sea level, Woodall Mountain, in Tishomingo County, is the highest point in Mississippi. Woodall Mountain is located about 17 miles southeast of Corinth and five miles southwest of Iuka in the northeast part of the state.

Population

• 2010 resident population: 2,967,297 [Mississippi is the 31st most populous state in the USA]Name for Residents - Mississippians

Economy• Mississippi is traditionally one of the more rural states in the Union; not

until 1965 did manufacturing take over as the leading revenue-producing sector of its economy. In 2000, Mississippi ranked third in the nation in the production of cotton, but soil erosion resulting from over cultivation and the destruction caused by the boll weevil have led to the increased agricultural diversification. The other most important crops are rice and soybeans. Today broiler chicken production, aquaculture (chiefly catfish raising), and dairying are increasingly important. The state's most valuable mineral resources, petroleum and natural gas, have been developed only since the 1930s. Industry has grown rapidly with the development of oil resources and has been helped by the Tennessee Valley Authority and by a state program to balance agriculture with industry, under which many communities have subsidized and attracted new industries. Revenue from industrial products, including chemicals, plastics, foods, and wood products, have exceeded those from agriculture in recent years. On the Gulf coast there is a profitable fishing and seafood processing industry, and gambling is important along the Gulf Coast and in long impoverished Tunica County, in the northwest. There are military air facilities at Columbus, Biloxi, and Meridian, as well as the Stennis Space Flight Center at Bay St. Louis. The state's per capita income, however, has been among the lowest in the nation for decades.

Statehood

• the original Mississippi Territory created by the U.S. Congress in 1798 was a strip of land extending about 100 miles (160 km) north to south and from the Mississippi River to the Chattahoochee on the Georgia border. The territory was increased in 1804 and 1812 to reach from Tennessee to the Gulf of Mexico. In 1817 the western part achieved statehood as Mississippi (the eastern part became the state of Alabama in 1819). Natchez, the first territorial capital, was replaced in 1802 by nearby Washington, which in turn was replaced by Jackson in 1822.

Abbreviation

State Motto

Virtute et Armis(By Valor and Arms)

Government Senators : Thad Cochran (class 1) ,

Roger Wicker(class 2) Representatives : Travis Childers,

Bennie Thompson, Charles Pickering ,Gene Taylor

6 Electoral Votes82 Counties

State SongWith waving flags and hip-hoo-rays,Let cymbals crash and let bells ring

'Cause here's one song I'm proud to sing.Go, Mississippi, keep rolling along,

Go, Mississippi, you cannot go wrong,Go, Mississippi, we're singing your song,

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-IGo, Mississippi, you're on the right track,

Go, Mississippi, and this is a fact,Go, Mississippi, you'll never look back,

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-IGo, Mississippi, straight down the line,

Go, Mississippi, ev'rything's fine,Go, MIssissippi, it's your state and mine,

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-IGo, Mississippi, continue to roll,

Go, Mississippi, the top is the goal,Go, Mississippi, you'll have and you'll hold,

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-IGo, Mississippi, get up and go,

Go, Mississippi, let the world know,That our Mississippi is leading the show,

M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I