Mississippi Info
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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
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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 |
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