Arkansas, State, south-central U.S. Area: 53,179 sq mi (137,732 sq km). Population: (2020) 3,011,524; (2023 est.) 3,067,732. Capital: Little Rock. Arkansas is bordered by Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Oklahoma, and its highest point is Mount Magazine, at 2,753 ft (839 m). The earliest inhabitants were Indian bluff dwellers along the Mississippi River c. 500 ce. Mound-building cultures later left burial mounds along the river. Spanish and French explorers traversed the region in the 16th–17th century; the first permanent European settlement was founded at Arkansas Post in 1686. Acquired by the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase, Arkansas Territory was established in 1819; the state’s current boundaries were fixed in 1828. Arkansas became the 25th state in 1836. It seceded in 1861 to join the Confederacy in the American Civil War; it was readmitted to the Union in 1868. Following Reconstruction, a rigid policy of segregation lasted until 1957, when court-ordered desegregation of the schools was implemented. Once dominated by agriculture, the state’s economy now also includes mining and manufacturing. Tourism is promoted, especially by the mineral springs at Hot Springs National Park and resorts in the Ozark Mountains.
