Part of the land obtained from Napoleon Bonaparte in the Louisiana Purchase, Arkansas is home to a captivating variety of terrain from Mountains – the Ozarks, Bostons, and Ouachitas – to valleys and forests, to the rich alluvial plains bordering the eastern part of the state adjacent to the Mississippi River. This topographical richness, the beauty of its many rivers, and the presence of many areas protected by the National Park System have earned Arkansas its nickname: The Natural State. Also home to many caves, Arkansas is the first U.S. state in which diamonds were found and today has the country’s only operating diamond mine.
The state’s 2,800,000+ population earns a per capita household median income of $35,295. Arkansas produces poultry products, cattle, rice, hogs, and milk, is home to the headquarters of several global companies including Wal-Mart, J.B. Hunt, and Tyson Foods, and in recent years has become host to factories that manufacture automobile parts.
Roads
Interstate 30: At 364 miles in length, I-30 has a mile for almost every day of the year. 143 of those miles wind through Arkansas including Little Rock where it meets I-40 and has spur routes at I-430, I-460, and L-530.
Interstate 40: I-40 is on the short list of major east-west highways in America and runs from Barstow, California to Wilmington, North Carolina, a total of more than 2,500 miles. Its 284 miles in Arkansas include intersections with Interstate 30 in Little Rock, and a spur route of I-540 in Fort Smith.
Interstate 55: A north-south route that begins at Laplace, Louisiana and terminates at Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive (I-10), I-55 spends 72 miles in eastern Arkansas intersecting with I-40 in the city of West Memphis.