Arkansas is a state located within the southern area of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. The state of Arkansas shares borders together with six states: Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, and its eastern border is mainly defined by the Mississippi River. Its diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ouachita Mountains and the Ozarks, which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River. The most densely inhabited and capital city is Little Rock, situated in the central portion of the state.
During 2010, the gross domestic product for the state of Arkansas was $103 billion. In 2004, the per capita household median income was $35,295, based on the Census Bureau of the US. Agricultural production within the state consists of poultry and eggs, soybeans, cattle, sorghum, cotton, rice, milk and hogs. Its industrial outputs are electric equipments, food processing, fabricated metal products, machinery, paper products, bromine, and vanadium.
As of August 2011, the state's unemployment rate is 8.3%.
Arkansas is home to lots of international company head offices, like for instance Wal-Mart, J.B. Hunt and Tyson Foods. This area of the state has experienced an economic boom ever since the 1970s as a result.
In recent years, automobile components manufacturers have opened factories in eastern Arkansas in order to support auto plants in various states.
Tourism is also really essential to the Arkansas economy; the official state nickname "The Natural State" was initially created for state tourism advertising during the 1970s, and is still regularly used to this day.
Forbes.com has ranked the state of Arkansas as the 21st best for The Best States for Business, 40th for Labor, 9th for Business Cost, 22nd for Regulatory Environment, 17th for Economic Climate, 34th in Gross Domestic Products, 9th for Growth Prospects, and positive economic change of 3.8% or ranked 22nd.
The state of Arkansas likewise ranks 3rd in terms of channel catfish aquaculture, with around 19,200 acres (78 km2) under catfish farming during the year 2010. The peak of catfish farming in the state was during the year 2002, when 38,000 acres (150 km2) were under farming. During the year 2007, the state's catfish producers generated sales of $71.5 million, 16% of the whole U.S. market. The state of Arkansas was the very first state to develop commercial catfish farms in the late 1950s. The number of catfish farms within the state of Arkansas grew through the 1990s as farmers entered the catfish business as a way to provide additional income in a time of low prices for soybeans and cotton. Banks loaned money to support what they saw as a steady source of revenue.