MS · Magnolia State · South · admitted 1817 (#20)
Mississippi map
Mississippi highlighted on the US map, with Jackson as both capital and largest city. The state takes its name from the river that forms its whole western border.
- Capital
- Jackson
- Largest city
- Jackson
- Population (2020)
- 2,961,279
- Area
- 48,432 sq mi
- Counties
- 82
- Time zone
- Central
- Region
- South · East South Central
- Statehood
- December 10, 1817
Where Mississippi is
Mississippi is in the Deep South on the east bank of the Mississippi River. It measures about 340 miles north to south and 170 miles east to west. Tennessee lies to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana to the south, and Louisiana and Arkansas to the west across the river. Jackson is in the centre of the state on the Pearl River. The northwest quarter, between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, is the flat alluvial Delta; the rest is low rolling hills and pine forest sloping toward a short Gulf shore at Biloxi and Gulfport.
Major cities
| City | Region of state | Population (2020) |
|---|---|---|
| Jackson (capital) | Central Mississippi | 153,701 |
| Gulfport | Gulf Coast | 72,926 |
| Southaven | North Mississippi (Memphis suburbs) | 54,648 |
| Biloxi | Gulf Coast | 49,449 |
| Hattiesburg | Pine Belt (south) | 48,730 |
| Olive Branch | North Mississippi (Memphis suburbs) | 39,711 |
| Tupelo | Northeast Mississippi | 37,159 |
| Meridian | East Mississippi | 35,052 |
Geography
- Woodall Mountain — 807 feet, the highest point, in the northeast corner near Iuka.
- Mississippi River — the entire western border for about 400 miles, from the Tennessee line to below Natchez. See the Mississippi River map.
- The Delta — the Yazoo–Mississippi floodplain from Memphis to Vicksburg, about 200 miles long and 70 miles wide, among the most fertile land in the country.
- Pearl, Pascagoula and Tombigbee rivers — the Pearl flows through Jackson to the Gulf, forming the lower Louisiana border; the Pascagoula reaches the Gulf in the southeast; the Tombigbee drains the northeast to Alabama via the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway.
- Gulf Coast — about 44 miles of general coastline on Mississippi Sound, sheltered by barrier islands (Ship, Horn, Petit Bois); the lowest point is sea level. See the Gulf of Mexico map.
- Ross Barnett Reservoir — the largest lake, on the Pearl River above Jackson; Sardis and Grenada lakes are large flood-control reservoirs in the north.
Borders
The Mississippi River border with Arkansas and Louisiana is natural, though the river's shifting course has left parcels of each state on the wrong bank. The rest of the western Louisiana line follows the 31st parallel east from the river to the Pearl, and then the Pearl River south to the Gulf. The Tennessee border is a surveyed line near the 35th parallel and the Alabama border is a straight surveyed line running from the Tennessee River south to the Gulf, angled slightly east of due south in its lower half.
Regions of Mississippi
The Delta (Greenville, Clarksdale, Greenwood), North Mississippi and the Hills (Oxford, Tupelo, the Memphis suburbs in DeSoto County), the Golden Triangle (Columbus, Starkville, West Point), Central Mississippi (Jackson, Vicksburg, Meridian), the Piney Woods or Pine Belt (Hattiesburg, Laurel), Southwest Mississippi (Natchez) and the Gulf Coast (Gulfport, Biloxi, Pascagoula).
Related maps
- Mississippi county map — all 82 counties with seats.
- Blank Mississippi map — outline for printing.
- Printable Mississippi map.
- Jackson — the capital on the Pearl River since 1822.
- Neighbors: Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas.
- Region: South · East South Central · Gulf Coast.
- Time zone: Central.
- Geography: Mississippi River, Gulf of Mexico, US rivers.