For many grade school children, Mississippi was the first spelling challenge they faced. In many ways, Mississippi remains a challenging state. Mississippi has the lowest per capita personal income in the country, but it also has the lowest cost of living. Though they may not have much, Missippians are generous with what they do have-they consistently rank first in per capita charitable donations. Perhaps this is the font of Mississippi’s reputation for warm, Southern hospitality.

Though it sits on the delta of the Mississippi River, after which the state is named, over half of Mississippi is forested. Oak, hickory, maple, pine and willow forests blanket the state, and serve as one of the largest bastions of its economy-timber. Mississippi is called the Magnolia State for the fragrant flowers that grow on its many magnolia trees. What isn’t forested in Mississippi seems to be underwater. Indeed, almost 1,500 miles of Mississippi terrain is underwater. Not surprisingly, then, the Delta and riverbeds hold up other major parts of Mississippi’s economy. Riverboat gaming has created a growing tourist industry in the state, and the Delta, which used to be a cotton-growing powerhouse, now tries to support itself with the auto parts facilities that have begun to relocate to the region. There are still some cotton, sugarcane and rice operations in the region.

While the Mississippi Delta may be past its agriculturally productive days, the area always has been and is still culturally productive. This part of the state is a birthplace for jazz, blues and rock and roll. Sam Cooke, B.B. King and Muddy Waters are from the Delta, as are Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, Jim Henson, Shelby Foote, Tennessee Williams and Eudora Welty. Famous Mississippians from outside the Delta include Oprah Winfrey, the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, himself, Elvis Presley, and authors William Faulkner, Richard Wright and John Grisham. Other famous Mississippians include Tammy Wynette, LeAnn Rimes and Faith Hill.

Missippians celebrate several jazz and blues festivals, including the Deep Delta Blues Festival, the B.B. King Homecoming Festival, the Highway 61 Blues Festival, the Sunflower River Blues Festival and the First Friday Jazz Festival. Other popular festivals include the Italian Festival of Mississippi, the World Catfish Festival, the Leland Crawfish Festival, Summerfest, The Great Delta Bear Affair, Oktoberfest and the Delta Air and Balloon Festival. Indeed, there is at least one festival for every month of the year, and usually there are two or three.