Arkansas is situated between parallels of 33^o and 36^o30' North Latitude, and 89^o41' and 94^o42' West Longitude. The climate is usually without extreme heat or cold, with average annual temperatures varying from 58 to 65 degrees. Rainfall varies from about 45 inches annually in the mountainous regions to approximately 50 to 55 inches in the Delta. An annual average snowfall ranges from 10.4 inches in the extreme northwest to 2.8 inches in the lowlands of the southeast. The growing season ranges from 180 days on the high plateau in the northwest to 240 days in the southeastern part of the state.


Geography

Arkansas is bounded on the north by Missouri; on the east by the Mississippi River, which separates it from Mississippi and Tennessee; on the south by Louisiana; and on the west by Oklahoma and Texas. In size, Arkansas stands 26th among the states with an area of 53,225 square miles. Of these, 9,740 miles are streams and 453,868 acres are lakes.

The state is about equally divided between lowlands and highlands, with the Gulf Coastal Plain on the east and south and the Interior Highlands on the west and north. Elevations in the lowlands range from 70 feet in the south to 700 feet in the northeast. The hill section is divided into two areas of nearly equal size. To the north are the Ozark plateaus and to the south is the Ouachita province. Between them flows the Arkansas River, through a wide valley included in the Ouachita subdivision. Highest elevation here is 2,823 feet.

The state's major rivers are the Mississippi, St. Francis, White, Arkansas, Red, Ouachita, and their tributaries, all of which drain to the south and southeast. Arkansas has scores of small streams and lakes. The plateau section is noted for the many springs.

Man-made lakes of major proportions have been created by the installation of flood control or power dams at Norfolk, Bull Shoals, Blue Mountain, Nimrod, Catherine, Hamilton, Ouachita and Greeson.


Geology

Arkansas has five major types of soil: the flat alluvial lands of the Delta, the fine silt and wind-deposited loess of Crowley's Ridge, the sandy loam of the forested Coastal Plain and the residual limestone of the Ozarks.

The state produces all crops normally grown in the temperate zone and, with the exception of citrus fruits, grows practically every crop produced in the United States. Arkansas ranks 19th among the states in the cultivated area with a total of 9.6 million acres in crop land.