<P> The Mississippi Delta is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi ( and small portions of Arkansas and Louisiana ) which lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers . The region has been called `` The Most Southern Place on Earth '' ( `` Southern '' in the sense of `` characteristic of its region , the American South '' ) , because of its unique racial , cultural , and economic history . It is 200 miles long and 87 miles across at its widest point , encompassing circa 4,415,000 acres , or , some 7,000 square miles of alluvial floodplain . Originally covered in hardwood forest across the bottomlands , it was developed as one of the richest cotton - growing areas in the nation before the American Civil War ( 1861 -- 1865 ) . The region attracted many speculators who developed land along the riverfronts for cotton plantations ; they became wealthy planters dependent on the labor of black slaves , who comprised the vast majority of the population in these counties well before the Civil War , often twice the number of whites . </P>
<P> The Mississippi Delta is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi ( and small portions of Arkansas and Louisiana ) which lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers . The region has been called `` The Most Southern Place on Earth '' ( `` Southern '' in the sense of `` characteristic of its region , the American South '' ) , because of its unique racial , cultural , and economic history . It is 200 miles long and 87 miles across at its widest point , encompassing circa 4,415,000 acres , or , some 7,000 square miles of alluvial floodplain . Originally covered in hardwood forest across the bottomlands , it was developed as one of the richest cotton - growing areas in the nation before the American Civil War ( 1861 -- 1865 ) . The region attracted many speculators who developed land along the riverfronts for cotton plantations ; they became wealthy planters dependent on the labor of black slaves , who comprised the vast majority of the population in these counties well before the Civil War , often twice the number of whites . </P>
where is the mississippi delta located on a map
where is the mississippi delta located on a map
northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi ( and small portions of Arkansas and Louisiana )
northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi ( and small portions of Arkansas and Louisiana )