Introduction

Nicknamed of Arkansas is "Land of Opportunity". Arkansas is the only state in which diamonds have been mined, although today the mine operates only as a tourist attraction. The state flower is the apple blossom.
The Arkansas Folk Festival is an annual celebration of traditional Ozark culture, held the third weekend in April in Mountain View, Arkansas. Highlights are a parade, folk music concerts and workshops, a blacksmith shop and demonstrations of such crafts as making soap, brooms, candles, pottery, dolls and toys.

The Ozark region is characterized by many underground streams and springs. Tourism is one of the region''s chief industries and was given a boost by Harold Bell Wright''s novel The Shepherd of the Hills, which romanticized the Ozarks.

Food products are the state''s largest employing sector, with lumber and wood products a close second. Arkansas is also a leader in the production of cotton, rice, and soybeans. It also has the country''s only active diamond mine; located near Murfreesboro, it is operated as a tourist attraction.

Hot Springs National Park and Buffalo National River in the Ozarks are major state attractions. Blanchard Springs Caverns, the Arkansas Territorial Restoration at Little Rock, and the Arkansas Folk Center in Mountain View are also of interest.

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