Oscar USA: Mississippi.

(From Malay Mail)

Byline: DANIEL CHAN

MISSISSIPPI, in south central USA bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, is named after the country's second longest river, at 3,780km (longest is the Missouri at 4,120km).

Three actresses and two actors from this state have been acting contenders in the 77 years of the Academy Awards to date, and three of the five are African-Americans.

Also, all of them did not win.

They are James Earl Jones, Diane Ladd, Beah Richards, Eric Roberts, and Oprah Winfrey.

But first, a little more history and geography.

This territory came under the French in 1682, was then handed to the British after the Seven Years War (1756-63), and Mississippi was created in 1798.

During the American Civil War (1860-65), Mississippi seceded from the union and was a major battleground.

Though the Rebels lost, racial segregation continued for a century until the 1960s when Mississippi became a focus of the Civil Rights Movement.

Primarily an agricultural state, Mississippi is the leading producer of cotton in the US, and other major crops are hay and soya bean, along with dairy farming.

The main industries are oil and natural gas, clothing, wood …