  thumb|right|300px the mississippi delta is the distinctive northwest section of the u.s. state of mississippi that lies between the mississippi and yazoo rivers. the region has been called "the most southern place on earth"james c. cobb, the most southern place on earth: the mississippi delta and the roots of regional identity (1992) ("southern" in the sense of "characteristic of its region, the american south") because of its unique racial, cultural, and economic history. it was 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 for cotton plantations; they became wealthy planters dependent for labor on black slaves, who comprised the majority of population in these counties well before the civil war. african americans developed the musical forms of blues and jazz. the majority of residents in several counties in the region are still black, although more than 400,000 blacks left the state in the 20th century great migration to northern, midwestern, and western industrial cities. as the agricultural economy does not support many jobs or businesses, the region has worked to diversify. at times the region has suffered heavy flooding from the mississippi river, notably in 1927 and 2011. ==geography== technically the area is not a delta but part of an alluvial plain, created by regular flooding over thousands of years. this region is remarkably flat and contains some of the most fertile soil in the world. it includes all or part of the following counties: washington, western desoto, humphreys, western carroll, issaquena, western panola, quitman, bolivar, coahoma, leflore, sunflower, sharkey, tate, tunica, tallahatchie, western holmes, western yazoo, western grenada and warren. the river delta at the mouth of the mississippi lies some 300 miles south of this area, and is referred to as the [[mississippi river
Landforms_of_Mississippi Mississippi_River Regions_of_Mississippi River_deltas_of_the_United_States