Choctaw County, Mississippi
| Choctaw County, Mississippi | |
|---|---|
 Location in the U.S. state of Mississippi |
|
 Mississippi's location in the U.S. |
|
| Founded | 1833 |
| Named for | Choctaw people |
| Seat | Ackerman |
| Largest town | Ackerman |
| Area | |
| • Total | 420 sq mi (1,088 km2) |
| • Land | 418 sq mi (1,083 km2) |
| • Water | 1.7 sq mi (4 km2), 0.4% |
| Population | |
| • (2010) | 8,547 |
| • Density | 20/sq mi (8/km²) |
| Congressional district | 1st |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
Choctaw County is a county located in the central part of U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,547. Its northern border is the Big Black River, which flows southwest into the Mississippi south of Vicksburg. The county seat is Ackerman. The county is named after the Choctaw tribe of Native Americans, who long occupied this territory as their homeland before being forced to move west of the Mississippi River by federal troops under the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 420 square miles (1,100 km2), of which 418 square miles (1,080 km2) is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km2) (0.4%) is water. The Big Black River forms the county's northern border.
The table to the right reflects major decreases in population from 1910 to 1920, and from 1940 to 1960. These were periods of the Great Migration from the South by African Americans, who first moved to jobs in industrial cities in the North and Midwest. In the 1940s and after, they moved to the West Coast for jobs in the defense industry. Farm work declined with mechanization of agriculture. But blacks also migrated to escape the violence and social repression of Mississippi, where they had been essentially disenfranchised since 1890 and lived under Jim Crow laws.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 8,543 people residing in the county. 68.1% were White, 30.2% African American, 0.3% U.S. Census, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.1% from some other race and 1.1% of two or more races. 1.4% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
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