The Four State Area is a term used to describe the area where the borders of Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 and Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

 abut. The Tulsa, Oklahoma Joplin, Missouri

Joplin, Missouri Metropolitan Area

The Joplin Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties – Jasper and Newton – in southwest Missouri, anchored by the city of Joplin...

 and Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas

Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Area

The Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area as defined by the United States Census Bureau is a four-county area including three Arkansas counties and one Missouri county...

 metropolitan areas are located within the region. Notable cities and towns in the area are Tulsa, Oklahoma; Pittsburg, Kansas; Joplin, Missouri; and Fayetteville/Bentonville, Arkansas.

The area is partially located in the Ozarks. Oil and Gas production, as well as Coal mining were and continue to be a large part of the region's industry. Today, a major driver of the region's economy is Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...

, the world's largest retail company, whose headquarters are in Bentonville. Also headquartered nearby in Northwest Arkansas are Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods, Inc. is a multinational corporation based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork only behind Brazilian JBS S.A., and annually exports the largest percentage of beef out of...

, the world's largest processor of chicken, beef, and pork (Springdale

Springdale, Arkansas

As of the census of 2010, there were 69,797 people, 22,805 households, and 16,640 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 64.7% White, 0.82% Black or African American, 1.8% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 5.7% Pacific Islander, 22% from other races, and 2.9% from two or more...

); and major trucking and transportation company J. B. Hunt

J. B. Hunt

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. is a trucking and transportation company that was founded by Johnnie Bryan Hunt, and based in the Northwest Arkansas city of Lowell. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. was incorporated in Arkansas on August 10, 1961 and originally started with five trucks and...

 (Lowell

Lowell, Arkansas

Lowell is a city in Benton County, Arkansas, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 7,327. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area....

). The city of Joplin, Missouri is the most centrally located city in the Four States Area.

Media

Outside of Tulsa, the largest city in the Four States Area by far, the area is covered primarily by two television markets. The Joplin/Pittsburg market covers the counties in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas (KOAM-TV

KOAM-TV

KOAM-TV is a television station in Pittsburg, Kansas broadcasting on channel 7 and affiliated with CBS. The station also serves Joplin, Missouri, along with the Four State Area region of Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. KOAM-TV transmits from Columbus, Kansas, and is the sister station to...

's call letters stand for Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri). The Fort Smith market covers the counties in northwest Arkansas. Not all the stations are in Fort Smith. The NBC affiliate is in Rogers while a translator for the ABC affiliate and one of the stations in the state's PBS network are in Fayetteville.

The majority of the households in the market are served by stations in the Tulsa, Oklahoma metropolitan area, including KOTV, KTUL, KJRH, and KOKI.

Education

There are several universities located in the Four States. Missouri Southern State University

Missouri Southern State University

Missouri Southern State University is a public, state university located in Joplin, Missouri. Missouri Southern State University was formerly Missouri Southern State College and is also known as Missouri Southern, MSSU, or MoSo for short. Established in 1937 as Joplin Junior College, Missouri...

 is located in Joplin. Pittsburg State University

Pittsburg State University

Pittsburg State University, also called Pitt State or PSU, is a public university with approximately 7,100 students located in Pittsburg, Kansas, United States. A large percentage of the student population consists of residents within the Pittsburg region; the gender proportion is relatively equal...

 is located in Pittsburg. Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College

Located in the small former mining town of Miami, Oklahoma, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, commonly referred to as NEO, is a two-year community college with programs in Agriculture, Livestock Judging, Nursing, Physical Therapist Assistant, Theatre, Social Science, and a variety of other...

 is located in Miami. University of Arkansas

University of Arkansas

The University of Arkansas is a public, co-educational, land-grant, space-grant, research university. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with very high research activity. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and is located in...

 is located in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Naming

Industries use the term to describe the region as a whole - businesses often name themselves Four State ______ to attempt to describe the area they wish to serve. Interstate 44

Interstate 44

Interstate 44 is a major highway in the central United States. Its western terminus is in Wichita Falls, Texas at a concurrency with US 277, US 281 and US 287; its eastern terminus is at the Illinois state line on the Poplar Street Bridge over the Mississippi River in St...

, Route 60

U.S. Route 60

U.S. Route 60 is an east–west United States highway, running from the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast in Virginia to western Arizona. Despite the final "0" in its number, indicating a transcontinental designation, the 1926 route formerly ended in Springfield, Missouri, at its intersection...

, Route 69

U.S. Route 69

U.S. Route 69 is a north–south United States highway. When it was first created, it was only long, but it has since been expanded into a Minnesota to Texas cross-country route. The highway's southern terminus is in Port Arthur, Texas at an intersection with State Highway 87...

 and Route 71

U.S. Route 71

U.S. Route 71 is a north–south United States highway. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstate highways. Currently, the highway's northern terminus is in International Falls, Minnesota at the Canadian border, at the southern end of the Fort...

 serve the area. The historic Route 66

U.S. Route 66

U.S. Route 66 was a highway within the U.S. Highway System. One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926 -- with road signs erected the following year...

also runs through the region.