Ark-La-Tex
Region
DowntownShreveport, Louisiana, in 2015
DowntownLongview, Texas, in 2016
Broad Street inTexarkana, Arkansas, in 2016
Country	United States
State	Arkansas Louisiana Oklahoma Texas
Principal cities	Shreveport Bossier City Longview Texarkana Nacogdoches Marshall Ruston El Dorado Natchitoches Idabel
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,469,860
Time zone	UTC−6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Area codes	318,430 and 903,870,580

TheArk-La-Tex (a portmanteau ofArkansas,Oklahoma,Louisiana, andTexas; also stylized asArklatex orArkLaTex) is a socio-economic region where theSouthernU.S. states ofArkansas,Oklahoma,Louisiana, andTexas join together.^[1] The region contains portions ofNorthwest Louisiana,Northeast Texas, andSouth Arkansas as well asOklahoma's southeasternmost county,McCurtain County (part ofChoctaw Country).

The population of the 40-county core region as of 2020 is 1,469,860 people, down from 1,515,056 in 2010.^[a]Shreveport, Louisiana, with 187,593 people in 2020, is the largest city, economic and geographic center of the region, and principal hub for both theShreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area and Northwestern Louisiana.Longview, Texas, with a population of 81,683 people in 2020, is the second-largest city as well as a principal city of the Tyler–Longview metropolitanconurbation andGreater Longview metropolitan area.^[2][3] Thetwin cities ofTexarkana, Texas, andTexarkana, Arkansas, are the fourth- and sixth-largest cities, respectively, but collectively make up the region's third-largest metropolitan area (with a combined population exceeding 140,000 residents) as the center of theTexarkana metropolitan area encompassingMiller County, Arkansas, andBowie County, Texas. Other cities in the Ark-La-Tex with 20,000 or more residents includeBossier City, Louisiana;Nacogdoches, Texas;Marshall, Texas; andRuston, Louisiana.

The counties in the area's western section are largely part of theEast Texas region (except for McCurtain County, Oklahoma, which is part of the Choctaw Country tourist region) and mainly encompass the Tyler–Longview–Lufkin–Nacogdoches television market area, while the counties and parishes in the eastern half of the region are included in the Shreveport–Texarkana television market. However, some Arkansas counties—under certain, looser definitions of the Ark-La-Tex region—in northwesternmost areas of the southwestern section of the state are included in theLittle Rock viewing area.

Although use of the term to refer to the tri-state region dates back to the early 1900s, the name "Ark-La-Tex" was popularized regionally by a Shreveport Chamber of Commerce promotional campaign developed in 1932–33 to increase tourism in the area.^[4]

The campaign, dubbing the area as "The Land of Arklatex", was based on the idea that "the interests of all the people in the Tri-state area of South Arkansas, North Louisiana and East Texas are practically identical in matters pertaining to agriculture, industry, commerce and trade, and education." The region is alternatively, although seldom in most media and promotional parlance, referred to as "Arklatexoma", which more inclusively encompasses McCurtain County and other parts of extreme Southeastern Oklahoma that lie along the Red River.^[5][6]

The Ark-La-Tex covers over 14,000 square miles (36,000 km²) across the four-state area;^[7] if the Ark-La-Tex were a U.S. state, it would be larger thanMaryland. Most of the Ark-La-Tex is located in thePiney Woods, anecoregion of dense forests of mixeddeciduous andconifer flora. The forests are periodically punctuated bysloughs andbayous that are linked to larger bodies of water such asCaddo Lake or theRed River. Three of the fourNational Forests located within the Piney Woods of East Texas are wholly or partially within the Ark-La-Tex boundaries:Angelina National Forest (spanningAngelina,Nacogdoches,San Augustine andJasper counties),Sabine National Forest (nearHemphill) andDavy Crockett National Forest (between Lufkin andCrockett).

The Red River is the principalmainstem waterway in the region, exiting from the eastern end ofLake Texoma and running generally east along the Oklahoma–Texas border towards Southwestern Arkansas (entering it near the state line betweenLittle River County, Arkansas, andBowie County, Texas) before turning southward northwest ofTexarkana (in so doing, forming the eastern border ofMiller County) and passing into Northwestern Louisiana. The bordering Louisiana cities ofShreveport andBossier City were developed along the river bank; its span within the Ark-La-Tex ends inNatchitoches Parish, Louisiana (where the Red River spans to the adjacent northwest of the parish'snamesake county seat), at its intersection withGrant andRapides parishes.

As with all vernacular regions, the Ark-La-Tex has no official boundaries or status and is defined differently by various sources.^[1][8] Most definitions of the Ark-La-Tex delineate the region as encompassing 40 parishes and counties, and most weather radars suggest a 40-county or -parish area.^[9][10]

Alternate definitions can include eight additional Texas counties (Lamar,Delta,Hopkins,Franklin,Wood,Smith,Cherokee, andAngelina), include theMonroe, Louisiana metropolitan area andOuachita Parish, Louisiana (which is considered part of the Ark-La-Miss region), exclude the counties encompassing theEl Dorado, Arkansas micropolitan area, or exclude McCurtain County, Oklahoma. McCurtain County is usually included in the region's areal definition, primarily formedia distribution purposes, even though theOklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation formally defines it as being part of itsChoctaw Country tourism region.^[11] Another alternate definition is solely the vicinity of the Ark-La-Tex region's three principal cities, Shreveport, Longview, and Texarkana.

The Ark-La-Tex is situated in ahumid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classificationCfa) typical of the Southeastern United States, albeit occasionally interrupted by intrusions of cold air during the winter months. Rainfall is abundant, with the normal annual precipitation averaging over 51 inches (1.3 m) in some areas (such as Shreveport), with monthly averages ranging from less than three inches (76 mm) in August to more than five inches (130 mm) in June. Portions of East Texas within the region receive more rainfall, 35 to 60 inches (890 to 1,520 mm), than the rest of the state.^[12] Due to the flat topography of some areas and the prominence of smaller waterways that are prone to backwater flooding from theRed River, communities occasionally experience severe flooding events. A notable occurrence of severe flooding occurred in March 2016, after torrential rains caused a rapid rise of many local waterways, displacing upwards of 3,500 people from their homes across Caddo and Bossier parishes and adjacent areas of Northwest Louisiana that lie along the Red River.^[13][14]Freezing rain andice storms occasionally occur during the winter months.

Severe thunderstorms with heavy rain,hail, damaging winds andtornadoes occur in the area during the spring and summer months, although severe weather can also occur during the winter months. The region is in the western section of the "Dixie Alley" tornado climatology region, where tornadogenesis is most often attributed byhigh precipitation supercell thunderstorms—within which tornadoes are often partially or fully wrapped in curtains of heavy rain, impairing them from being seen bystorm spotters andchasers, law enforcement, and the public—due to an increase of moisture from proximity to the nearbyGulf of Mexico. Some areas of the region, such as Bossier City, average a slightly above normal rate of tornadoes when compared to the national average. The winter months are normally mild; Shreveport, in particular, averages 35 days of freezing or below-freezing temperatures per year. Ice andsleet storms occasionally occur during this timeframe. The summer months are hot and humid, with high to very high relative average humidity, often as a result of moisture being advected from the Gulf of Mexico; in Shreveport, maximum temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) an average of 91 days per year.

TheNational Weather Service (NWS) operates aWeather Forecast Office in Shreveport, which provides local weather forecasts and warnings, watches and advisories for hazardous weather conditions for 39 counties and parishes within the greater Ark-La-Tex region.

List of cities with over 3,500 people (in 2020):

The culture of the Ark-La-Tex region, and especially its music, shows a mixture of influences from the related, but distinct, cultures of its surrounding states. The music of the area is marked by country and blues sounds typical of themusic of the Southern United States, the Westernmusic of Texas, and the well-documented music ofNew Orleans andAcadiana inLouisiana.^[16][17] The area had a significant role in the development of country and rock-and-roll music, beginning in the 1940s. On March 1, 1948, Shreveport radio stationKWKH launched a country music variety show called theArk-La-Tex Jubilee, followed a month later by the long-running and influentialLouisiana Hayride program.^[18]Hayride director Horace Logan and regular performerWebb Pierce started amusic publishing company called Ark-La-Tex Music.^[19][20] DrummerBrian Blade, a Shreveport native, included a song entitled "Ark.La.Tex." on his 2014 albumLandmarks, exploring the mixture of musical influences in his home region.^[21]

The region containsStephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, part of theUniversity of Texas System, andLouisiana Tech University, a public research university in Ruston, which are the largest public institutions of higher education in the Ark-La-Tex. Named afterStephen F. Austin, who led the second and most successful colonization of the region that would become the state of Texas through the migration of300 families from other parts of the United States in 1825, the former of the two major universities was founded as a teachers' college in 1923 as a result of legislation authored byState SenatorWilfred Roy Cousins, Sr.^[22] Louisiana Tech opened in 1894 (as the Industrial Institute and College of Louisiana) to provide educational subjects pertaining to the arts and sciences for the development of anindustrial economy in Louisiana post-Reconstruction.^[23] In the 1960s the school (then named Louisiana Polytechnic Institute) became desegregated, and allowed integrated classes with white and black students; after it achieved criteria of aresearch university under the leadership of President F. Jay Taylor, the university officially adopted its current name in 1970. Louisiana Tech also operates a satellite campus in Shreveport as well as classes at the Academic Success Center andBarksdale Air Force Base Instructional Site in Bossier City, and at theCenturyLink corporate headquarters inMonroe. Ruston is also home to a branch campus of Monroe-basedLouisiana Delta Community College.

The Shreveport–Bossier City area is home to several colleges; among them, theMethodist-affiliatedCentenary College of Louisiana (originally founded in theEast Feliciana Parish town ofJackson in 1825, eventually relocating to Shreveport in 1908),Louisiana Baptist University and Theological Seminary (founded in 1973),Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport (opened in 1969 as the onlymedical school in northern Louisiana) and one of the largest nursing schools in northern Louisiana, theNorthwestern State University College of Nursing (opened in 1949) as well as satellite campuses ofLouisiana State University (opened as a two-year institution in 1967, and expanded into a four-year college in 1976),Southern University (opened in 1967 with a two-yearassociate's degree program). Longview, Texas, is home toLeTourneau University, a private, four-year Christian university founded byR.G. LeTourneau in 1946, originally as LeTourneau Technical Institute. Inclusively, Tyler, Texas is also home to satellite higher education campuses through theUniversity of Texas System by way of theUniversity of Texas at Tyler (opened in 1971 as Tyler State College) and theUniversity of Texas Health Center at Tyler (opened in 1947 as the East Texas Tuberculosis Sanitarium and chartered into The University of Texas System in 1977 by the system's Board of Regents) as well as one of two independent institutions,Tyler Junior College (opened in 1926).

The Texarkana metropolitan area is home toTexas A&M University–Texarkana, a four-year satellite branch of theTexas A&M University System (founded as an upper-level extension college ofEast Texas State University in 1971), andTexarkana College (a publiccommunity college formed in 1927 as a branch of theTexarkana Independent School District and separated into an independent institution via a public vote in 1941). Arkadelphia is home to twoliberal arts institutions:Henderson State University (founded in 1890 as Arkadelphia Methodist College), which is the only member of theCouncil of Public Liberal Arts Colleges based in Arkansas and announced plans to join theArkansas State University System in October 2019,^[24][25] andOuachita Baptist University, a private,Baptist college affiliated with theArkansas Baptist State Convention (opened in 1886).

The area also houses severalhistorically black colleges and universities (HBCU). The largest of these,Grambling State University, located in the namesake Lincoln Parish town of Grambling (four miles [6.4 km] west of the Louisiana Tech University campus), was founded in 1901 as the Colored Industrial and Agricultural School. The university was created out of the desire of African-American farmers in rural areas of northern Louisiana to educate other black residents in that section of the state; it moved to its present location in 1905 (as the North Louisiana Agricultural and Industrial School) and became a statejunior college (renamed the Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute) by 1928, when it began offering two-year professional certificates and diplomas to graduates. Grambling received accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in 1949. Other HBCUs in the region includeTexas College in Tyler (opened in 1894),Jarvis Christian College inHawkins (aChristian-based HBCU founded in 1912), andWiley College in Marshall (a private liberal arts college founded in 1873 byMethodist Episcopal ChurchBishop Isaac Wiley and certified in 1882 by theFreedman's Aid Society, which is one of the oldest predominantly black colleges west of the Mississippi River).^[26]

• Athens Daily Review – Athens (Daily, except Sundays and Mondays)
• Bossier Press-Tribune – Bossier City (Bi-weekly)
• Coushatta Citizen - Coushatta (Daily/Morning)
• The Daily Sentinel – Nacogdoches (Daily/Morning)
• Longview News-Journal – Longview (Daily)
• Lufkin Daily News – Lufkin (Daily)
• Marshall News Messenger – Marshall (Daily/Morning)
• McCurtain County Gazette – Idabel (Daily/Morning)
• Natchitoches Times – Natchitoches (Daily/Morning)
• Ruston Daily Leader – Ruston (Daily, except Saturdays)
• Texarkana Gazette – Texarkana, AR (Daily/Morning)
• The Times – Shreveport (Daily/Morning)
• Tyler Morning Telegraph – Tyler (Daily/Morning)

Shreveport Regional Airport (IATA:SHV;ICAO:KSHV), located off Hollywood Avenue in southwestern Shreveport, is the region's primary commercial airport. Established in 1952, Shreveport Regional is served byAllegiant Air (with flights toMcCarran International Airport inLas Vegas andOrlando Sanford International Airport),American Airlines (toDallas/Fort Worth International Airport),Delta Air Lines (toHartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport),GLO Airlines (toLouis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport), andUnited Airlines (as United Express, toGeorge Bush Intercontinental Airport inHouston andDenver International Airport).Shreveport Downtown Airport (IATA:DTN; ICAO:KDTN), built in 1931 and located north of downtown Shreveport along the Red River, is the city'sgeneral aviation airport and also serves as a reliever airport for Shreveport Regional Airport, itself built to replace the Downtown Airport as Shreveport's main commercial airport due to the limited growth that could be made to that facility due to its close proximity of the Red River.

General and limited commercial aviation is additionally available at several smaller airfields in the Ark-La-Tex;Tyler Pounds Regional Airport (IATA:TYR; ICAO:KTYR), a city-owned public use airport in Tyler; offers service to and from Dallas/Fort Worth International and, on a seasonal basis, Denver International, respectively, viaAmerican Eagle andFrontier Airlines.East Texas Regional Airport (IATA:GGG; ICAO:KGGG), located nine miles (14 km) south of Longview, is used for general aviation and military training but also provides connector service to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport viaAmerican Airlines and American Eagle.Texarkana Regional Airport (IATA:TXK; ICAO:KTXK), a city-owned public use facility located 3.4 miles (5.5 km) northeast of Texarkana, Arkansas'scentral business district, mainly providesgeneral aviation travel but is also served by American Eagle. Exclusively general aviation service is provided byAngelina County Airport (IATA:LFK; ICAO:KLFK), located 8.05 miles (12.96 km) southwest of downtown Lufkin; A.L. Mangham Jr. Regional Airport (IATA:OCH; ICAO:KOCH), located one mile (1.6 km) outside Loop 224 northwest of TX State Highway 7; andNatchitoches Regional Airport (ICAO:KIER), located 2.3 miles (3.7 km) south of downtown Natchitoches.

The Ark-La-Tex is an integral point on theUnited States Interstate Network, with three major interstate highways—Interstate 20,Interstate 30, andInterstate 49—servicing the region, connecting five of the region's largest cities, Tyler, Longview, Marshall, Shreveport and Bossier City. Interstates 20 and 49—the latter of which has its northern terminus at the intersection of the former of the two Interstates—bisect Shreveport, intersecting withI-220 andLA Highway 3132 (which both serve as bypass routes connecting the northern and southern parts of Shreveport) on the city's west side, withU.S. 171 in downtown Shreveport, and withI-220 in central Bossier Parish (north ofBarksdale Air Force Base, at which point it begins sharing an overlap withU.S. 71 as it traverses eastward towardsMonroe).

The region is a point within the planned extension of the otherwise presently disjointedInterstate 69. A branch of the Interstate (I-369) presently runs north onU.S. 59 within Texas fromTenaha to Texarkana, where the span will eventually connect to Interstates 30 and 49. In response to widespread opposition from environmental groups and property rights activists, theTexas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) announced in June 2008 that it would complete I-69 through upgrades to the existing spans of U.S. 59,U.S. 77 andU.S. 281 to Interstate standards through rural areas, with bypasses around urban centers along the route, which will be financed through private sector investment. An approximately 350-mile (560 km) portion of the I-69 extension to extend from south ofClarksdale, Mississippi, to the Louisiana/Texas state line will be built as a new-terrain route that parallels existing U.S. and state highways in some areas. One of the current segments, SIU 16, covers areas of East Texas to the northeast ofNacogdoches, extending until it terminates atU.S. 171 nearStonewall. Another segment, SIU 15, continues over the southern and eastern sections ofShreveport, crossingI-49 and ending atI-20 nearHaughton.^[27] The third existing segment, SIU 14, extends northeast from I-20 toUS 82 nearEl Dorado, Arkansas.^[28]

River transportation is available through two inland multi-modal transportation and distribution centers along the Red River: the 2,300-acre (3.6 sq mi) Port of Caddo-Bossier, located at the head of navigation on the J. Bennett Johnston Waterway (4 miles [6.4 km] south of Shreveport on LA Highway 1), and the 700-acre (1.1 sq mi) Natchitoches Parish Port, located on Louisiana Highways 6 and 486 (U.S. 71/U.S. 84) inCampti, Louisiana on the only slack water port on the Red River. The Port of Caddo-Bossier began loading its first cargo in 1995, and has (as of 2019^[update]) received more than nine million tons of barge freight and over eight million tons of rail freight. The port—which houses more than 17 freight and shipping companies—links the Ark-La-Tex to domestic and international markets via theMississippi River, and theGulf Intracoastal Waterway.^[29] Bossier City hosts threeriverboat casino gambling resorts along the east bank of the Red River:Margaritaville Resort Casino,Horseshoe Bossier City, andBoomtown Bossier City.

• Ark-La-Tex
• Regions of the United States
• Regions of Louisiana
• Regions of Texas
• Regions of Arkansas
• Geography of Shreveport, Louisiana
• Red River of the South
• Texarkana

• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from July 2017
• Articles with permanently dead external links
• Use American English from February 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages using infobox settlement with no coordinates
• Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2019
• All articles containing potentially dated statements
• Louisiana articles missing geocoordinate data
• All articles needing coordinates
• Articles missing coordinates without coordinates on Wikidata