Covering most of the eastern third of the state, the 1st divides into three geographic regions: the hilly northwest, the Mississippi River Delta and, between them, the alluvial plain. Though soybeans flourish on the fertile bottomland along the river, and rice thrives on the plain, the 1st is the state's poorest district and the one with the strongest Old South flavor. In keeping with a tradition that goes back to the Civil War, most of the white voters here support Democratic candidates, particularly in local races.

The large corporate farms in this area, like the cotton plantations that preceded them, sprawl over tens of thousands of acres and coexist with poor, largely black communities. Farm employment has declined annually since the 1940s. Until the 1980s, there was some work in small mills along the river, but many of those jobs went overseas, exacerbating generations-old poverty. Double-digit unemployment is common in many counties.

The Delta counties along the Mississippi River have large black populations and are solidly Democratic. Though all the counties lost population during the 1980s, the Delta still accounts for about one-quarter of the district vote.

The largest city in the Delta is West Memphis (Crittenden County), with just over 28,000 people; it is a trucking center and bedroom community for Memphis, Tenn. North of there is the somewhat smaller city of Blytheville (Mississippi County). In 1988, Blytheville attracted 500 new jobs with the opening of Nucor-Yamato Steel Co., a U.S.-Japan venture, and in 1992 Nucor opened another plant on its own. But the city suffered a blow in 1992 when Blytheville Air Force Base closed, eliminating 3,000 military and 600 civilian jobs.

The Ozark Mountain counties in the northwestern part of the 1st are culturally distant from the Delta. Home to annual fiddle contests and outhouse races, most of these counties grew during the 1980s with an influx of retirees, many of them from the North. These newcomers diluted the area's traditional Democratic vote and helped put the 1st in the Republican column for president in 1984 and 1988. Searcy County, at the western edge of the 1st, did not even support Bill Clinton for president in 1992; it was the only county in the district he failed to carry.

The other pocket of growth in the 1st, Lonoke County also is becoming more Republican. The growth is concentrated in Cabot, a suburban town on the highway to Little Rock. Outside Cabot, Lonoke County is much like the rest of the alluvial plain, with its conservative Democratic tradition and huge rice farms. The lakes and rivers in and around Arkansas County lure fishermen and duck hunters.

Jonesboro is the district's largest city, with 46,500 people. It has a fairly stable economy built around Arkansas State University (9,700 students) and industrial enterprises engaged in die casting, toolmaking, printing and conveyor-belt production. Jonesboro and outlying communities in Craighead County cast nearly 10 percent of the vote in the 1st; the area is reliably, though not overwhelmingly, Democratic.