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The Ozarks, also referred to as the Ozark Mountains, Ozarks Mountain Country, and the Ozark Plateau, are a physiographic and geologic highland region of the central United States. It covers much of the southern half of Missouri and an extensive portion of northwestern and north central Arkansas. The region also extends westward into northeastern Oklahoma and extreme southeastern Kansas. The Shawnee Hills of southwest Illinois, which lie near the eastern edge of this region, are commonly called the "Illinois Ozarks" but are generally not considered part of the true Ozarks. Although referred to as the Ozark Mountains, the region is actually a high and deeply dissected plateau. Geologically, the area is a broad dome around the Saint Francois Mountains. The Ozark Highlands area, covering nearly , is by far the most extensive mountainous region between the Appalachians and the Rocky Mountains. Together, the Ozarks and Ouachita Mountains form an area known as the U.S. Interior Highlands, and are sometimes referred to collectively. For example, the ecoregion called Ozark Mountain Forests includes the Ouachita Mountains, although the Arkansas River Valley and the Ouachitas, both south of the Boston Mountains, are not usually considered part of the Ozarks. ==Etymology== ''Ozarks'' is a toponym believed to be derived as a linguistic corruption of the French abbreviation ''aux Arcs'' (short for ''aux Arkansas'', or "of/at Arkansas" in English)〔Stewart, George R. (1967). ''Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States'', p. 137. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.〕 in the decades prior to the French and Indian War, ''aux Arkansas'' originally referring to the trading post at Arkansas Post, located in wooded Arkansas Delta lowland area above the confluence of the Arkansas River with the Mississippi River.〔Randolph, Vance. ''The Ozarks: An American Survival of Primitive Society''. New York: The Vanguard Press, p. 14. 1931.〕〔Arnold, Morris S. ''Unequal Laws Unto a Savage Race: European Legal Traditions in Arkansas, 1686-1836''. University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville. 1985.〕〔Arnold, Morris S. ''Colonial Arkansas 1686-1804: A Social and Cultural History''. University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville. 1991.〕 "Arkansas" seems to be the French version of what the Illinois tribe (further up the Mississippi) called the Quapaw, who lived in eastern Arkansas in the area of the trading post. Eventually, the term came to refer to all Ozark Plateau drainage into the Arkansas and Missouri Rivers. An alternative origin for the name "Ozark" involves the French term ''aux arcs''. In the later 17th and early 18th centuries, French cartographers mapped the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers. The large, top most arc or bend in this part of the Arkansas River was referred to as the ''aux arcs''—the top or most northern arc in the whole of the lower Arkansas. Travelers arriving by boat would disembark at this top bend of the river to explore the Ozarks; the town of Ozark, Arkansas is located on the north bank at this location. Other possible derivations include ''aux arcs'' meaning "()of the arches"〔E. Joan Wilson Miller. The naming of the land in the Arkansas Ozarks: A study in culture processes. (Abstract ) ''Annals of the Association of American Geographers'', 59 (2), 240–251. 1969.〕 in reference to the dozens of natural bridges formed by erosion and collapsed caves in the Ozark region. These include Clifty Hollow Natural Bridge (actually a series of arches) in Missouri,〔Watkins, Conor. (Ozarks geology: Clifty Creek Natural Area includes natural bridge ), ''The Ozarks Chronicle'', Rolla, Mo.〕 and Alum Cove in the Ozark – St. Francis National Forest. It is even suggested ''aux arcs'' is an abbreviation of ''aux arcs-en-ciel'', French for "toward the rainbows" which are a common sight in the mountainous regions. After the Louisiana Purchase, American travelers in the region referred to various features of the upland areas using the term ''Ozark'', such as ''Ozark Mountains'' and ''Ozark forests''. By the early 20th century, the ''Ozarks'' had become a generic term.〔McMillen, Margot Ford. ''A to Z Missouri: The Dictionary of Missouri Place Names'', Columbia, Missouri: Pebble Publishing, 1996. ISBN 0-9646625-4-X〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ozarks」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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