The Hattiesburg, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Forrest, Lamar and Perry counties, is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the US state of Mississippi. In Forrest County, where Hattieburg is the county seat, it borders on the Mississippi River to the east, which extends to Lamar County to the west and Perry to the east.

According to the US Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2,071,743 km ², 1.5% of which is land and 1% water.

At the 2000 census, about 1.2 million people, or about 2.5 percent of all residents, lived in Forrest County. Although thirty percent of the population was black, only about 1,000 black residents of Forrest County were on the voter rolls, and white registration was close to 100 percent. Since blacks were still not allowed to vote, they knew they could not be elected, but their candidacy and campaign encouraged the struggle for voting rights.

In the 1970s, the US Supreme Court ruled against the conviction of civil rights activists in Adickes v. The case concerned the mistreatment of a black man by a white police officer in Forrest County. Civil rights leaders Medgar Evers and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for years to have the conviction overturned.

The city of Hattiesburg bought Norfolk Southern Railway in 2000 and began a seven-year, $10 million restoration. Three "Libraries of Liberty" were set up with donated books, an elegant hotel owned and owned by the city was built, a community centre was built and the population of the city along the route was more than doubled. More than 650 children and adults took part in the first Mississippi Crossroads Cross-Country Race from Hattie to Gulfport. The deep-water port gave the state access to the Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico, the largest freshwater river on the Mississippi, made Hattuscha a railroad center, built the "City of Gulfports," and established community centers.

In 2013, the historic district of Hattiesburg celebrated its 100th anniversary. The site is selected annually and represents the gold standard, as it is one of the 100 historic sites in the United States. It is also the only city in Mississippi that is protected under the Hattieburg Historic Design Guidelines. Among the exhibits are: "Can you be a soldier?," "Do you have to behave like a man, a woman, a child or even a woman in front of a gun?

The purpose of the procession is to help young people to promote the state for tourism and economic development. Participants are judged in the following categories: beauty, personality, character, leadership, entrepreneurial, social and leadership skills.

In September 2014, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a city of more than 1.5 million people, received a new health facility for its residents. Petal Health System, an independent health insurance company based in Petal (near Hattieburg) in Ellisville and Biloxi, Mississippi, began with the belief that every patient who walks through its doors should receive personalized, high-quality care.

In 1897, a real timber boom heralded the arrival of the Great Southern Railway (G.S.R.) and Mississippi Railroad, and Hattiesburg's population grew so much that the nickname "Hub City" was derived from the timber and rail industries. In 1924, the G-SIRR was operated as a subsidiary of the Illinois Central Railroad and lost its independent identity in 1946. The area attracted newcomers and there were a number of railroad lines, such as the Gulf Coast Railway, Mississippi Central Railway and Mississippi Pacific Railway.

In 2011, the Hattiesburg Historic Neighborhood District was named one of the Great Places to Live in America by the National Register of Historic Places in the United States. The city is best known for its police department, as it is the only state-approved law enforcement agency in Mississippi. There are 19,258 housing units with median household income of more than $50,000 a year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The city's racial makeup is the same as the rest of Mississippi, with an average age of 37.5. The population is spread across all age groups, although 11.8% are 65 or older, according to the Census Bureau.

Hundreds of Forrest County blacks tried to register to vote in the courthouse, but most were prevented from doing so. Many whites opposed the black civil rights efforts, and volunteers and local African Americans endured arrests, beatings, layoffs, and evictions. Despite the high turnout in Forrest State, nearly half of the county's blacks faced serious risks of physical and economic retribution. About 100 African-Americans tried to register, though few were allowed in and only a few were allowed to attend the rolls.

For the first time since the reconstruction, demonstrators were allowed to gather outside the courthouse for the right to vote without arrest. In conjunction with the 1963 election, civil rights activists organized a sham election to demonstrate the importance of voting in the district and the need for equal rights for blacks and whites. Victoria Jackson Gray of Palmers Crossing is running against incumbent Senator John Stennis on the ticket, and John Cameron of Hattiesburg is running for the 5th District. The 2011 winner is Ann Claire Reynolds, a student at the University of Mississippi with a focus on elementary and special education.