Arkansas Counties Map: Click All 75 Counties

How many counties are in Arkansas?

Arkansas has 75 counties. 17 states have more, and 32 have fewer.

Arkansas has 75 counties. Ten of them are split into two districts with a courthouse in each, which is why they are often said to have two county seats; the split usually dates from days when a river cut the county in two. Pulaski County, in the center of the state, holds the capital, Little Rock.

How Arkansas's counties were formed

Arkansas County, created in 1813 when the area was part of the Missouri Territory, is the oldest and gave the future state its name. New counties followed settlement up the rivers and into the Ozarks. Cleburne County, created in 1883 and named for Confederate general Patrick Cleburne, was the 75th and last. The ten counties with two seats are Arkansas, Carroll, Clay, Craighead, Franklin, Logan, Mississippi, Prairie, Sebastian and Yell.

Arkansas regions and the counties in each

Arkansas has six regions children can use. The Ozark Mountains cover the north, from Benton and Washington counties east to Fulton and Sharp. The Arkansas River Valley runs between the Ozarks and the Ouachitas through Sebastian, Logan, Pope and Yell counties. The Ouachita Mountains fill the west-central counties around Hot Springs (Garland County). Central Arkansas is the Little Rock area in Pulaski, Saline and Faulkner. The Delta lines the Mississippi in the east (Crittenden, Phillips, Mississippi), and the Timberlands of the south include Union County (El Dorado).

Notable places on the Arkansas county map

Mount Magazine, the state's highest point at 2,753 feet, is in Logan County. Hot Springs National Park, in Garland County, protects the thermal springs downtown. The Buffalo National River, the first national river in the country, winds through Newton, Searcy, Marion and Baxter counties, and Crater of Diamonds State Park in Pike County is one of the few places in the world where the public can dig for real diamonds.

Arkansas counties map: the biggest and smallest

Union County is the largest county in Arkansas, with 1,039 square miles of land, about 2% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Rhode Island. Lafayette County is the smallest, at 530 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Lafayette County (530 sq mi), Sebastian County (531 sq mi) and Little River County (531 sq mi).

Which counties in Arkansas have the most people?

Pulaski County has the most people, about 401,209 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 13% of everyone in Arkansas. The three biggest counties together hold 32% of the state's 3,088,354 people. Calhoun County has the fewest, about 4,690.

The most crowded is Pulaski County, with about 529 people per square mile. The emptiest is Calhoun County, with about 7 people per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Little Rock in?

Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, is in Pulaski County. It's also the county with the most people. Arkansas is called the Natural State, and it became the 25th state in 1836.

Counties on the Arkansas border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. Arkansas shares a border with Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

How Arkansas's counties compare with other states

Arkansas ranks 27th among the 50 states in land area and 33rd in population. Its average county covers about 693 square miles and holds about 41,178 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Arkansas's counties are smaller than usual in size. Small counties pack more names into the same space, so zooming in helps.

Landmarks for learning the counties of Arkansas

• The Ozark Mountains fill the northern counties, including Benton and Washington in the northwest corner.
• The Arkansas River crosses the state from Fort Smith (Sebastian County) through Little Rock (Pulaski County).
• The flat Delta counties line the Mississippi River on the eastern edge.

With 75 counties, work one region at a time: study it with names on, then take a Practice round and stop when you've found that group. Then print the Arkansas county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 75 Arkansas counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

Arkansas geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the Southeast states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in arkansas, and check arkansas school choice to see whether a program may help pay for Arkansas history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.