Arkansas, one of the states of the American Union, situated between lat. 33° and 36° 30' X.. and lon. 89° 45' and 94° 40' W., having an extent of 240 m. from N. to S., and varying from 170 to 250 m. from E. to W., the narrowest part being on the S. line and the broadest on the parallel of lat. 36° X.; area, 52,198 sq. m. The state is bounded N. by Missouri, E. by the St. Francis river, separating it from Missouri, and the Mississippi, separating it from Tennessee and Mississippi, S. by Louisiana, S. W. by Texas, and W. by the Indian territory. The state is divided into 64 counties, as follows: Arkansas, Ashley, Benton, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun, Carroll, Chicot, Clarke, Columbia, Conway, Craighead, Crawford, Crittenden, Cross, Dallas, Desha, Drew, Franklin, Fulton, Grant, Greene, Hempstead, Hot Springs, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lincoln, Little River, Madison, Marion, Mississippi, Monroe, Montgomery, Nevada, Newton, Ouachita, Terry, Phillips, Pike, Poinsett, Polk, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski. Randolph, St. Francis, Saline, Sarber, Scott, Searcy, Sebastian, Sevier, Sharpe, Union, VanBuren, Washington, White, Woodruff, Yell. There are no large cities.

The oldest settlement is Arkansas Post (pop. in 1870, G83), the chief town of Arkansas county, on the river of the same name, about 50 m. above its junction with the Mississippi. It was settled by the French in 1G85. Little Rock, Pulaski county, the state capital (pop. 12,380), is also situated on the Arkansas river, about 300 m. above its mouth, in lat. 34° 40' X., lon. 92° 12' W. It was founded in 1820, is built on a commanding bluff, and is a place of considerable traffic. The other chief towns are Fort Smith (pop. 2,227), Helena (2,249), Pine Bluff (2,081), Camden (1,621), Hot Springs (1,276), and Princeton (1,142). The population of Arkansas in 1870 was 484,471, of whom 362,115 were whites, 122,169 colored, 98 Chinese and Japanese, and 89 Indians. Of the total population, 479,445 were native born, and 5,026 foreign born. The native population not born in the state were principally from Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and North Carolina, while the foreigners were chiefly natives of England, Ireland, and Germany. In population Arkansas ranks 26th among the states.

The following table will show the increase in population since 1820, the year after Arkansas was organized as a territory:

State Seal of Arkansas.

In 1870 there were 111,799 persons in the state 10 years old and upward unable to read, and 133.339 unable to write. Of those 21 years old and upward unable to write, 13,610 were white males, 21,770 white females, 23,681 colored males, and 22,689 colored females. - The Ozark mountains, which seldom rise to an elevation beyond 1,500 or 2,000 ft., cross the X. W. corner of the state. They are composed chiefly of limestone, clay slate, sandstone, greenstone, and granite. Extending E. from this range X. of the Arkansas are the Boston mountains, or Black hills. S. of that river is the Masserne or Washita range, which is so barren that the gray sandstone of which it is mainly composed is the prevailing color of the landscape. The eastern portion of the state, bordering on the Mississippi, including a strip ranging from 30 to 100 m. wide, is low and flat, covered by dense forests interspersed with swamps and small lakes or ponds, frequently of stagnant and unhealthy water. This portion is annually overflowed by the floods of the Mississippi, Arkansas, and other rivers.

Passing west, the surface gradually rises, and near the centre of the state the country becomes hilly, and the forests are interspersed with rolling prairies. . Still further west these hills terminate in the Ozark mountains, and beyond these is an extensive elevated plain continually increasing in height in its course toward the Rocky mountains, in which it finally terminates. The valley of the St. Francis river, in the X. E. part of the state, is a continuous swamp, filled with shallow lakes and bayous, and covered with a heavy growth of cypress, gum, and sycamore, the cypress growing in the water, and the other trees in the marshes or swamps. Rising into the higher land, where the soil is comparatively dry, the surface is covered with a growth of white oak and hick-ory, with occasional thickly set canebrakes. - Arkansas has no seacoast, but is remarkably favored with navigable streams. The Mississippi river washes its eastern border for a distance of three degrees, though by its tortuous course the actual distance is probably between 300 and 400 m., separating it from Tennessee and Mississippi. The Arkansas river, one of the largest tributaries of the Mississippi, having its source by numerous branches high up in the Rocky mountains, traverses the state by a tortuous route through its centre, the general direction being from X. W. to S. E., for a distance by the course of the stream of about 500 m., and is navigable far above the limits of the state into the Indian territory.

The Red river, a large navigable stream which rises in New Mexico, flows through the S. W. corner of the state. The St. Francis river rises at the foot of Iron mountain in Missouri, forms the boundary between Missouri and Arkansas for a short distance, runs through the N. E. corner of the state, and joins the Mississippi about 13 m. above Helena. Although a large river, its navigation is rendered difficult by numerous rafts or snags. For about 50 m. the river spreads out into a lake from 5 to 20 m. wide, supposed to have been produced by a sinking of the earth caused by the great earthquake of 1811. The St. Francis is 450 m. long, and navigable for 150 m. at favorable seasons of the year. White river rises in the N. W. corner of Arkansas, and, after running N into Missouri, returns into Arkansas, takes a S. E. zigzag course, and flows into the Mississippi. White river is about 600 m. long, and is navigable for small steamers to Bates-ville, 260 m. from its mouth, and, when cleared of snags and driftwood, may be ascended at favorable seasons at least 400 m. It has numerous tributaries rising in Missouri, the chief of which are the Black or Big Black, Spring, and Cache rivers.