State of the United States

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state of the United States. It covers about 138,000 km² (53,100 mi²), the 27th largest of the 51 states and districts in Natural Earth’s file for the United States, and about the same size as Bangladesh. About 3.0 million people live there (Wikidata, 2020).

In area1.00×the size ofBangladesh137,000 km² In people1.03×as many people asArmenia2.9 million

100 km

Arkansas
Bangladesh

Facts

Area, measured	138,000 km²53,100 mi²
Official area	138,000 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure
Share of the United States	1.5%of the area of the 51 states and districts
Rank by area	27th of 51states and districts of the United States
Population	3.0 millionWikidata, 2020 · the census year of every unit
Density	22 people per km²
Capital	Little Rock
Latitude range	33°N to 37°N
Type	StateUS-AR

What the numbers say about Arkansas

Arkansas covers 1.5% of the area of the United States and ranks 33rd of 51 by population, against 27th by area.
It would take 68.8 states and districts the size of Arkansas to cover the United States.
Arkansas holds 0.9% of the 331.4 million people that Wikidata’s 2020 figures give for the 51 states and districts together: about 1 in 110.
The largest, Alaska, is 10.9× the size of Arkansas; the smallest, Washington, D.C., is 0.1% of it.
Closest in size within the United States: New York (137,000 km², 1.00×) and Alabama (134,000 km², 1.03×).
Counted as a country, Arkansas would be larger than 144 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 96th by area, between Tajikistan (142,000 km²) and Bangladesh (137,000 km²).
With 3.0 million people it would rank 137th of 238 by population.
Arkansas has 22 people per km², about the density of Sudan, which has 22 per km².
That makes Arkansas the 37th most densely populated of the 51 states and districts, 63% of the average for the United States (35 per km²).
On a standard web map (Web Mercator), a place at 35°N is drawn about 1.5× too large in area, so Arkansas looks bigger there than it is.
Laid out flat, Arkansas stretches about 389 km north to south and 444 km east to west.
Wikidata's official figure of 138,000 km² agrees with our measured area of 138,000 km², to within 2%.

About the same size as

About as many people as

Beside the regions of other countries

The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.

Where Arkansas ranks

Arkansas is the 27th largest of the 51 states and districts of the United States.

Ranked within the United States

All 51 states and districts of the United States, matched to countries

Compare Arkansas

Sources and method

Outline: Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain
Boundary: De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
Area: Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
Official figures: Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
Population: Wikidata, 2020. United States’s units share the 2020 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
Matching: Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
Data built: 2026-11-12

Full method