Ark.

Geography & Places abbreviation · US State Traditional

Ark. stands for Arkansas, a US state traditional abbreviation.

Used by AP in datelines (FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.), party affiliations (R-Ark.), photo captions and agate, and by The Bluebook and the Government Publishing Office. It is distinct from the postal code AR, which belongs only in mailing addresses and data fields.

Example: BENTONVILLE, Ark. — The retailer reported quarterly earnings before the market opened.

Usage notes

In headlines Ark. can be misread as the word ark, so editors sometimes spell the state out in display type. Ar. and Ak. are wrong (AK is Alaska). The 1881 pronunciation law makes the final s silent: AR-kan-saw.

Related abbreviations

More US state traditional abbreviations

• Ala. – Alabama
• Ariz. – Arizona
• Cal. – California
• Calif. – California
• Colo. – Colorado
• Conn. – Connecticut
• Del. – Delaware
• Fla. – Florida
• Ill. – Illinois
• Ind. – Indiana
• Kan. – Kansas
• Kans. – Kansas

See all 36 US state traditional abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.