Little Rock, Arkansas
capital city of the U.S. state of Arkansas and seat of Pulaski County
Little Rock is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The population was 202,591 at the 2020 census, while the Little Rock metropolitan area with an estimated 770,000 residents is the 81st-most populous metropolitan area in the United States. The city lies on the south bank of the Arkansas River close to the state's geographic center in central Arkansas. It is the county seat of Pulaski County.
Little Rock was founded in 1821 as the capital of the Arkansas Territory. It is named for a rock formation along the Arkansas River named the "Little Rock" by the French explorer Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe in 1722. The city played a notable role in U.S. history during the 1957 desegregation of Little Rock Central High School, a key event in the Civil Rights movement. Little Rock is a cultural, economic, government, and transportation center within Arkansas and the American South.
Economically, Little Rock is supported by a mix of sectors including healthcare, banking, transportation, and retail. Companies such as Dillard's and Windstream Holdings are headquartered in the city, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences contributes to its healthcare industry and academic research.
The public source identifies “Little Rock, Arkansas” as capital city of the U.S. state of Arkansas and seat of Pulaski County. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Little, Rock and Arkansas.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Little Rock, Arkansas”, the useful work is to connect “capital city of the U.S. state of Arkansas and seat of Pulaski County” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q33405. VIAF identifies the subject as 235857510. The Library of Congress control number is n79133172. Authority coordinates are 34.744, -92.288. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1821, 1722 and 1957.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Little Rock, Arkansas” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.