Desha County

administration
The Desha County Courthouse in Arkansas City, listed on the NRHP since 1976
US state :	Arkansas
Administrative headquarters :	Arkansas City
Address of the administrative headquarters:	County Courthouse P.O. Box 188 Arkansas City, AR 71630-0188
Foundation :	December 12, 1838
Made up from:	Arkansas County Chicot County
Area code :	001 870
Demographics
Residents :	13,008 (2010)
Population density :	6.6 inhabitants / km ²
geography
Total area :	2123 km²
Water surface :	141 km²
map

Website : www.deshaark.com

The Desha County is a county in the US state of Arkansas . The county seat is Arkansas City .

geography

The county is located in the extreme southeast of Arkansas and is bordered to the east by the Mississippi River , which forms the border with the state of Mississippi . Desha County covers an area of 2,123 square kilometers, of which 141 square kilometers are water. It borders on the following counties:

Lincoln County	Arkansas County	Phillips County
		Bolivar County, Mississippi
Drew County	Chicot County

history

Desha County was formed on December 12, 1838 from parts of Arkansas County and Chicot County. It was named after Captain Ben Desha , a soldier in the War of 1812 .

Demographic data

growth of population
Census	Residents	± in%
1840	1598	-
1850	2911	82.2%
1860	6459	121.9%
1870	6125	-5.2%
1880	8973	46.5%
1890	10,324	15.1%
1900	11,511	11.5%
1910	15,274	32.7%
1920	20,297	32.9%
1930	21,814	7.5%
1940	27,160	24.5%
1950	25,155	-7.4%
1960	20,770	-17.4%
1970	18,761	-9.7%
1980	19,760	5.3%
1990	16,798	-15%
2000	15,341	-8.7%
2010	13.008	-15.2%
1840-1890 1900-1990 2010 Desha County's age pyramid (as of 2000)

As of the 2000 census , Desha County had 15,341 people in 5,922 households and 4,192 families. The population density was 8 people per square kilometer. The racial the population was composed of 50.50 percent white, 46.33 percent African American, 0.35 percent Native American, 0.30 percent Asian, 0.03 percent of residents from the Pacific island area and 1.73 percent from other ethnic groups Groups; 0.76 percent were descended from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race was 3.16 percent of the population.

Of the 5,922 households, 34.6 percent had children or adolescents under the age of 18 living with them. 46.5 percent were married couples living together, 19.9 percent were single mothers, 29.2 percent were non-families. 26.9 percent of all households were single households and 12.7 percent had people aged 65 or over. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.10.

28.9 percent of the population were under 18 years old, 9.0 percent between 18 and 24, 25.2 percent between 25 and 44, 22.7 percent between 45 and 64 and 14.2 percent were 65 years or older. The median age was 36 years. Statistically, there were 87.6 males for every 100 females and an average of 82.9 males for every 100 females aged 18 and over.

The median income for a household in the 24,121 USD , and the median income for a family 30,028 USD. Males had a median income of $ 29,623 versus $ 18,913 for females. The per capita income was $ 13,446. 23.6 percent of families and 28.9 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.