Arkansas City is a town in Cowley County, Kansas, at the confluence of the Arkansas and Walnut Rivers. The name of this town is not pronounced like the nearby state of Arkansas, but rather as "Ar-Kansas" (the final "s" is pronounced). The population was 11,963 at the 2000 census.

Over the years there has been much confusion about the non-standard regional pronunciation of "Arkansas," which locals render as "Ar-KAN-zus" rather than "AR-ken-saw." Throughout much of Kansas, residents use this alternate pronunciation when referring to the Arkansas River, as well as Arkansas Street in Wichita. Because of this, and for the sake of brevity, Arkansas City is most often referred to as simply Ark City.