Dardanelle is a city in Yell County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 4,228 at the 2000 census. Along with Danville, it is one of two county seats for Yell County. It is located near Lake Dardanelle.

Dardanelle is part of the Russellville Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Dardanelle is located at 35°13′21″N 93°9′37″W / 35.2225°N 93.16028°W / 35.2225; -93.16028 (35.222539, -93.160408).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.1 square miles (8.0 km²), all land.

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,228 people, 1,605 households, and 1,078 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,382.0 people per square mile (533.5/km²). There were 1,747 housing units at an average density of 571.0 per square mile (220.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 75.24% White, 4.64% Black or African American, 0.54% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 16.65% from other races, and 2.41% from two or more races. 21.48% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Arkansas (ⁱ/ˈɑrkənsɔː/ AR-kən-saw) is a state located in the Southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states (N: Missouri; E: Tennessee, Mississippi; S: Louisiana; SW: Texas; W: Oklahoma), and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River. Its diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River. Arkansas is the 29th most extensive and the 32nd most populous of the 50 United States. The capital and most populous city is Little Rock, located in the central portion of the state.

The name “Arkansas” derives from the same root as the name for the state of Kansas. The Kansa tribe of Native Americans are closely associated with the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains. The word “Arkansas” itself is a French pronunciation (“Arcansas”) of a Quapaw (a related “Kaw” tribe) word, akakaze, meaning “land of downriver people” or the Sioux word akakaze meaning “people of the south wind”. The pronunciation of Arkansas was made official by an act of the state legislature in 1881, after a dispute between two U.S. Senators from Arkansas. One wanted to pronounce the name /ɑrˈkænzəs/ ar-KAN-zəs and the other wanted /ˈɑrkənsɔː/ AR-kən-saw.