Van Buren is the second-largest city in the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area and the county seat of Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. The city is located directly northeast of Fort Smith at the Interstate 40 – Interstate 540 junction. The city was incorporated in 1845 and as of the 2020 census had a population of 23,218, ranking it as the state's 21st largest city.

Crawford County is a county located in the Ozarks region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 60,133. The county seat and largest city is Van Buren. Crawford County was formed on October 18, 1820, from the former Lovely County and Indian Territory, and was named for William H. Crawford, the United States Secretary of War in 1815.