Manila is a city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 3,682 at the 2020 census,^[3] up from 3,342 in 2010. It was the hometown of World War I sniper Herman Davis.

Manila has its origins in a herdsman's camp established by John Needham in the late 1860s. By the late 1890s, a community known as "Cinda" (named after an early postmaster's sister) had developed in the area. In 1901, this community incorporated as a city, and chose the name "Manila" to honor Commodore George Dewey's 1898 victory in the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War.^[4]

In the early 1900s, the Jonesboro, Lake City and Eastern Railroad (later part of the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway system) extended a rail line to Manila. In 1910, the Manila Depot was constructed by the railroad.^[4] This train station now serves as a museum, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1925, a memorial was established in the city for Herman Davis. The memorial was designated a state park in 1953, and the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism is responsible for its maintenance.^[5]

Manila is located in northwestern Mississippi County in the Arkansas Delta region. The city is situated at the intersection of Arkansas Highway 18 and Arkansas Highway 77, 9 miles (14 km) south of the Arkansas–Missouri state line. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²), all land.^[1]

Ecologically, Manila is located within the St. Francis Lowlands ecoregion within the larger Mississippi Alluvial Plain. The St. Francis Lowlands are a flat region mostly covered with row crop agriculture today, though also containing sand blows and sunken lands remaining from the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes. Waterways have mostly been channelized, causing loss of aquatic and riparian wildlife habitat.^[6] The Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge, which preserves some of the bottomland hardwood forest typical of this ecoregion prior to development for row agriculture lies just east of Manila.

The Manila Municipal Airport (IATA: MXA, ICAO: KMXA, FAA LID: MXA) is a public-use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) northeast of the central business district of Manila, in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. It is owned by the City of Manila.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Manila has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.^[10]

• Cloria Brown, Missouri state legislator
• Honey Bruce, stripper and showgirl
• Jerry Jaye, singer
• Wayne Wagner, state legislator and mayor^[11]
• Mel Wright, baseball player and coach