Panola County, Mississippi

Panola County
Panola County Courthouse (designed by Pritchard & Nickles)
Location within the U.S. state of Mississippi
Mississippi's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 34°22′N 89°57′W / 34.36°N 89.95°W / 34.36; -89.95
Country United States
State Mississippi
FoundedFebruary 9, 1836
Named aftername of Cotton in the Choctaw language
SeatBatesville and Sardis
Largest cityBatesville
Area
  Total
705 sq mi (1,830 km2)
  Land685 sq mi (1,770 km2)
  Water20 sq mi (50 km2)  2.8%
Population
 (2020)
  Total
33,208
  Density47/sq mi (18/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
  Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district2nd
Websitewww.panolacoms.com

Panola County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,208. Its county seats are Sardis and Batesville. The county is located just east of the Mississippi Delta in the northern part of the state. It is bisected by the Tallahatchie River flowing to the southwest; travel difficulties because of the river resulted in two county seats being established.

Panola is the anglicization of ponolo, a word meaning "thread" in both old Choctaw and Chickasaw and "cotton" in modern Choctaw. This was one of twelve large counties organized from the Chickasaw Cession of 1832.