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Guangxi was known as “the hometown of nonferrous metals”, and the problem of heavy metal pollution in soil was very prominent. Based on the published papers about arsenic(As) in Guangxi since 1989 and our previous work in Guilin, Nandan and Huanjiang, this study explored the concentration and pollution distribution of As in soils and sediments in Guangxi. Totally, 3 045 soil samples and 477 sediment samples were collected. Results showed that: 1) In Guangxi, the As polluted soil mainly distributed in the northwest of Guangxi, especially in the Diaojiang and Jinchengjiang River basins. 2) Mining activity affected the accumulation of As in soil significantly. The soils with concentrations of As from high to low in order were non-agricultural soil in industrial and mining areas (140.5 mg/kg), agricultural soil in industrial and mining areas (80.68 mg/kg), agricultural soil in non-industrial and mining areas (19.11 mg/kg) and urban soil (18.35 mg/kg). Compared with the standard of soil environment quality in China (GB15618-1995), 89.4%, 69.0%, 18.7% and 12.1% of the above four types of soil samples exceeded the standard limit. The most seriously polluted samples in agricultural soil were all in Nandan. 3) The accumulation of As in marine sediments (8.76 mg/kg) and river sediments in non-industrial and mining areas (16.11 mg/kg) were not remarkable. As for river sediments, the pollution levels of As in industrial and mining areas (283.5 mg/kg) were much higher than those in non-industrial and mining areas. The affected areas mainly distributed in the Diaojiang and Dahuanjiang basins. In order to control the environmental risk, it is recommended to carry out the survey of As pollution in the surface sediments of the main river systems in Guangxi, especially in the river of Diaojiang, Dahuanjiang and Jinchengjiang, and the pollution in Nandan areas should be controlled and prevented and the contaminated soil should be repaired. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]