It is the largest single-engine biplane ever produced. It was produced in great numbers; over 5,000 had been built by 1960 in the USSR. Since 1960, most An-2s have been built at Poland's PZL factory in Mielec, with over 12,000 made there before production ended in 1992. The An-2 is also built under license in China as the Shijiazhuang Y-5. It is the biggest biplane still flying.

The original An-2 was designed as a utility aircraft for use in government-owned forestry and agricultural business. However, the basic airframe is highly adaptable and numerous variants have been developed. These include hopper-equipped versions for crop-dusting, scientific versions for atmospheric sampling, water-bombers for fighting forest-fires, flying ambulances, float-equipped seaplane versions, lightly armed combat versions for dropping para-troops, and of course the most common An-2T version, which is the 12-seater passenger aircraft.

The AN-2 has many design features which make it suitable for operation in remote areas with unsurfaced airstrips:

It has a pnuematic brake system (similar to those used on heavy road vehicles), allowing it to stop on short runways.

It also has an air-line fitted to the compressor, so the pressure in the tyres and shock absorbers can be adjusted without the need for special equipment.

The batteries are overly large and easy to remove, meaning that the aircraft does not need a ground-generator to supply power.

There is no need for an external fuel pump to re-fuel the aircraft- it has an onboard pump that allows the tanks to be filled from simple fuel drums.

It has the minimum of complex systems- the crucial wing leading-edge slats that give the aircraft its slow-flight ability are fully automatic, being held closed by the airflow over the wings. Once the airspeed drops below 40 mph (64 km/h) the slats will extend because they are on elastic rubber springs.

The aircraft has very sophisticated navigation systems given its age- it can detect a navigational radio beacon of only 25W power at a distance of 100 miles (220 KM).