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county

/ˈkaʊnti/
/ˈkaʊnti/
IPA guide

Other forms: counties

A county is a specific region of a state or country. While the United States is made up of 50 states, it also has over 3000 counties.

In the U.S., a county is a separate administrative area of a state — in other words, there is a local government that manages each individual county. In some parts of the country, there are town governments in addition to county governments, both of which are subordinate to the state government. The states range from having three counties (Delaware) to 254 counties (Texas). The Latin root of county is comitatus, "jurisdiction of a count."

Definitions of county
  1. noun
    (United States) the largest administrative district within a state
    “the county plans to build a new road”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    administrative district, administrative division, territorial division
    a district defined for administrative purposes
  2. noun
    (United Kingdom) a region created by territorial division for the purpose of local government
    “the county has a population of 12,345 people”
    see moresee less
    examples:
    Home Counties
    the English counties surrounding London into which Greater London has expanded
    Avon
    a county in southwestern England
    Berkshire
    a county in southern England
    Cornwall
    a hilly county in southwestern England
    Cumbria
    a county of northwestern England
    Devonshire
    a county in southwestern England
    Essex
    a county in southeastern England on the North Sea and the Thames estuary
    Gloucestershire
    a county in southwestern England in the lower Severn valley
    Hampshire
    a county of southern England on the English Channel
    Hertfordshire
    a county in southern England
    Kent
    a county in southeastern England on the English Channel; formerly an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, it was the first to be colonized by the Romans
    Somerset
    a county in southwestern England on the Bristol Channel
    East Sussex
    a county in southern England on the English Channel
    West Sussex
    a county in southern England on the English Channel
    Leicestershire
    a largely agricultural county in central England
    Lincolnshire
    an agricultural county of eastern England on the North Sea
    Northumberland
    the northernmost county of England; has many Roman remains (including Hadrian's Wall)
    Surrey
    a county in southeastern England on the Thames
    North Yorkshire
    a county in northern England
    West Yorkshire
    a metropolitan county in northern England
    South Yorkshire
    a metropolitan county in northern England
    Northamptonshire
    a county is central England
    Sussex
    a county in southern England on the English Channel; formerly an Anglo-Saxon kingdom that was captured by Wessex in the 9th century
    types:
    Isle of Wight, Wight
    an isle and county of southern England in the English Channel
    type of:
    part, region
    the extended spatial location of something
Pronunciation
US
/ˈkaʊnti/
UK
/ˈkaʊnti/
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