MAR 28 A QUICK PRIMER ON U.S. COUNTIES

MAR 28  A QUICK PRIMER ON U.S. COUNTIES

While watching the Coronavirus news coverage, many Americans have noticed something different about the CDC. They show statistics based on counties. Normally, cities and states are the standard geographic units used. Wedged in between these two commonly known terms is the often overlooked entity known as the county. Most Federal agencies, including the US Census Bureau, prefer to organize operations using them. So we here at the DUNER BLOG thought we'd offer a quick primer about our curious counties!

THE NAME. The term is French in origin. A 'conte' is region of land containing towns and villages. After 1066, conte became an English word as well. A county was an area of land that was ruled by a count. The royal aspect of the word didn't stop it from becoming an American colonial term as well, and the first county was in Massachusetts. The term county seat, designating the city in charge of government, is wholly American.

HOW MANY? There are a staggering 3,142 separate counties in the United States! Naturally, smaller states have fewer and larger states have more. Delaware has but three counties, while Texas has a whopping 254. (Loving County is the smallest with only 134 people.) Also: This total number includes variant names for counties. Louisiana has 64 parishes...a throwback to the Catholic missionary days. In Alaska and New York City, they call counties boroughs.

THE LARGEST. Not surprisingly, the largest counties occupy the most desolate areas. Covering 20,105 square miles, San Bernardino County in California takes the top spot. This means one individual county is bigger than nine other US states. The vast majority is the Mojave Desert, but two million people now live in the urban south. Second place is Arizona's Coconino County. It's home the Grand Canyon. NOTE: Four Alaskan boroughs are larger in area.

THE MOST POPULATED. With over ten million people, Los Angeles County is #1. It really feels more like a continent than a county. See, there's a Chinatown and a Koreatown. Don't forget Little Tokyo, Little Armenia and Little Ethiopia as well. Next up with five million people is Chicago's Cook County. #3 is Houston's Harris County and #4 is Phoenix's Maricopa County.

THE EXCEPTIONS. As with any field of geography, there are exceptions. For example, New York City is so ginormous, it spills over into five counties. San Francisco and Philadelphia are the only counties that are just one city. Then there's Baltimore and St. Louis, which are free cities without any county jurisdiction. Finally, there's our national capital. Washington is the only district in the USA, and we still can't figure out who is really in control there!