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County (United States)

A  county of the United States is a local level of government smaller than a state but generally larger than a city or town, in a U.S. state or territory. The actual term "county" describes them in 48 of the 50 states; Louisiana uses the term "parish" and Alaska uses the word "borough." Including those, there are 3,086 counties in the United States, an average of 62 counties per state. The state with the fewest counties is Delaware (three), and the state with the most is Texas (254). In many states, counties are subdivided into townships or towns and may contain other independent, self-governing municipalities.

Contents

1 Terminology
1.1 City-county exceptions
2 Statistics
3 Scope of power
4 Lists of counties by state
5 Number of counties per state
6 County name etymologies
7 Special cases
8 Proposals for new counties
9 See also
10 External links


Terminology

The term county equivalents includes in addition three types of units outside that definition:

Alaska census areas: Most of the land area of Alaska is not contained within any of Alaska's 16 boroughs. This vast area, larger than France and Germany combined, is referred to by the Alaska state government as the Unorganized Borough and, outside municipal limits, has no local government. The United States Census Bureau, in cooperation with the Alaska state government, has divided the Unorganized Borough into 11 census areas for statistical purposes.

Independent cities: These are cities that legally belong to no county in a state. As of 2004, there are 42 such cities in the United States:

Baltimore, Maryland

Carson City, Nevada

St. Louis, Missouri

All 39 cities in Virginia, where any municipality incorporated as a city(in contrast to town) is by law severed from any county that might otherwise have contained it.

The District of Columbia, a federal district under the absolute jurisdiction of the US Congress, which has for the last several decades allowed the District a limited home rule.

Including these jurisdictions, the United States has 3,141 counties and county equivalents.
缩省并县,省县直辖,县下设市,市镇平等
地域平等,市镇平等,设市平等(见头像)
省—县—适域市(5万起)、小广域镇,B、C。。。市
省—县域市(城市几乎充满县域,100万起)A市
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City-county exceptions

As noted, the territory of most counties includes that of municipalities, within and smaller than the respective counties. However, there are three kinds of exceptions to this arrangement:

1.By a series of annexations or other mergers, a city government may come to have exactly the same territory as the county that contains it, even though they remain separate governments. This is nearly the case in Jacksonville, Florida, which has incorporated all of Duval County except for four smaller suburban cities.

2. Several cities and counties around the country have consolidated city-county governments and are considered both a city and a county under state law. Denver, Colorado and San Francisco, California have been coextensive with their respective counties since the counties were created. On the other hand, Indianapolis, Indiana; Louisville, Kentucky; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Nashville, Tennessee unified with their respective counties after the two entities existed separately. There is also the "City and County of Honolulu", but this is unlike the others in that Hawaii has no incorporated cities and thus the "city" part of "city and county" is in this case a misnomer. Honolulu County contains the entire island of Oahu, which includes many dozens of communities and rural areas in addition to the urban area designated as the Honolulu CDP. Prior to its abolition, the government of Suffolk County, Massachusetts was largely administered by the Boston city council. In Nantucket County, Massachusetts, the Town of Nantucket board of selectmen act as county commissioners. [1]

3. The area now forming the five boroughs of New York City consisted, into the late 19th century, of three typical counties and parts of two others, each containing at least one city or town. These are still counties in name and in state law; nevertheless, since 1898 they have been entirely contained within the boundaries of the city, and following the creation of Bronx County in 1914, each borough now corresponds exactly to one county.

4.In several states (including Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin), a city may annex land within an adjacent county. That land is then subject to city government, but the respective counties continue to provide county-specific services and residents vote for county officials in the respective counties. Major cities that lie in multiple counties include:Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Chicago, Illinois; Houston, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Amarillo, Texas. The city of Appleton, Wisconsin lies within three counties (Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago), and is the county seat of Outagamie County. The city of Aurora, Illinois, a populous outlying suburb of Chicago, lies within four counties (Kane; DuPage; Will; and Kendall).

5. In Michigan, the city may petition to change the county boundaries to accord with the city boundaries. Historically, however, this has rarely been exercised. There are many cities that span county boundaries in Michigan.

Statistics

Main article: County statistics of the United States

At the 2000 U.S. Census, the median land area of the 3,066 U.S. counties was 1,611 km² (622 sq. miles), which is only two-thirds of the median land area of a ceremonial county of England, and only a little more than a quarter of the median land area of a French département.

This figure, however, hides large differences between the eastern and western United States. The land area of counties in the western United States is much larger than the land area of counties in the eastern United States. For example, in the eastern United States the median land area of counties in Ohio is 1,138 km² (439.5 sq. miles) and in Georgia it is 888 km² (343 sq. miles), whereas in the western United States the median land area of counties in California is 3,977 km² (1535.5 sq. miles) and in Utah it is 6,286 km² (2,427 sq. miles)

By area, the largest county in the United States is North Slope Borough, Alaska at 94,763 square miles (245,435 km²) and the smallest county in the United States is Kalawao County, Hawaii at 13 square miles (34 km²). (The largest county in the 48 contiguous states is San Bernardino County, California, at 20,105 mi²/52,073 km², and the smallest is Arlington County, Virginia at 26 mi²/67.6 km².)

However, when county equivalents are included, both lose their status. The largest county equivalent by area is Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska at 147,843 square miles (382,912 km²) and the smallest is the independent city of Falls Church, Virginia at 2.0 square miles (5 km²).

At the 2000 U.S. Census, the median population of the 3,066 U.S. counties was 24,544 inhabitants, which is 33 times less inhabitants than the median population of a ceremonial county of England, and 21 times less inhabitants than the median population of a French département.

At the 2000 U.S. Census, only 16.1% of U.S. counties had more than 100,000 inhabitants, while 83.9% of U.S. counties had less than 100,000 inhabitants. This reflects the essentially rural nature of U.S. counties, whose grid was designed in the 19th century, in a country still largely rural and only marginally affected by urbanization. Today, the vast majority of people in the United States are concentrated in a relatively small number of counties.

The most populous county (or county equivalent) is Los Angeles County, California with 10,226,506 people as of 2005, and the least populous county is Loving County, Texas with 67 people as of 2000.

The most densely populated county (or county equivalent) is New York County, New York with 66,940 people per square mile (ppsm) as of 2000, and the least densely populated county is Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska with 0.08 ppsm as of 2000. The least densely populated county equivalent is Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska with 0.04 ppsm as of 2000.
缩省并县,省县直辖,县下设市,市镇平等
地域平等,市镇平等,设市平等(见头像)
省—县—适域市(5万起)、小广域镇,B、C。。。市
省—县域市(城市几乎充满县域,100万起)A市
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只看该作者 2 发表于: 2006-04-16
Scope of power

The power of county governments varies widely from state to state, as does the relationship between counties and incorporated cities.

· In New York:

o In contrast to other counties of New York state, the powers of the five boroughs of New York City are very limited, and in nearly all respects subordinate to the city's.

· In New England:

oCounties function at most as judicial court districts (in Connecticut and Rhode Island, they have lost even those functions) and most government power below the state level is in the hands of towns and cities. However, in several of Maine's sparsely populated counties, small towns rely on the county for law enforcement, and in New Hampshire several social programs are administered at the state level.

oCounty government was abolished in Connecticut in 1960, although the names remain for geographical purposes.

oMassachusetts has abolished eight of its fourteen counties as well, leaving only those in the Southeastern part of the state with real governments.

· In Hawaii:

oThe county is the municipal level of government, similar to some single tier municipalities in Ontario, Canada (EX: Norfolk County, Prince Edward County, Brant County); there are no incorporated cities other than the consolidated City & County of Honolulu. All counties, except for Honolulu, has no formal level of government below that of the county.

· In California:

oThe county is the default unit of local government (all parts of the state's land are allocated to one of the state's 58 counties). Each county has a Board of Supervisors and is subject to mandatory duties under state law to provide its residents with services like law enforcement, healthcare, road maintenance, and so on. Balancing a county's mandatory and discretionary duties is a very difficult task; any sufficiently injured county taxpayer has standing to sue the county to enforce certain duties where financial distress is no excuse, such as healthcare.

oIf residents of a sufficiently large piece of unincorporated county land do not like their county's resource allocation decisions, they can incorporate a city. The city government then takes some of the tax revenue that would have gone to the county, and can impose additional taxes on its residents. It can then choose to provide almost all the services usually provided by the county (and more), or provide only a few and pay the county do the rest. A city in this last arrangement is called a contract city; it was pioneered by the city of Lakewood in the 1950s.

oThe idea of "opting out" of county control in California has been taken to its logical extremes. Almost all of the city of Vernon is one large industrial zone, while almost all of the town of Los Altos Hills is zoned as residential.

oDue to geographical variations in property tax and sales tax revenue (the primary revenue source for cities and counties) and differing attitudes towards priorities, there are interesting variations in the levels of various services from one city to the next. For example, the city of Santa Monica is far more generous when it comes to helping the homeless than other cities in Los Angeles County or the county government.

oAlso, county ordinances do not apply to cities unless they are ratified by each individual city. Thus, for instance, in Los Angeles County, a few cities have not ratified the ordinance requiring the posting of restaurant food safety ratings — even though it was passed many years ago — and in those cities, ratings need not be posted.

· In Maryland:

oOutside of Baltimore, which is an independent city, the county is the default unit of local government. Under Maryland law, counties exercise powers reserved in most other states at the municipal or state levels; hence, there is little incentive for a community to incorporate, especially in the urbanized home-rule counties. Many of the state's most populous and economically important communities, such as Bethesda and Silver Spring, are unincorporated and receive their municipal services from the county. In fact, there are no incorporated municipalities at all in either Baltimore County or Howard County.

oThe county (or Baltimore City) is also the provider of public schools. School districts as a separate level of government do not exist in Maryland.

缩省并县,省县直辖,县下设市,市镇平等
地域平等,市镇平等,设市平等(见头像)
省—县—适域市(5万起)、小广域镇,B、C。。。市
省—县域市(城市几乎充满县域,100万起)A市
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只看该作者 3 发表于: 2006-04-16
Lists of counties by stateAlabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming [edit]
Number of counties per state

Southern and Midwestern states generally tend to have more counties than Western or Northern states. The list below also includes county-equivalents.

254 - Texas 159 - Georgia 134 - Virginia 120 - Kentucky 115 - Missouri 105 - Kansas 102 - Illinois 100 - N. Carolina 99 - Iowa 95 - Tennessee 93 - Nebraska 92 - Indiana 88 - Ohio 87 - Minnesota 83 - Michigan 82 - Mississippi 77 - Oklahoma 75 - Arkansas 72 - Wisconsin 67 - Pennsylvania 67 - Florida 67 - Alabama 66 - S. Dakota 64 - Louisiana 64 - Colorado 62 - New York 58 - California 56 - Montana 55 - West Virginia 53 - North Dakota 46 - South Carolina 44 - Idaho 39 - Washington 36 - Oregon 33 - New Mexico 29 - Utah 27 - Alaska 24 - Maryland 23 - Wyoming 21 - New Jersey 17 - Nevada 16 - Maine 15 - Arizona 14 - Vermont 14 - Massachusetts 10 - New Hampshire 8 - Connecticut 5 - Hawaii 5 - Rhode Island 3 - Delaware
缩省并县,省县直辖,县下设市,市镇平等
地域平等,市镇平等,设市平等(见头像)
省—县—适域市(5万起)、小广域镇,B、C。。。市
省—县域市(城市几乎充满县域,100万起)A市
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County name etymologies


Main article: Lists of U.S. county name etymologies


Many states have counties named after U.S. presidents such as Washington, Madison, Polk, Jefferson, etc. Counties are also commonly named after famous individuals, local Native American tribes once in the area, cities located within the county, and land or water features (Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, meaning "Fat Hill" in Spanish, and Lake County, Illinois, on Lake Michigan).


[edit]


Special cases


The power of the county government varies widely from state to state, as does the relationship between counties and incorporated municipal governments.


The Alaska info below is incorrect - there is also the City & Borough of Haines - but I do not have time to correct it at this very moment.


· In Alaska, the borough is what would be a county in other states (apart from Louisiana). Four consolidated city-county governments exist—Juneau City and Borough, Sitka City and Borough, Yakutat City and Borough as well as the state's largest city, Anchorage. Though its legal name is the Municipality of Anchorage, it is considered a consolidated city-borough under state law. Unique to Alaska, not all of the land area of the state is divided into boroughs. The remainder, comprising over half of Alaska's land area, is called the Unorganized Borough and, outside municipalities, services are provided by the state. The United States Census Bureau has divided the Unorganized Borough into census areas for statistical purposes.


· The state of California has one consolidated city-county, San Francisco. The city's board of supervisors govern both aspects, and there is both a city police department and a county sheriff, the latter mostly responsible for operating the county jail (which is located in adjacent San Mateo County).


· Colorado has two consolidated city-counties—Denver and Broomfield.


· In Georgia, three consolidated city-counties exist—Athens (Clarke County), Augusta (Richmond County) and Columbus (Muscogee County). Atlanta (Fulton County) is still thinking that the city may merge with Fulton County to become either independent or consolidated.


· In Kansas, Wyandotte County and the city of Kansas City, Kansas operate as a unified government.


· The two largest cities in Kentucky, Louisville and Lexington, are "urban-county governments," Kentucky's legal term for a consolidated city-county arrangement. Lexington and Fayette County are completely consolidated. When the Louisville Metro government was formed, all incorporated cities in Jefferson County, apart from Louisville, retained their status as cities; however, the Louisville Metro Council is the main government for the entire county, and is elected by residents in all of Jefferson County.


· In Louisiana, parish is the name used instead of county. As such, the parish seat would be the equivalent of the county seat. The city of New Orleans is coterminous with, and identical to, Orleans Parish.


· In Maryland, the City of Baltimore generally possesses the same powers and responsibilities as the counties within the state. It is an entity lying geographically within, but separate from, the County of Baltimore, which has its county seat in Towson.


· In Missouri, St. Louis City is separate from St. Louis County and is referred to as a "city not within a county."


· Montana has two consolidated city-counties—Anaconda with Deer Lodge County and Butte with Silver Bow County. The portion of Yellowstone National Park that lies within Montana was not part of any county until 1997, when it was nominally added to Gallatin County.


· Nevada's state capital of Carson City has been an independent city since 1969.


· In some New England states, such as Connecticut, parts of Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, counties are only geographic designations and do not have any governmental powers. All government is either done at the state level or at the municipal (town or city) level.


· New York City encompasses five counties, and is the county seat of all five of them: New York County (Manhattan), Kings County (Brooklyn), Bronx County (The Bronx), Richmond County (Staten Island), and Queens County (Queens). Because each borough has a separate main post office (and Queens has four), the county seats of the five boroughs are often stated in terms of those main post offices: New York (Manhattan), Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island, and Jamaica (Queens), NY. However, the communities served by those main post offices are all within the city limits of New York.


· In Pennsylvania the City of Philadelphia is coterminous with Philadelphia County, and governmental functions have been consolidated since 1854.


· In Tennessee, the city of Nashville and Davidson County operate under a unified government. Similar arrangements exist between the City of Lynchburg and Moore County, as well as the City of Hartsville and Trousdale County.


· In Virginia, many county seats are politically not a part of the counties they serve; under Virginia law, all municipalities incorporated as cities are independent cities and are not part of any county. Some of the cities in the Hampton Roads area (Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Newport News, Hampton, and Suffolk) were formed from an entire county. These cities are no longer county seats, since the counties ceased to exist once the cities were completely formed, but are functionally equivalent to counties.

缩省并县,省县直辖,县下设市,市镇平等
地域平等,市镇平等,设市平等(见头像)
省—县—适域市(5万起)、小广域镇,B、C。。。市
省—县域市(城市几乎充满县域,100万起)A市
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Proposals for new counties

· Adirondack County, New York : Proposed county made up of part of Essex County and of Franklin county. [2]

· Peconic County, New York : Proposed county made up of the eastern part of Suffolk County, New York.

· Proposal for a new county in rural areas of King County, Washington. Proposed names are Cascade or Cedar County. It would be Washington State's 40th county.[3], [4]. [5]. A bill is being debated in the state lesgislature [6] .

· Proposal for the split of Los Angeles County, California by Pete Knight, former state senator of California.

· Catoctin County, Virginia: Proposed county consisting of the western part of present Loudoun County, Virginia; proposed by residents dissatisfied with the present county's land-use policies. Leesburg Today article

· Milton County, Georgia: This former county was annexed during the 1930s to Fulton County. A commission is working on a project to recreate the county.

· Mission County, California: Proposed county consisting of the northern half of Santa Barbara County, California, by residents.

· Aurora County, Colorado: proposed county would consist of the City of Aurora, portions of which are currently in Adams, Arapahoe and Douglas counties.

[edit]

See also

· County (for other countries)

· County statistics of the United States

· List of U.S. counties by population

· FIPS county code

· List of U.S. counties that share names with U.S. states

· List of extinct U.S. counties

· Political divisions of the United States

· List of counties in alphabetical order

· List of U.S. cities in multiple counties

[edit]

External links

· National Association of Counties

· County Government: Management and Services

· Counties in the United States

· Ranking Tables for Counties

· County and County Equivalent Areas Cartographic Boundary Files Descriptions and Metadata

· NIST FIPS 6-4: Counties and Equivalent Entities of the United States, its Possessions, and Associated Areas

· 2002 Census of Governments

· United States County Employment and Wage Reports

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_%28United_States%29"

缩省并县,省县直辖,县下设市,市镇平等
地域平等,市镇平等,设市平等(见头像)
省—县—适域市(5万起)、小广域镇,B、C。。。市
省—县域市(城市几乎充满县域,100万起)A市
欢迎关注微博http://weibo.com/qqmexh
只看该作者 6 发表于: 2006-04-16
美国的县是美国的州或者领地(territory)内的一个地方,小于州,但通常大于市(city)和镇(town)。准备的说,50个州内只有48个州使用“县”一词,路易斯安那州使用“教区(parish)”而阿拉斯加州使用“自治市镇(borough)”。包括这两种情形,全美一共有3086个县,平均每州62个县。特拉华州只有3个县,最少,得克萨斯州有254个县,最多。在多数州,县被进步一下划分为镇和乡(township),并且可能包含其它的独立的自治市镇(municipalities)。

目次:
1、    定义
1.1、都市县(city-county)的特例
2、    统计
3、    职权
4、    分州县名列表(略,见英文原文,下同)
5、    每州县的数量(略)
6、    县名来源(略)
7、    特例
8、    新县规划(略)
9、    参考(略)
10、    外部链接(略)

1、    定义
与县相当的还包括以下三种类型:
A)    阿拉斯加人口普查区(Alaska census areas):绝大多数的阿拉斯加土地并不包含在16个自治市镇内。这些面积大于法国德国之和的广阔地区,被州政府归为未组织的市镇(unorganized borough),它们在市镇之外,没有地方政府。美国人口普查局和阿拉斯加州政府为了统计的需要,把这些未组织的市镇分成了11个人口普查区。
B)    独立市(independent cities):这些市在法律上不属于任何州内的县。在2004年,一共有42个这样的市:
•巴尔的摩(马里兰州)
•卡森城(内华达州)
•圣路易斯(密苏里州)
•弗吉尼亚州的全部39个市,该州内成立市(不同于镇)时将在法律上从县内切出,不同于其它州。
C)    哥伦比亚特区,过去几十年中在合众国国会的法律管辖下的有限自治的联邦区。
包括以上这些,全美一共有3141个县和相当于县的政区。

1.1、    都市县的特例
如前所述,多数县的土地内包含着市镇自治体(municipalities),它们被包含于或者小于各自所在的县。但是,有以下三种特例:
A)    通过不断的合并,一个市政府的市域变得和所在县域几乎一致,但市和县仍然有各自独立的政府。类似的例子有杰克逊维尔(佛罗里达州),该市合并了杜尔县(Duval)的绝大部分,除了4个郊区偏远的市。
B)    一些市和周边县合并成都市县,该都市县在州法律下既被认为是市,又被认为是县。在立县时,丹佛(科罗拉多州)和圣佛朗西斯科(加利福尼亚州)就和县空间相同。另外,在合并了各自所在的县后,印地安那波利斯(印地安那州)、路易斯维尔(肯塔基州)、费城(宾夕法尼亚州)和纳什维尔(田纳西州)也成为此例。但是,火奴鲁鲁市和县(City and County of Honolulu)并不是这一类型,因为夏威夷并没有建制市(incorporated cities),此“市和县(city and county)”中的“市”是用词不当。火奴鲁鲁县包含了全部的瓦胡岛,包括许多城市社区和在都市区域指定的人口普查指定地区(CDP,Census-designated place)之外农村地区。之前,萨福克(Suffolk)县(马萨诸塞州)主要由波斯顿市政厅管辖,现已废除。在楠塔基特(Nantucket)县(马萨诸塞州),楠塔基特镇管理委员会(board)委员兼任县管理委员会委员(commissioner)。
C)    现在构成纽约市的5个区(borough),在19世纪,其中的3个是典型的县,以及其它2个中的一部分,每一个都包含至少一个市或者镇。目前,在州法律下,这些区仍然保留了县的名份。然而,自1898年起,它们被整体合并于纽约市的市域内。1914年建立布朗克斯县,每个区都和它们的县完全一致。
D)    在一些州(包括亚拉巴马州、科罗拉多州、佐治亚州、密歇根州、明尼苏达州、密西西比州、北卡罗来纳州、俄亥俄州、田纳西州、得克萨斯州、犹他州、华盛顿州和威斯康星州),一个市可以扩张它的市域至邻近的县,扩张后这些土地即受市政府管辖,但各自的县仍然提供县政府的特定服务,同时那里的居民仍有权为县政府投票。横跨多个县的大城市有:亚特兰大市(佐治亚州)、伯明翰市(亚拉巴马州)、芝加哥市(伊利诺伊州)、休斯敦市(得克萨斯州)、堪萨斯市(密苏里州)、俄克拉何马城市(俄克拉何马州)以及阿马里洛(Amarillo)市(得克萨斯州)。威斯康星州的阿普顿(Appleton)市横跨3个县,Outagamie县、凯路梅特(Calumet)县和温尼贝戈(Winnebag)县,同时是Outagamie县的县治所在地。人口不少的伊利诺伊州的阿罗拉(Aurora)市,位于芝加哥偏远郊外地带,横跨4个县,凯恩(Kane)县、杜培基(Du Page)县、维尔(Will)县和肯德尔(Kendall)县。
E)    在密歇根州,市可以请求变更县的边界以保持同市的边界一致。但从历史上看,很少发生。密歇根有很多市跨越县界。

2、    统计
在2000年的美国人口普查中,3066个县的面积中位数是1611km2(622平方英里),只是英格兰形式郡(ceremonial county)面积中位数的2/3,比法国省(département)的面积中位数的1/4大一点点。
但是,这个数字隐藏了美国东西部的巨大差别。西部的县的面积远远大于东部的县。比如,美国东部俄亥俄州的县的面积中位数是1138km2(439.5平方英里),佐治亚州的县的面积中位数是888km2(343平方英里),而西部加利福尼亚州的县的面积中位数是3977km2(1535.5平方英里),犹他州的县的面积中位数是6286km2(2427平方英里)。
就面积而言,最大的县是阿拉斯加州的北斜坡市(North Slope Borough),面积245435km2(94763平方英里),最小的县是夏威夷州的卡拉瓦欧(Kalawao)县,面积34km2(13平方英里)。限定在北美大陆邻接的48个州内,最大的县则是加利福尼亚州的圣贝纳迪诺(San Bernardino)县,面积52073km2(20105平方英里),最小的县则是弗吉尼亚州的阿灵顿(Arlington)县,面积67.6km2(26平方英里)。
然而,如果把与县相当的政区计入,则以上结论都不正确。最大的与县相当的政区是阿拉斯加州的育空-科尤库克(Yukon-Koyukuk)人口普查区,面积382912km2(147843平方英里),最小的是弗吉尼亚州的福尔斯彻奇(Falls Church)独立市,面积5km2(2平方英里)。

在2000年的美国人口普查中,3066个县的人口中位数是24544人,比英格兰形式郡(ceremonial county)的人口中位数数字少33倍,比法国省的人口中位数数字少21倍。
在2000年的美国人口普查中,只有16.1%的县人口超过10万,83.9%的县人口少于10万。这反映出美国的县本质上还是乡村地带,那些像格子般的19世纪划分的县仍在大部分是乡村,只有在边边角角受到了城市化的影响。今天,美国的大多数居民集中在相对少数的县中。
人口最多的县(包含与县相当的政区)是加利福尼亚州的洛杉矶县,在2005年,人口达到10226506人。人口最少的县是得克萨斯州的Loving县,2000年时只有67人。
人口密度最高的县(包含与县相当的政区)是纽约州的纽约县,2000年时66940人每平方英里,人口密度最低的县是阿拉斯加州的湖和半岛自治市(Lake and Peninsula Borough),2000年时只有0.08人每平方英里。人口密度最低的与县相当的政区是阿拉斯加州的育空-科尤库克(Yukon-Koyukuk)人口普查区,2000年时只有0.04人每平方英里。

3、    职权
县政府的职权州和州之间差别非常大,县和建制市职能的差别同样很大。
A)    在纽约市
和纽约州其它县的不同,纽约市的五个区职能非常有限,几乎在各方面从属于纽约市。
B)    在新英格兰
县的职能几乎只是司法区,在康涅狄格州和罗得岛州,甚至连这个职能都没有。州以下的政府职能大多在市和镇里。但在一些人烟稀少的缅因州的县里,在执法上小镇需要依赖县。同时,新罕布什尔州的一些社会计划由州的层面执行。
康涅狄格州的县政府于1960年被废除,但县名在地理上仍被保留。
马萨诸塞州同样废除了14个县中的8个,只有在州东南部还存在真正的县政府。
C)    在夏威夷
县是自治市镇层面的政府,类似于加拿大安大略省的单一自治市镇层级,除诺福克(Norfolk)县、爱德华王子岛(Prince Edward)县和布兰特(Brant)县。县内没有建制市,除了合一的火奴鲁鲁市和县(City and County of Honolulu)。所有的县,除了火奴鲁鲁,县以下没有正式的低一层的政府。
D)    在加利福尼亚
县是默认的地方政府单元,所有州内的土地都被分在58个县中。每个县都有一个监督委员会(Board of Supervisors),根据法律,为居民提供执法、卫生保健、道路维护等服务。平衡县的强制性责任和自由决定性责任是相当困难的。任何受到实质损害的县内纳税人有权起诉县政府要求履行职责,如卫生保健,财政困难并不能免责。
如果县足够大的内未建制土地上的居民不喜欢县的资源分配,他们可以设市。市政府则拿走部分本应该交给县政府的税收,市政府同时可以向居民征收其它税。市政府可以选择提供所有甚至更多本来县政府提供的服务,也可以只提供其中的一些服务,并向县纳税要求县提供余下的服务。这些最终安排的市叫做契约市(contract city),最早是由雷克伍德(Lakewood)市在20世纪50年代开创的。
这种从县政府管辖中选择性脱离(opting out)的方法在加利福尼亚被发挥到了逻辑上的极限。几乎所有的弗农(Vernon)的市都成了工业带,几乎所有洛斯阿图斯山(Los Altos Hills)的镇都成了居民区。
有意思的是,由于地理上财产税和销售税(市和县的最大税收来源)的不同,以及对财产的态度不同,市和市之间提供的服务也不同。比如,圣塔莫尼卡(Santa Monica)市在帮助无家可归者上比起其它洛杉矶县内的市以及县政府本身要慷慨得多。
同理,县的法令并不适用于市,除非它们被每个市批准。比如,在洛杉矶县,一些市没有批准县的关于食品安全分级公示法令,尽管这个法令是很久以前通过的,但在这些市,分级不需要被公示。
E)    在马里兰
除了巴尔的摩这个独立市外,县是默认的地方政府单元。根据马里兰法律,县政府行使在多数其它州由自治市镇或者州政府保留的职权。因此,当地几乎没有愿意建市的意愿,尤其是在城市化的自治县。许多州内人口很多经济上很重要的社区,如贝瑟斯塔(Bethesda)和银泉(Silver Spring),都是未建制,它们接收县政府提供的市政服务。实际上,在巴尔的摩县和霍华德(Howard)县,根本没有建制市镇。
县(包括巴尔的摩市)同样提供公共学校服务。在马里兰州,没有单独存在的政府层面的学区划分。

7、特例
县政府的职权州和州之间差别非常大,县和建制市职能的差别同样很大。
A)    在阿拉斯加州
自治市镇(borough)具有和其它州的县相当的地位,除路易斯安那州外。有4个合一的都市县政府(city-county governments):朱诺市(City and Borough)、锡特卡(Sitka)市(City and Borough)、雅库塔特(Yakutat)市(City and Borough)和安克雷奇市。虽然安克雷斯的法定名字是(Municipality of Anchorage),根据州法,它被认为是合一的都市县(city-borough)。阿拉斯加的独特性还有,并不是所有的土地都被分到了自治市镇(borough),余下的超过阿拉斯加一半土地的区域,被称为未建制市镇(Unorganized Borough),不在任何自治市镇内,它们的服务由州政府提供。美国人口普查局为了统计需要把这些未建制市镇划分为人口普查区。
B)    在加利福尼亚州
该州只有一个合一的都市县(city-county),圣佛朗西斯科。该市的监督委员为(board of supervisors)管理着两个方面,该市同时有市警察局和县治安局(county sheriff),后者主要负责位于邻近圣马蒂奥(San Mateo)县内的县监狱的运营。
C)    在科罗拉多州
该州有两个合一的都市县,丹佛和布隆菲尔德(Broomfield)。
D)    在佐治亚州
该州有三个合一的都市县,雅典(Athens)市-克拉克(Clarke)县、奥古斯塔(Augusta)市-里士满(Richmond)县和哥伦布市-马斯科吉(Muscogee)县。亚特兰大市,所在富尔顿(Fulton)县,仍在思考是否同富尔顿县合同变成独立市或者合一的都市县。
E)    在堪萨斯州
    怀恩多特(Wyandotte)县和堪萨斯城市组成了合一的都市县。
F)    在肯塔基州
州内两个最大的市,路易斯维尔市和列克星敦(Lexington)市,是合一的都市县(urban-county governments),肯塔基州的法律定义的市、县合一设置。列克星敦和法耶特(Fayette)县已经完全合一。当路易斯维尔都市政府(metro government)成立时,所有杰弗逊县内的其它建制市除了路易斯维尔都保留了作为市的法律地位,但,路易斯维尔都市政府议会是整个县的主要政府部门,并是由杰弗逊县所有居民选举产生。
G)    在路易斯安那州
教区是用来替代县的词。如此,教区的首府相当于县治。新奥尔良市与奥尔良教区同一。
H)    在马里兰州
巴尔的摩市拥有与州内其它县相同的权力和责任。巴尔的摩市在地理上被巴尔的摩县包围,但并不属于巴尔的摩县。巴尔的摩县的县治在陶森(Towson)。
I)    在密苏里州
圣路易斯市是一个独立市,不属于圣路易斯县。
J)    在蒙大拿州
该州有两个合一的都市县,安纳康达(Anaconda)市-鹿栈(Deer Lodge)县、标特(Butte)市-银弓(Silver Bow)县。蒙大拿州的黄石国家公园部分以往不属于任何县,直到1997年,名义上划入了加勒廷(Gallatin)县。
K)    在内华达州
首府卡森城从1969年起成为了独立市。
L)    在新英格兰
新英格兰各州如康涅狄格州,部分马萨诸塞州,以及罗德岛州,县只是地理名称,并不具有政府职能。所有的政府活动在州或者市镇层面。
M)    在纽约州
纽约市由5个县(区)组成,并且是它们的县治所在:纽约县(曼哈顿区)、国王(Kings)县(布鲁克林区)、布朗克斯县(布朗克斯区)、里士满县(斯塔腾岛区)和皇后(Queens)县(皇后区)。由于每个区(borough)都有独立的邮局(皇后区有4个),县治就经常表述为主要邮局:纽约(曼哈顿)、布鲁克林、布朗克斯、斯塔腾岛和牙买加(皇后),纽约。然而,由这些主要邮局服务的社区都在纽约市的限制内。
N)    在宾夕法尼亚州
费城市与费城县同一,政府职能在1854年合一。
O)    在田纳西州
纳什维尔市和戴维森(Davidson)县在同一个政府下。林奇堡(Lynchburg)市-摩尔(Moore)县和哈兹维尔(Hartsville)市-特利斯戴尔(Trousdale)县也适用了相似的制度。
P)    在弗吉尼亚州
许多县治在政治上并不是在它们服务的县内。根据弗吉尼亚法律,所有的建制市都是独立市,不是任何县的一部分。一些汉普顿路地区(Hampton Roads area)的市由县整体改制而来,如弗吉尼亚比奇(Virginia Beach)、切萨皮克(Chesapeake)、纽波特纽斯(Newport News)、汉普顿和萨福克(Suffolk)。这些城市不再是县治,因为县已经停止存在而市已经完全建立,但职能上和县相当。
[ 此贴被QQme在2008-02-05 21:19重新编辑 ]
缩省并县,省县直辖,县下设市,市镇平等
地域平等,市镇平等,设市平等(见头像)
省—县—适域市(5万起)、小广域镇,B、C。。。市
省—县域市(城市几乎充满县域,100万起)A市
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只看该作者 7 发表于: 2006-05-30
简直象蚂蚁,应该用汉语。
大中华帝国党政军总理大臣、大唐帝国复兴委员会委员长、大中华安全与发展事业执行总监、大中华散失领土收复指挥部总司令、大中华海外殖民委员会主席、大中华文化与产业海外推广应用委员会主席、大中华帝国驻联合国全权代表、国家复兴与管理学博士、海陆空三军元帅。
只看该作者 8 发表于: 2008-01-27
中美县域面积对比(km2)
          中国        美国
平均面积  4500                1611
最大县面积 199222    245435
最小县面积 56                    34
只看该作者 9 发表于: 2008-02-04
这个是中位数,不是平均数。
缩省并县,省县直辖,县下设市,市镇平等
地域平等,市镇平等,设市平等(见头像)
省—县—适域市(5万起)、小广域镇,B、C。。。市
省—县域市(城市几乎充满县域,100万起)A市
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只看该作者 10 发表于: 2008-02-04
越看越糊涂,美国行政区划和美国的政党一样,比较自由。
只看该作者 11 发表于: 2009-09-23
美国的县比中国的县更自由~
只看该作者 12 发表于: 2009-09-24
看来美国的行政区划比较混乱,这可能是与美国各州有比较大的自主权有关吧。
只看该作者 13 发表于: 2009-09-24
难道美国的首都的地位竟然等同于一个县的地位。
只看该作者 14 发表于: 2010-01-01
直辖县咯,很奇怪吗
只看该作者 15 发表于: 2010-01-08
难道美国的首都的地位竟然等同于一个县的地位。

但是有名的多啊!纽约市长比纽约州长也要有名一些!
只看该作者 16 发表于: 2010-01-24
英美的County,官方都翻译为郡啊?
只看该作者 17 发表于: 2019-07-07
縣制是主流。
分省分縣直轄市、GDP有參考價值、市管縣縣改區、曲學阿世指鹿爲馬顚倒黑白挑戰常識,四大謬。
只看该作者 18 发表于: 2019-08-02
回 xiandaiyazhu 的帖子
xiandaiyazhu:英美的County,官方都翻译为郡啊? (2010-01-24 09:19) 

现在基本上只有英国的County译成郡。其他的译成县。
美国的County现在一般是译为县。
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只看该作者 19 发表于: 2019-08-03
回 xiandaiyazhu 的帖子
xiandaiyazhu:英美的County,官方都翻译为郡啊? (2010-01-24 09:19) 

英国没有county。对于美国county的翻译,央视自己也不统一。
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