List of counties in Maine
{{Short description|None}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox subdivision type
| name = Counties of Maine
| alt_name =
| map = Maine-counties-map.gif
| category =
| territory = State of Maine
| start_date =
| current_number = 16
| number_date =
| population_range = 17,432 (Piscataquis) – 313,809 (Cumberland)
| area_range = {{Convert|370|sqmi}} (Sagadahoc) – {{Convert|6829|sqmi}} (Aroostook)
| government = County government
| subdivision = cities, towns, plantations, unincorporated territories, census designated places, Indian reservations
}}
This is a list of the 16 counties in the U.S. state of Maine. Before statehood, Maine was officially part of the state of Massachusetts and was called the District of Maine. Maine was granted statehood on March 15, 1820, as part of the Missouri Compromise. Nine of the 16 counties had their borders defined while Maine was still part of Massachusetts, and hence are older than the state itself.{{Page needed|date=July 2011}} Even after 1820, the exact location of the northern border of Maine was disputed with Britain, until the question was settled and the northern counties signed their final official form, the Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed in 1842.{{cite book|last=Bassett|first=John|title=A Short History of the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028699498|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028699498/page/n472 437]|publisher=Macmillan|year=1913|location=New York|oclc=869001}} pp. 437–438 Almost all of Aroostook County was disputed land until the treaty was signed.{{cite book |last=Clark |first=Charles E. |url=https://archive.org/details/mainehistory0000clar |title=Maine: A History |publisher=University Press of New England |year=1990 |isbn=0-87451-520-3 |pages= |url-access=registration}}{{Page needed|date=July 2011}}
The first county to be created was York County, created as York County, Massachusetts, by the government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652 to govern territories it claimed in southern Maine.{{cite book|last=Clark|first=Charles E.|title=The Eastern Frontier: The Settlement of Northern new England, 1610–1763|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|year=1970|oclc=94907}} p. 50 No new counties have been created since 1860, when Knox County and Sagadahoc County were created. The most populous counties tend to be located in the southeastern portion of the state, along the Atlantic seaboard. The largest counties in terms of land area are inland and further north. Maine's county names come from a mix of British, American, and Native American sources, reflecting Maine's pre-colonial, colonial, and national heritage.{{Page needed|date=July 2011}}
The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify states and counties, is provided with each entry. Maine's code is 23, which when combined with any county code would be written as 23XXX. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.{{cite web|url= http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip6-4.htm|title= FIPS Publish 6-4|publisher= National Institute of Standards and Technology|access-date= April 11, 2007|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130929074056/http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip6-4.htm|archive-date= September 29, 2013}}
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Alphabetical list
{{Countytabletop
| region_width =
| region_seat_title = Seat
| region_seat_width =
| largest_city_title =
| data2_title = {{abbr|Est.|Established}}
| data2_width =
| data3_title = Origin
| data3_width =
| data3_ref =
| data4_title = Etymology
| data4_width =
| data4_ref =
| data4_unsortable = yes
| population_ref = {{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/ME/PST045219 |title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Maine}}
| area_ref = {{cite web|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/maine_map.html|title=Maine QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau|work=State & County QuickFacts|access-date=April 18, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070410195422/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/maine_map.html|archive-date=April 10, 2007}}
}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=001|Name=Androscoggin|Seat=Auburn|Largest city=Lewiston|Data2=1854|Data4=The Androscoggin Native American tribe. |Area= 497|Population=115272|Data3=From parts of Cumberland County, Kennebec County, and Lincoln County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=003|Name=Aroostook|Seat=Houlton|Data2=1839|Data4=A Mi'kmaq word meaning beautiful river. |Area=6829|Population=66776|Data3=From parts of Penobscot County, and Washington County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=005|Name=Cumberland|Seat=Portland|Data2=1761|Data4=Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, son of George II of Great Britain. |Area=1217|Population=313809|Data3=As Cumberland County, Massachusetts, from part of York County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=007|Name=Franklin|Seat=Farmington|Data2=1838|Data4=Benjamin Franklin, the Founding Father, scientist, printer, and diplomat. |Area=1744|Population=30902|Data3=From parts of Kennebec County, Oxford County, and Somerset County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=009|Name=Hancock|Seat=Ellsworth|Data2=1790|Data4=John Hancock (1737–1793), the Founding Father and president of the convention that produced the United States Declaration of Independence. |Area=2351|Population=56946|Data3=As Hancock County, Massachusetts, from part of Lincoln County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=011|Name=Kennebec|Seat=Augusta|Data2=1799|Data4=The Kennebec River in Maine. |Area=951|Population=128461|Data3=As Kennebec County, Massachusetts, from part of Lincoln County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=013|Name=Knox|Seat=Rockland|Data2=1860|Data4=Henry Knox (1750–1806), the first United States Secretary of War (1789 - 1794), who lived in Thomaston, Maine. |Area=1142|Population=40981|Data3=From parts of Lincoln County and Waldo County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=015|Name=Lincoln|Seat=Wiscasset|Data2=1760|Data4=The city of Lincoln, England. |Area=700 |Population=36491|Data3=As Lincoln County, Massachusetts, from part of York County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=017|Name=Oxford |Seat=Paris|Data2=1805|Data4=Probably named for Oxford, Massachusetts. |Area=2175 |Population=60039|Data3=As Oxford County, Massachusetts, from parts of Cumberland County and York County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=019|Name=Penobscot|Seat=Bangor|Data2=1816|Data4=The Penobscot Native American tribe. |Area=3556|Population=156840|Data3=As Penobscot County, Massachusetts, from part of Hancock County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=021|Name=Piscataquis|Seat=Dover-Foxcroft|Data2=1838|Data4=An Abenaki word meaning rapid waters. |Area=4377|Population=17432|Data3=From parts of Penobscot County and Somerset County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=023|Name=Sagadahoc|Seat=Bath|Data2=1854|Data4=An Abenaki word meaning mouth of big river. |Area=370|Population=37582|Data3=From part of Lincoln County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=025|Name=Somerset|Seat=Skowhegan|Data2=1809|Data4=The county of Somerset in England. |Area=4095 |Population=51338|Data3=As Somerset County, Massachusetts, from parts of Kennebec County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=027|Name=Waldo|Seat=Belfast|Data2=1827|Data4=Samuel Waldo, Maine landowner and a colonial soldier in the 1745 siege of Louisbourg. |Area=853|Population=40617|Data3=From parts of Hancock County, Kennebec County and Lincoln County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=029|Name=Washington|Seat=Machias|Data2=1790|Data4=George Washington, the first President of the United States. |Area=3255|Population=31383|Data3=As Washington County, Massachusetts, from part of Lincoln County|Size=80px}}
{{Countyrow|N=23|Num=031|Name=York |Seat=Alfred|Data2=1652|Data4=York, England, the birthplace of Christopher Levett who first attempted to settle the area. |Area=1271|Population=220143|Data3=As Yorkshire County, Massachusetts, from the southern part of the District of Maine. Renamed York County by Massachusetts in 1668|Size=80px}}
|}
Further reading
- {{cite web |last1=writer |first1=Statf |author-link1= |collaboration= |df= |year=2022 |location= |title=MAINE COUNTY GOVERNMENT OVERVIEW |url=https://ce.naco.org//app/profiles/CountyGov/CountyGov_23000.pdf |url-access= |format= |department= |website=ce.naco.org |type= |language= |edition= |agency=National Association of Counties (NACo) |arxiv= |asin= |asin-tld= |bibcode= |bibcode-access= |biorxiv= |citeseerx= |doi= |doi-access= |doi-broken-date= |eissn= |hdl= |hdl-access= |isbn= |ismn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |jstor-access= |lccn= |medrxiv= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |ol-access= |osti= |osti-access= |pmc= |pmc-embargo-date= |pmid= |rfc= |sbn= |ssrn= |s2cid= |s2cid-access= |zbl= |id= |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-format= |archive-date= |access-date=January 3, 2025 |quote-page= |quote-pages= |quote= |ref= }}