Editing List of counties in Maryland (section)

==History==
The most recent county formation in Maryland occurred in 1872 when [[Garrett County, Maryland|Garrett County]] was split from [[Allegany County, Maryland|Allegany County]].<ref name="Manual">{{cite web|url=http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/county.html|title=Counties|work=Maryland Manual Online|publisher=Maryland State Archives|access-date=June 24, 2007}}</ref> However, there have been numerous changes to county borders since that time, most recently when portions of the city of [[Takoma Park, Maryland|Takoma Park]] that had previously been part of [[Prince George's County, Maryland|Prince George's County]] were absorbed into [[Montgomery County, Maryland|Montgomery County]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Deneen |title=As Unification Nears, Takoma Park Residents Still a Divided People |newspaper=The Washington Post |pages=A1 |date=June 28, 1997 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/sept99/takoma062897.htm |access-date=June 24, 2007}}</ref>

Within Maryland 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 9, 2024 |title=Maryland Government, State, local & federal |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/govern.html |access-date=January 3, 2025 |website=[[Maryland State Archives]]}}</ref> Many of the state's most populous and economically important communities, such as [[Bethesda, Maryland|Bethesda]], [[Silver Spring, Maryland|Silver Spring]], [[Columbia, Maryland|Columbia]], and [[Towson, Maryland|Towson]] are [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]] and receive their municipal services from the county.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 2011 |title=Place Alpha Vacancy 2000-2010 |url=https://planning.maryland.gov/MSDC/Documents/Census/Cen2010/PL94-171/housing/Place_Alpha_Vacancy_2000-2010.pdf |access-date=January 3, 2025 |publisher=[[Maryland Department of Planning]]}}</ref> In fact, there are no incorporated municipalities at all in Baltimore County or [[Howard County, Maryland|Howard County]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 11, 2022 |title=Baltimore County, Maryland, Municipalities |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bco/html/bcomu.html |access-date=January 3, 2025 |website=[[Maryland State Archives]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 6, 2024 |title=Howard County, Maryland, Municipalities |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/36loc/how/html/howmu.html |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=[[Maryland State Archives]]}}</ref> The county-equivalent is also the provider of public schools as [[school district]]s do not exist as a separate level of government in Maryland.<ref>{{cite web |title=Maryland |url=https://www2.census.gov/govs/cog/gc0212md.pdf |access-date=December 14, 2024 |publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]] |page=1}}</ref>

The City of Baltimore is an entity nearly surrounded by but separate from the [[Baltimore County, Maryland|County of Baltimore]]. The City has been considered on par with the counties within the state since it became an [[Independent city (United States)|independent city]] after it separated from Baltimore County in 1851.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/36loc/bcity/html/bcity.html |title=Baltimore City, Maryland |website=Maryland Manual Online |publisher=Maryland State Archives |access-date=December 4, 2024}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Maryland's code is 24, which when combined with any county code would be written as 24XXX.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography/guidance/geo-identifiers.html |title=Understanding Geographic Identifiers (GEOIDs) |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=December 4, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/library/reference/code-lists/ansi/ansi-codes-for-states.html |title=American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Codes for States |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=December 4, 2024}}</ref> The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.