Editing County (United States) (section)

===County equivalents===
The term ''county equivalents'' is used by the [[United States Census Bureau]] to describe divisions that are comparable to counties but called by different names:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/county_and_equivalent_entity.htm|title=County and equivalent entity|website=factfinder.census.gov|access-date=March 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322003032/https://factfinder.census.gov/help/en/county_and_equivalent_entity.htm|archive-date=March 22, 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska|Alaska boroughs]]: The state adopted the term "borough" instead of "county" to reflect Alaska's system with different classes of boroughs varying in governmental powers.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.akhistorycourse.org/governing-alaska/local-government/|title=Local Government|work=Alaska Humanities Forum|access-date=2022-06-25|archive-date=November 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105013431/https://www.akhistorycourse.org/governing-alaska/local-government/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska|Alaska census areas]]: Nearly half of the land area of Alaska is not contained within any of Alaska's 19 organized boroughs. This vast area, larger than [[France]] and [[Germany]] combined, is officially referred to by the Alaska state government as the ''[[Unorganized Borough, Alaska|Unorganized Borough]]'' and outside of other incorporated borough limits, has no independent "county" government, although several incorporated city governments exist within its boundaries; the majority of it is governed and run by the State of Alaska as an extension of state government.{{refn| The [[Unorganized Borough, Alaska|Unorganized Borough]] formed by the ''Borough Act of 1961'' is a legal entity, run by the Alaska state government as an extension of State government.<ref>{{Cite web |title = Alaska Statutes Title 29 Chapter 03. The Unorganized Borough |date = August 18, 1998 |publisher = Local Government On-Line, Division of Community and Regional Affairs, [[Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development]] |url = http://www.commerce.alaska.gov/dca/LOGON/pubs/29_03.htm |access-date = July 17, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090415065256/http://commerce.alaska.gov/dca/LOGON/pubs/29_03.htm |archive-date = April 15, 2009 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref> It and the independently incorporated Unified, Home Rule, First Class and Second Class boroughs roughly correspond to parishes in Louisiana and to counties in the other 48 states.<ref>{{Cite web |title = Local Government in Alaska |date = February 2001 |publisher = Local Boundary Commission, [[Alaska Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development]] |url = http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/lbc/pubs/Local_Gov_AK.pdf |access-date = July 17, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080718230624/http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/lbc/pubs/Local_Gov_AK.pdf |archive-date = July 18, 2008 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref>|group=lower-alpha}} The United States Census Bureau, in cooperation with the Alaska state government for census and electoral districting purposes, has divided the Unorganized Borough into 11 census areas for statistical purposes only.<ref group=lower-alpha>These 11 statistical areas are used solely by the [[United States Census Bureau]] to tabulate population and other census statistics within the Unorganized Borough; they have no legal basis in Alaska state or federal law other than for electoral representation and federal financial assistance purposes.</ref>
* [[List of parishes in Louisiana|Louisiana parishes]]: The usage of the term "[[parish]]" for a territorial entity or local government in Louisiana dates back to both the [[Louisiana (New Spain)|Spanish colonial]] and [[Louisiana (New France)|French colonial periods]] when the land was dominated by the [[Catholic Church]]. [[New Orleans]] is a consolidated city-parish. 
* [[Independent city (United States)|Independent cities]]: These are cities that legally belong to no county. They differ from consolidated city-counties in that in the case of a consolidated city-county, the county at least nominally exists, whereas in the case of an independent city, no county even nominally exists.<ref>[https://www.nlc.org/resource/cities-101-consolidations Cities 101 – Consolidations], from [[National League of Cities]]</ref> There are 41 such cities in the United States: [[Baltimore|Baltimore, Maryland]]; [[Carson City, Nevada]]; [[St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]]; and all 38 cities in [[Virginia]], where any area incorporated as a city is outside of the county jurisdiction.<ref name="VaPop">{{cite web |url = http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/CommissiononLocalGovernment/PDFs/Locality-Populations.pdf |title = Population and Area of All Virginia Local Governments, 1790–2010 |publisher = Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development |date = April 19, 2012 |access-date = January 25, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170525022119/http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/CommissiononLocalGovernment/PDFs/Locality-Populations.pdf |archive-date = May 25, 2017 |url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.census.gov/geo/www/cob/co_metadata.html |title = County & County Equivalent Areas |work = [[United States Census Bureau]] |date = April 19, 2005 |access-date = December 8, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071128044354/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/cob/co_metadata.html |archive-date = November 28, 2007 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref>
* [[Washington, D.C.]],<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |title=2010 FIPS Code Files for Counties and County Equivalent Entities |url=https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/codes/cou.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628232229/https://www.census.gov/geo/reference/codes/cou.html |archive-date=Jun 28, 2017 |access-date=November 2, 2017 |website=US Census Bureau}}</ref> outside the jurisdiction of any state, has a special status. The City of Washington comprises the entirety of the District of Columbia, which, in accordance with Article 1, Section 8 of the [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]], is under the jurisdiction of the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]]. When founded in 1801, the District consisted of two counties and three cities. In 1846, Alexandria County (which now forms [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington County]] and a portion of the independent city of [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]])—including the then City of Alexandria—was [[District of Columbia retrocession|given back to Virginia]]. In 1871, the three remaining entities—the City of Washington, [[Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)|City of Georgetown]], and [[Washington County, D.C.|Washington County]] (which was coterminous with the district)—were merged into a consolidated government of District of Columbia by an act of Congress. Georgetown was abolished as a city by another act in 1895.
* [[Councils of governments in Connecticut|Connecticut councils of governments]] (beginning in 2024): County governments were abolished in Connecticut in 1960. Regional councils of governments (COGs) have since been developed as a means of cooperation and coordination between municipalities. Application for the COGs to be considered county equivalents for statistical purposes was made to the Census Bureau in 2019, approved in 2022, and was fully implemented by 2024.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/06-2022/Governor-Lamont-Announces-Census-Bureau-Approves-Proposal-for-Planning-Regions |title=Governor Lamont Announces U.S. Census Bureau Approves Proposal for Connecticut's Planning Regions To Become County Equivalents |publisher=The Office of Governor Ned Lamont |date=June 6, 2022 |access-date=July 21, 2022}}</ref>

[[Consolidated city-county|Consolidated city-counties]] are not designated county equivalents for administrative purposes; since both the city and the county at least nominally exist, they are properly classified as counties in their own right. Likewise, the [[boroughs of New York City]] are coextensive with counties and are therefore by definition also not county equivalents.

====Territories====

There are technically no counties in U.S. territories. [[American Samoa]] has [[Administrative divisions of American Samoa|its own counties]], but the U.S. Census Bureau does not treat them as counties (instead, the U.S. Census Bureau treats American Samoa's [[Districts of American Samoa|three districts and two atolls]] as county equivalents).<ref name="CensusT"/><ref name="CensusCounties2"/> American Samoa's counties are treated as minor civil divisions.<ref name="CensusCounties2"/> Most territories are directly divided into municipalities or similar units, which are mostly treated as equivalent of counties for statistical purposes:<ref name="CensusT"/><ref name= "USMOICounties">{{cite web |url=http://www.statoids.com/uum.html |title=Territories of United States Minor Outlying Islands |website=Statoids.com |access-date=July 6, 2018}}</ref><ref name="CensusCounties2"/><ref>{{cite web|url =http://www.hl7.org/fhir/valueset-fips-county.html |website = FHIR|title = US counties and county equivalent entities codes|author= US Realm Taskforce Work Group|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180707093410/http://www.hl7.org/fhir/valueset-fips-county.html |archive-date = 7 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.census.gov/library/reference/code-lists/ansi.html#par_statelist|website= U.S. Census Bureau|title = Census Bureau Code Lists: American National Standards Institute (ANSI)|date = 23 April 2019}}</ref>

* The 78 [[municipalities of Puerto Rico]]
* The 2 [[Districts and sub-districts of the United States Virgin Islands|districts of the United States Virgin Islands]], or the 3 main [[List of islands of the United States Virgin Islands|islands of the United States Virgin Islands]]
* The 4 [[Northern Mariana Islands#Administrative divisions|municipalities of the Northern Mariana Islands]]
* The 3 [[Administrative divisions of American Samoa|districts of American Samoa]]
* The 2 [[Administrative divisions of American Samoa|atolls of American Samoa]]
* The 9 islands of the [[U.S. Minor Outlying Islands]]

The U.S. Census Bureau counts all of [[Guam]] as one county equivalent (with the FIPS code 66010),<ref name="CensusT"/><ref name="CensusCounties2">{{cite web |title=States, Counties, and Statistically Equivalent Entities (Chapter 4) |url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch4GARM.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/GARM/Ch4GARM.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |access-date=July 6, 2018 |website=U.S. Census Bureau}}</ref> while the [[United States Geological Survey|USGS]] counts [[List of populated places in Guam|Guam's election districts (villages)]] as county equivalents.<ref name="USGSCounties">{{cite web|url = https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-many-counties-are-there-united-states|title = How many counties are there in the United States?|website = USGS.gov|access-date = July 7, 2018|archive-date = September 7, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180907033534/https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-many-counties-are-there-united-states|url-status = dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url = https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/metroarea/stcbsa_pg/Feb2013/cbsa2013_GU.pdf|title = Guam &ndash; Election Districts|website= Census.gov|date = 2012}}</ref> The U.S. Census Bureau counts the 3 main islands in the [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] as county equivalents, while the USGS counts the [[Districts and sub-districts of the United States Virgin Islands|districts of the U.S. Virgin Islands]] (of which there are 2) as county equivalents.<ref name="CensusT"/><ref name="USGSCounties"/>