List of counties in Arizona
| Counties of Arizona | |
|---|---|
| Category | Federal Unit |
| Location | State of Arizona |
| Number | 15 |
| Populations | 7,754 (Greenlee) – 3,990,181 (Maricopa) |
| Areas | 1,238 square miles (3,210 km2) (Santa Cruz) – 18,661 square miles (48,330 km2) (Coconino) |
| Government | County government |
| Subdivisions | cities, towns, unincorporated communities, census designated place |
There are 15 counties in the U.S. state of Arizona.[1] Four counties (Mohave, Pima, Yavapai and Yuma) were created in 1864 following the organization of the Arizona Territory in 1862. The now defunct Pah-Ute County was split from Mohave County in 1865, but merged back in 1871. All but La Paz County were created by the time Arizona was granted statehood in 1912.[2]
The names of many of the counties pay tribute to the state's Native American heritage. Nine of the fifteen counties are named after various native groups that are resident in parts of what is now Arizona. Three of the other counties have Spanish names from the language of the early Hispanic explorers of Arizona: La Paz County, Santa Cruz County, and Pinal County. Another county, Graham County, is named for a physical feature, Mount Graham, with the final county, Greenlee County, being named after one of the state's early pioneers.[3]
Arizona's postal abbreviation is AZ and its FIPS code is 04.
Alphabetical listing
| County |
INCITS [4] |
County seat [1] |
Est. [1] |
Formed from [2] |
Etymology [3] |
Population [1][5] |
Area [1][5] |
Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache County | 001 | St. Johns | 1879 | Yavapai County | The Apache (Ndee) people. Apache is an exonym from Zuni ʔapaču "Navajos" or Yavapai ʔpačə "enemy". | 69,980 | 11,218 sq mi (29,054 km2) | 
|
| Cochise County | 003 | Bisbee | 1881 | Pima County | Cochise, a Chiricahua Apache chief and leader of an 1861 uprising. Cochise is an anglicisation of K'uu-ch'ish "oak". | 127,866 | 6,219 sq mi (16,107 km2) | 
|
| Coconino County | 005 | Flagstaff | 1891 | Yavapai County | Coconino is a former designation for the Havasupai, Hualapai, and/or Yavapai, derived from the Hopi exonym Kohonino. | 134,421 | 18,661 sq mi (48,332 km2) | 
|
| Gila County | 007 | Globe | 1881 | Maricopa and Pinal Counties | The Gila River, a tributary of the Colorado. Gila is from the O'odham name for the river, Keli "old man, elder". | 51,994 | 4,796 sq mi (12,422 km2) | 
|
| Graham County | 009 | Safford | 1881 | Apache and Pima Counties | Mount Graham, in the Pinaleños. Mt. Graham itself is named for topographical engineer James Duncan Graham.[6] | 34,769 | 4,641 sq mi (12,020 km2) | 
|
| Greenlee County | 011 | Clifton | 1909 | Graham County | Mason Greenlee, early prospector. Named by an amendment initially intended to delay the bill creating "Lincoln County".[7] | 7,754 | 1,848 sq mi (4,786 km2) | 
|
| La Paz County | 012 | Parker | 1983 | Yuma County | La Paz, Arizona, a historic boomtown on the Colorado River. A common placename, La Paz means "The Peace" in Spanish. | 20,172 | 4,513 sq mi (11,689 km2) | 
|
| Maricopa County | 013 | Phoenix | 1871 | Pima and Yavapai Counties | The Maricopa (Piipaash) people. First attested in Spanish as Cocomaricopa, no origin or meaning is definitively known. | 3,990,181 | 9,224 sq mi (23,890 km2) | 
|
| Mohave County | 015 | Kingman | 1864 | — | The Mohave (Aha Makhav) people. The Mohave endonym means "along the water," referring to the Colorado.[8] | 194,944 | 13,470 sq mi (34,887 km2) | 
|
| Navajo County | 017 | Holbrook | 1895 | Apache County | The Navajo (Diné) people. Navajo is an exonym from Tewa Navahu "big field," referring to the San Juan River Valley | 111,273 | 9,959 sq mi (25,794 km2) | 
|
| Pima County | 019 | Tucson | 1864 | — | The Pima (Akimel O'odham) people. Pima is a Spanish exonym from the O'odham phrase pi mac "(I) don't know," presumably heard during initial encounters. | 1,003,235 | 9,189 sq mi (23,799 km2) | 
|
| Pinal County | 021 | Florence | 1875 | Maricopa and Pima counties | Pinal Peak, possibly from Spanish pinal "place of pines". Pinal Peak is now within the borders of Gila County. | 324,962 | 5,374 sq mi (13,919 km2) | 
|
| Santa Cruz County | 023 | Nogales | 1899 | Cochise and Pima counties | Santa Cruz River, a tributary of the Gila. A common placename, Santa Cruz means "Holy Cross" in Spanish. | 42,845 | 1,238 sq mi (3,206 km2) | 
|
| Yavapai County | 025 | Prescott | 1864 | — | The Yavapai people. The Yavapé are one of four major Yavapai bands. | 212,635 | 8,128 sq mi (21,051 km2) | 
|
| Yuma County | 027 | Yuma | 1864 | — | Yuma is a former name of the Quechan people, derived from the O'odham exonym Yumĭ. | 190,557 | 5,519 sq mi (14,294 km2) |  |
Defunct counties
- Pah-Ute County (1865–1871), now part of Clark County, Nevada and Mohave County, Arizona
See also
- Bannon County, a fictional county in Arizona, was the site of the UFO crash in the film Hangar 18.
- Arizona Association of Counties
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Find A County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2012-04-07.
- 1 2 Adams, Ward R. (1997). History of Arizona. Higginson Book Company. ISBN 0-8328-7044-7.
- 1 2 Kane, Joseph and Aiken, Charles (2004). The American Counties: Origins of County Names, Dates of Creation, and Population Data, 1950-2000. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-5036-2.
- ↑ "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
- 1 2 "Arizona QuickFacts". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved 2007-07-17. (2000 Census)
- ↑ "A Little Bit of Mount Graham History". University of Arizona. Archived from the original on 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2015-03-0. Check date values in:
|access-date=(help) - ↑ "History of Greenlee County: Mason Greenlee". Greenlee County Government. Archived from the original on 2014-02-19. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
- ↑ "The Name Mojave". Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association. Archived from the original on 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2015-03-01.
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