A county is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. Originally, in continental Europe, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count. Counts are called earls in post-Celtic Britain and Ireland—the term is from Old Norse jarl and was introduced by the Vikings—but there is no correlation between counties and earldoms. Rather, county, from French comté, was simply used by the Normans after 1066 to replace the native English term scir ()—Modern English shire. A shire was an administrative division of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom (Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia, etc.), usually named after its administrative centre: for example, Gloucestershire, in Gloucester; Worcestershire, in Worcester; etc.Etymology of the word county.

Thus, whereas the word comté denoted a sovereign jurisdiction in the original French, the English county denotes a subdivision of a sovereign jurisdiction.

Overview

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Country/Area	Language	Singular	Plural	Number	Notes
Counties of Canada	English and French
Counties of Croatia	Croatian	županija	županije	20
Counties of Denmark	Danish	amt	amter
Counties of Estonia	Estonian	maakond	maakonnad	15
Counties of Finland	Swedish and Finnish	län/läänit	län/läänit	6
Counties of Germany	German	Kreis	Kreise	323+116
Counties of Hungary	Hungarian	megye	megyék	19/22/1	for numbers: see main article
Counties of Ireland	Irish and English	contae	contaethe	32*
Counties of Japan	Japanese	gun
Counties of Latvia	Latvian	rajons	rajoni	26
Counties of Liberia	English language			15
Counties of Lithuania	Lithuanian	apskritis	apskritys	10
Counties of Moldova	Romanian language	judeţ	judeţe	9	disbanded in 2003
Counties of the Netherlands	Dutch language	graafschap	graafschappen		only historic
Counties of Norway	Norwegian language	fylke	fylker	19
Counties of Poland	Polish language	powiat	powiaty
Counties of Romania	Romanian language	judeţ	judeţe	41+1
Counties of Serbia and Montenegro	Serbian language	okrug	okruzi	29+1/21
Counties of Sweden	Swedish language	län	län
Counties of the United Kingdom	English language
Counties of the United States	English language			3141

* The 32 refers to the counties of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland combined. For more information, see the sections on Ireland and United Kingdom below.

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Buying kids for the less fortunate kids here in SAnta barbara and Ventura counties!
gawwwdy (Gardy Borromeo) Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:43:18 -0000
Buying kids for the less fortunate kids here in SAnta barbara and Ventura counties!
Come to "SUU Open House for Davis and Weber Counties" Tuesday, December 29 from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm. This is an... http://bit.ly/4zY6z5
FutureSUUTbirds (SUU Admissions) Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:38:14 -0000
Come to "SUU Open House for Davis and Weber Counties" Tuesday, December 29 from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm. This is an... http://bit.ly/4zY6z5
RT @FOX6Weather: Blizzard warning may be issued for Fond du Lac, Dodge, Jefferson counties for tonight due to strong wind, heavy snow.
jonkurozawa (Jon Kurozawa) Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:31:34 -0000
RT @FOX6Weather: Blizzard warning may be issued for Fond du Lac, Dodge, Jefferson counties for tonight due to strong wind, heavy snow.
RT @wboc: Jen_Walker_16: Flood Watches for Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester, and Accomack Counties. http://bit.ly/6erOZg(no rain!
MonicaMcNamara (MonicaMcNamara) Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:25:20 -0000
RT @wboc: Jen_Walker_16: Flood Watches for Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, Worcester, and Accomack Counties. http://bit.ly/6erOZg(no rain!
RT @FOX6Weather: Blizzard warning may be issued for Fond du Lac, Dodge, Jefferson counties tonight due to strong wind, heavy snow.
RobertJames1 (Rob Strzelczyk) Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:24:13 -0000
RT @FOX6Weather: Blizzard warning may be issued for Fond du Lac, Dodge, Jefferson counties tonight due to strong wind, heavy snow.
The Laconia Citizen reports reimbursements to NH counties will be lowered by 7%. The only way to make it up: shift... http://bit.ly/6PGmTx
FixItNowNH (Fix It Now NH) Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:23:47 -0000
The Laconia Citizen reports reimbursements to NH counties will be lowered by 7%. The only way to make it up: shift... http://bit.ly/6PGmTx

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