County
A county is a type of officially recognized geographical division within a modern country, federal state, or province. Counties are defined in diverse ways, but they are typically current or former official administrative divisions within systems of local government, and in this sense counties are similar to shires, and typically larger than municipalities. Various non-English terms can be translated as "county" or "shire" in other languages, and in English new terms with less historical connection have been invented such as "council area" and "local government district". On the other hand, in older English-speaking countries the word can still refer to traditional historical regions such as some of those which exist in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The term is also sometimes used for districts with specific non-governmental purposes such as courts, or land registration.
Historically the concept of a geographical administrative "county" is European, and represented the territorial limits of the jurisdiction of a medieval count, or a viscount supposedly standing in the place of a count. However, there were no such counts in medieval England, and when the French-speaking Normans took control of England after 1066 they transplanted the French and medieval Latin terms to describe the pre-existing Anglo Saxon shires, but they did not establish any system placing the administration of shires under the control of high-level nobles. Instead, although there were exceptions, the officers responsible for administrative functions, such as tax collection, or the mustering of soldiers, were sheriffs, theoretically assigned by the central government, and controlled directly by the monarch.
The Counties of England have evolved in several different directions, so that there is now more than one definition. The 39 "traditional", "ancient" or "historic" counties of England have on the one hand evolved into 83 metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, which are modern administrative districts covering the whole country except London, Berkshire, and the Isles of Scilly. The historic counties are also the basis for the 48 ceremonial counties of England, which still each have lords-lieutenants and high sheriffs, who theoretically represent the monarchy in different parts of the country. In cases such as Yorkshire and Sussex, some historical counties remain as geographical regions without any administrative function. The postal counties of the United Kingdom, based upon older county definitions, were used by the Royal Mail until 1996. Scotland replaced its 34 historic counties or shires with 32 modern "council areas", some of which correspond to the old counties, or use the old names. In Wales the modern "principal areas" correspond to some extent to the old county boundaries, and they can also still be referred to as "counties" and "county boroughs". The 32 modern Irish counties were first defined after the Norman invasion, but several of these were broadly continuations with earlier divisions clan lordships.
Notable examples of more recently-founded English-speaking administrations which have taken up the term "county" as a level of local government include the United States and Canada, where counties sometimes evolved from historic districts governed by courts or magistrates, before the countries became independent of the United Kingdom. In New Zealand there were counties historically, but these have been replaced by cities or districts. In Australian local government, the term "shire" is among the several which are typically used in local government, depending upon the state, but the term "county", which was used by the colonial administration, is mainly relevant for land registration districts. It is also used for the County Court of Victoria, which is a court covering an entire Australian state.
Africa
Kenya
Counties are the current second-level political division in Kenya. Each county has an assembly where members of the county assembly sit. This assembly is headed by a governor. Each county is also represented in the Senate of Kenya by a senator. Additionally, a women's representative is elected from each county to the Parliament of Kenya to represent women's interests. Counties replaced provinces as the second-level division after the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya.Liberia
has 15 counties, each of which elects two senators to the Senate of Liberia.Asia
China
The English word county is used to translate the Chinese term xiàn. In Mainland China, governed by the People's Republic of China, counties and county-level divisions are the third level of regional/local government, coming under the provincial level and the prefectural level, and above the township level and village level.There are 1,464 so-named "counties" out of 2,862 county-level divisions in the PRC, and the number of counties has remained more or less constant since the Han dynasty. It remains one of the oldest titles of local-level government in China and significantly predates the establishment of provinces in the Yuan dynasty. The county government was particularly important in imperial China because this was the lowest level at which the imperial government is functionally involved, while below it the local people are managed predominantly by the gentries. The head of a county government during imperial China was the magistrate, who was often a newly ascended jinshi.
In older context, district was an older English translation of xiàn before the establishment of the Republic of China. The English nomenclature county was adopted following the establishment of the ROC.
During most of the imperial era, there were no concepts like municipalities in China. All cities existed within counties, commanderies, prefectures, etc., and had no governments of their own. Large cities could be divided and administered by two or three counties. Such counties are called 倚郭縣 or 附郭縣. The yamen or governmental houses of these counties exist in the same city. In other words, they share one county town. In this sense, a yǐguō xiàn or fùguō xiàn is similar to a district of a city.
For example, the city of Guangzhou was historically divided by Nanhai County and Panyu County. When the first modern city government in China was established in Guangzhou, the urban area was separated from these two counties, with the rural areas left in the remaining parts of them. However, the county governments remained in the city for years, before moving into the respective counties. Similar processes happened in many Chinese cities.
Nowadays, most counties in mainland China, i.e. with "Xian" in their titles, are administered by prefecture-level cities and have mainly agricultural economies and rural populations.
Indonesia
Regency in Indonesia is an administrative unit under a province that is equivalent to a city. A regency is headed by a regent who is directly elected by the people, and is responsible for public services such as education, health, and infrastructure. The structure of a regency includes several districts which are further divided into villages or ward. Regency in Indonesia is similar to the concept of "county" in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, but with differences in cultural context and government system. Indonesia has more than 400 regencies spread across all provinces.Iran
The ostans of Iran are further subdivided into counties called shahrestān. County consists of a city centre, a few Bakhsh , and many villages around them. There are usually a few cities and rural agglomerations in each county. Rural agglomerations are a collection of a number of villages. One of the cities of the county is appointed as the capital of the county.Each shahrestān has a government office known as farmândâri, which coordinates different events and government offices. The farmândâr فرماندار, or the head of farmândâri, is the governor of the shahrestān.
Fars province has the highest number of shahrestāns, with 36, while Qom uniquely has one, being coextensive with its namesake county. Iran had 324 shahrestāns in 2005 and 443 in 2021.
Korea
County is the common English translation for the character 군 that denotes the current second level political division in South Korea. In North Korea, the county is one type of municipal-level division.Taiwan
There are currently 13 counties in the Republic of China. In addition, provincial cities have the same level of authority as counties. Above county, there are special municipalities and province.Europe
Denmark
was divided into counties from 1662 to 2006. On 1 January 2007 the counties were replaced by five Regions. At the same time, the number of municipalities was slashed to 98.The counties were first introduced in 1662, replacing the 49 fiefs in Denmark–Norway with the same number of counties. This number does not include the subdivisions of the Duchy of Schleswig, which was only under partial Danish control. The number of counties in Denmark had dropped to around 20 by 1793. Following the reunification of South Jutland with Denmark in 1920, four counties replaced the Prussian Districts of Prussia. Aabenraa and Sønderborg County merged in 1932 and Skanderborg and Aarhus were separated in 1942. From 1942 to 1970, the number stayed at 22. The number was further decreased by the 1970 Danish municipal reform, leaving 14 counties plus two cities unconnected to the county structure; Copenhagen and Frederiksberg.
In 2003, Bornholm County merged with the local five municipalities, forming the Bornholm Regional Municipality. The remaining 13 counties were abolished on 1 January 2007 where they were replaced by five new regions. In the same reform, the number of municipalities was slashed from 270 to 98 and all municipalities now belong to a region.