A borough in some U.S. states is a unit of local government or other administrative division below the level of the state. The term is currently used in six states:
34-511: Kenai Peninsula Borough is a borough of the U.S. state of Alaska . As of the 2020 census , the population was 58,799, up from 55,400 in 2010. The borough seat is Soldotna , the largest city is Kenai , and the most populated community is the census-designated place of Kalifornsky . The borough includes most of the Kenai Peninsula and a large area of the mainland of Alaska on the opposite side of Cook Inlet . The borough has
68-531: A Superior Court and Sheriff (as an officer of the court ), both located in a designated "shire town". Bennington County, Vermont has two shire towns; the court for "North Shire" is in the shire town Manchester , and the Sheriff for the county and court for "South Shire" are in the shire town Bennington. In 2024, Connecticut , which had not defined their counties for anything but statistical, historical and weather warning purposes since 1960, along with ending
102-463: A city-wide district attorney 's office. Instead, each borough elects a district attorney whose title is named after the respective county: Bronx County District Attorney , Kings County District Attorney , New York County District Attorney , Queens County District Attorney , and Richmond County District Attorney . Boroughs do not exist in any other part of the state of New York . In Pennsylvania 's state laws that govern classes of municipalities,
136-410: A county seat may be an independent city surrounded by, but not part of, the county of which it is the administrative center; for example, Fairfax City is both the county seat of Fairfax County, Virginia and completely surrounded by Fairfax County, but the city is politically independent of the county. When the county seat is in the independent city, government offices such as the courthouse may be in
170-516: A female householder with no husband present, and 31% were non-families. 25% of households were one person, and 5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.6 and the average family size was 3.2. In the borough the population was spread out, with 30% under the age of 18, 7% from 18 to 24, 30% from 25 to 44, 26% from 45 to 64, and 7% 65 or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 109 males; for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 110 males. There
204-558: A total area of 24,752 square miles (64,110 km), of which 16,075 square miles (41,630 km) is land and 8,677 square miles (22,470 km) (3.4%) is water. Bear Lake , Tutka Bay, and the Trail Lakes , have been the site of salmon enhancement activities. All three sites are managed by the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association Some of the fish hatched at these facilities are released into
238-548: Is coextensive and consolidated with its town. The other eight boroughs, such as Woodmont , have jurisdiction over only a part of their town. Boroughs in Connecticut are counted as separate municipal governments, but governmental functions performed in other parts of the state by town governments are performed by the parent town of the borough. In Michigan , the term borough only applied to Mackinac Island from February 2, 1817, to March 25, 1847. The Borough government
272-457: Is a borough-wide government based in Soldotna, consisting of a strong mayor and an assembly of representatives from all areas of the borough. They collect sales and property taxes and provide services such as road maintenance, waste collection facilities, emergency services and major funding for public schools, along with mitigation of damage from spruce bark beetles that infested the borough in
306-593: Is an administrative center, seat of government , or capital city of a county or civil parish . The term is in use in five countries: Canada , China , Hungary , Romania , and the United States . An equivalent term, shire town , is used in the U.S. state of Vermont and in several other English-speaking jurisdictions, such as Venezuela . In Canada , the provinces of Ontario , Quebec , New Brunswick , Prince Edward Island , and Nova Scotia have counties as an administrative division of government below
340-438: Is divided into six boroughs, one corresponding to the former city of South Norfolk and one corresponding to each of the five magisterial districts of the former Norfolk County . In Virginia Beach , the seven boroughs were abolished effective July 1, 1998. Wisconsin in the 19th century occasionally used the term "borough" for the type of civil township normally known as a town . Borough seat A county seat
374-409: Is known as the seat of its county. Generally, the county legislature, county courthouse, sheriff's department headquarters, hall of records, jail and correctional facility are located in the county seat, though some functions (such as highway maintenance, which usually requires a large garage for vehicles, along with asphalt and salt storage facilities) may also be located or conducted in other parts of
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#1732772240204408-759: The Bronx , and Staten Island . Each of these is coterminous with a county : Kings County, New York County, Queens County, Bronx County, and Richmond County, respectively. There are no county governments within New York City for legislative or executive purposes. The powers of the boroughs are inferior to the powers of the citywide government, but each borough elects a borough president , who in turn appoints some members of local community boards (see Government of New York City ). The boroughs of New York City are generally treated as separate counties for judicial purposes and for some legal filings. New York City does not have
442-947: The United States, followed by Towson , the county seat of Baltimore County, Maryland . Likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, Cape May Court House, New Jersey , though unincorporated, is a section of Middle Township , an incorporated municipality. In some states, often those that were among the original Thirteen Colonies , county seats include or formerly included "Court House" as part of their name, such as Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia . Most counties have only one county seat. However, some counties in Alabama , Arkansas , Georgia , Iowa , Kentucky , Massachusetts , Mississippi , Missouri , New Hampshire , New York , and Vermont have two or more county seats, usually located on opposite sides of
476-523: The Unorganized Borough into ten census areas for statistical purposes. In addition to cities, Connecticut also has another type of dependent municipality known as a borough. Boroughs are usually the populated center of a town that decided to incorporate in order to have more responsive local government. When a borough is formed, it is still part of and dependent on its town. There are nine boroughs in Connecticut. One borough, Naugatuck ,
510-449: The borough was 86% white, 7% Native American, 2% Hispanic or Latino (any race), and 4% from two or more races. Black or African Americans , Asians , and Pacific Islanders each were less than 1%. Just under 1% were from other races combined. 1.92% reported speaking Russian at home, while 1.74% spoke Spanish . Of the 18,400 households, 38% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55% were married couples living together, 9% had
544-526: The counties after his unification, there were about 1,000. Under the Eastern Han dynasty , the number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when the Sui dynasty abolished the commandery level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties. In Imperial China, the county was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of
578-418: The county, especially if it is geographically large. A county seat is usually an incorporated municipality . The exceptions include the county seats of counties that have no incorporated municipalities within their borders, such as Arlington County, Virginia , where the county seat is the entire county. Ellicott City , the county seat of Howard County, Maryland , is the largest unincorporated county seat in
612-420: The county. Examples include Harrison County, Mississippi , which has both Biloxi and Gulfport as county seats, and Hinds County, Mississippi , which has both Raymond and the state capital of Jackson . The practice of multiple county seat towns dates from the days when travel was difficult. There have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement, since a county seat is a source of civic pride for
646-573: The equivalent level of the other four types of municipal government available in New Jersey: Township , Town , City , and Village . Many boroughs were formed out of larger townships, but even in such cases there is no continuing link between the borough and the township. Most boroughs were formed during the Boroughitis phenomenon of the mid-1890s. New York City is divided into five boroughs: Brooklyn , Manhattan , Queens ,
680-642: The famous Homer fishing hole . Cook Inlet Keeper and the Cook Inlet Regional Citizen's Advisory Council are groups that attempt to influence public policy on the use of the area's resources. As of the census of 2020, there were 58,799 people. As of the census of 2000, there were 49,700 people, 18,400 households, and 12,700 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1 people/km (2.6 people/sq mi). There were 24,900 housing units at an average density of 2 units per square mile (0.77 units/km). The racial makeup of
714-424: The imperial bureaucratic structure; in other words, it was the lowest level that the government reached. Government below the county level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying between dynasties. The head of a county was the magistrate , who oversaw both the day-to-day operations of the county as well as civil and criminal cases. The current number of counties mostly resembled that of
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#1732772240204748-585: The increase of Han Chinese population in Taiwan, the number of counties also grew by time. By the end of Qing era, there were 11 counties in Taiwan. Protestant missionaries in China first romanized the term as hien . When Taiwan became a Japanese colony in 1895, the hierarchy of divisions also incorporated into the Japanese system in the period when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. By September 1945, Taiwan
782-625: The independent city under an agreement, such as in Albemarle , or may in be enclaves of the county surrounded by the independent city, such as in Fairfax . Others, such as Prince William , have the courthouse in an enclave surrounded by the independent city and have the county government, the Board of Supervisors, in a different part of the county, far from the county seat. The following counties have their county seat in an independent city: Bedford
816-673: The late 1990s and early 2000s. Incorporated towns also have their own local governments and city councils. The Alaska Department of Corrections operates the Spring Creek Correctional Center near Seward and the Wildwood Correctional Complex near Kenai. The school district for the whole borough is Kenai Peninsula Borough School District . 60°25′N 151°15′W / 60.417°N 151.250°W / 60.417; -151.250 Borough (United States) In Alaska ,
850-758: The later years of the Qing dynasty . Changes of location and names of counties in Chinese history have been a major field of research in Chinese historical geography, especially from the 1960s to the 1980s. There are 1,355 counties in Mainland China out of a total of 2,851 county-level divisions. In Taiwan , the first counties were first established in 1661 by the Kingdom of Tungning . The later ruler Qing empire inherited this type of administrative divisions. With
884-775: The provincial level, and thus county seats. In the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia the term "shire town" is used in place of county seat. County seats in China are the administrative centers of the counties in the People's Republic of China . Xian have existed since the Warring States period and were set up nationwide by the Qin dynasty . The number of counties in China proper gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As Qin Shi Huang reorganized
918-608: The state government, the only incorporated town in Pennsylvania is Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania . In August 2005, there were 961 boroughs in the state. In Virginia , under Code of Virginia § 15.2-3534, when multiple local governments consolidate to form a consolidated city, the consolidated city may be divided into geographical subdivisions called boroughs, which may be the same as the existing (i) cities, (ii) counties, or (iii) portions of such counties. Those boroughs are not separate local governments. For example, Chesapeake
952-777: The state's area, has no borough government or borough seat. One borough, the Lake and Peninsula Borough , has its borough seat located in another borough, namely King Salmon in Bristol Bay Borough . In Louisiana , which is divided into parishes rather than counties, county seats are referred to as "parish seats". In New England , counties have served mainly as dividing lines for the states' judicial systems. Rhode Island has no county level of government and thus no county seats, and Massachusetts has dissolved many but not all of its county governments. In Vermont , Massachusetts , and Maine county government consists only of
986-436: The term "borough" is used the way other states sometimes use the words "town" or "village." A borough is a self-governing entity that is generally smaller than a city. If an area is not governed by either a borough or city, then the area is governed as a township. Villages or hamlets are unincorporated and have no municipal government, other than the township in which they are found. By tradition, as recognized by publications of
1020-416: The towns involved, along with providing employment opportunities. There are 33 counties with multiple county seats in 11 states: Alaska is divided into boroughs rather than counties; the county seat in these case is referred to as the "borough seat"; this includes six consolidated city-borough governments (one of which is styled as a "municipality"). The Unorganized Borough, Alaska , which covers 49% of
1054-624: The use of county seats in particular, will fully transition with the permission of the United States Census Bureau to a system of councils of government for the purposes of boundary definition and as county equivalents. Two counties in South Dakota , Oglala Lakota and Todd , have their county seat and government services centered in a neighboring county. Their county-level services are provided by Fall River County and Tripp County , respectively. In Virginia ,
Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska - Misplaced Pages Continue
1088-563: The word "borough" is used instead of "county". Like counties, boroughs are administrative divisions of the state. Each borough in Alaska has a borough seat , which is the administrative center for the borough. The Municipality of Anchorage is a consolidated city-borough , as are Sitka , Juneau , Haines , Yakutat , and Skagway . Nearly half of the state's area is part of the vast Unorganized Borough , which has no borough-level government at all. The United States Census Bureau has divided
1122-573: Was divided into 8 prefectures ( 州 and 廳 ), which remained after the Republic of China took over. There are 13 county seats in Taiwan, which function as county-administered cities , urban townships , or rural townships . In most of the United States , a county is an administrative or political subdivision of a state that consists of a geographic area with specific boundaries and usually some level of governmental authority. The city, town, or populated place that houses county government
1156-474: Was established by William Henry Puthuff after the island was proclaimed to be a U.S. territory in the War of 1812 . The borough government was replaced by a village government in 1847. In Minnesota , "borough" was applied to one municipality, Belle Plaine , from 1868 to 1974. In New Jersey , boroughs are independent municipalities and are one of five types of municipal government, each operating separately at
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