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81-470: Saguache County (suh-WATCH / s ə ˈ w ɑː tʃ / ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado . As of the 2020 census , the population was 6,368. The county seat is Saguache . Saguache County was formed December 29, 1866, in the Territory of Colorado when it was extracted from the northern half of Costilla County . A partition from Lake County on February 9, 1872, added

162-1034: A unitary (non-federal) system of government. “County” later also became used differently in some federal systems of government, for a local administrative division subordinate to a primary subnational entity , such as a Province (e.g. Canada) or a level 3 territorial unit such as NUTS 3 ( Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics – Level 3). Examples include the United States and Canada, which evolved from British colonial America and inherited British governmental traditions, where counties often remain as local administrative divisions that evolved from historic (pre-federal) counties governed by courts/magistracy. A county may be further subdivided into smaller jurisdictions such as hundreds , or townships . A county usually, but not always, contains cities, towns, townships , villages , or other municipal corporations , which in most cases are somewhat subordinate or dependent upon county governments. Depending on

243-544: A district, but take on district responsibilities themselves, similar to the concept of independent cities and there are 107 of them, bringing the total number of districts to 401. The administrative unit of Hungary is called vármegye (between 1950 and 2022 they were called megye , historically also comitatus in Latin ), which can be translated with the word county . The two names are used interchangeably ('megye' used in common parlance, and when referring to

324-442: A few cities ( Persian : شهر , shahar ) and rural agglomerations ( Persian : دهستان , dehestān ) 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 ( فرمانداری ), which coordinates different events and government offices. The farmândâr فرماندار , or

405-501: A gift of prophecy; and so they [Germanic warriors] do not scorn to ask for their [women's] advice, or lightly disregard their replies." Tacitus supplies much of what scholars believe to know about the customs of Germanic tribes, the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons, before they came to Britain during the fifth century and converted to Christianity. However, Tacitus's Germania must be viewed critically because his descriptions of

486-404: A lord ( princeps ). Tacitus used the terms comes (follower) and comitatus (following) a small number of times in a single passage his Germania : Tacitus stressed the abnegation of the follower, and his dependence on his patron, whose prestige rested on his ability to successfully wage war, and thus provide a military training for his followers. Loyalty was met by material reward. Regarding

567-402: A lord's warband. A retainer's relationship to his lord was also supposed to be placed above his ties to his kin. For example, in the story of "Cynewulf and Cyneheard," the comitatus was shown to be more important than ties to kinship for the members of the warrior class, warriors choosing to remain loyal to their lords even if this decision meant killing some of their own kinsmen who were on

648-576: A nickname), and county allegiances are taken quite seriously. See the counties of Ireland and the Gaelic Athletic Association . In Italy the word county is not used; the administrative sub-division of a region is called provincia . Italian provinces are mainly named after their principal town and comprise several administrative subdivisions called comuni ('communes'). There are currently 110 provinces in Italy. In

729-640: 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 . The English word county is used to translate the Chinese term xiàn ( 县 or 縣 ). In Mainland China , governed by

810-627: A separate set of issues, notably hospitals and public transportation for the municipalities within its borders. The counties and their expanse have changed several times, most recently in 1998. Every county council corresponds to a county with a number of municipalities per county. County councils and municipalities have different roles and separate responsibilities relating to local government. Health care, public transport and certain cultural institutions are administered by county councils while general education, public water utilities, garbage disposal, elderly care and rescue services are administered by

891-400: A single tier of local government. However, in the north as well as in the south, the traditional 32 counties and 4 provinces remain in common usage for many sporting, cultural and other purposes. County identity is heavily reinforced in the local culture by allegiances to county teams in hurling and Gaelic football . Each Gaelic Athletic Association county has its own flag/colours (and often

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972-608: A system similar to that proposed in the 1960s by the Redcliffe-Maud Report for most of Britain. The name "county" was introduced by the Normans , and was derived from a Norman term for an area administered by a Count (lord). These Norman "counties" were simply the Saxon shires, and kept their Saxon names. Several traditional counties, including Essex , Sussex and Kent , predate the unification of England by Alfred

1053-542: A type of designation in a single-tier municipal system; but this was nominally changed to " municipal district " under the Municipal Government Act , when the County Act was repealed in the mid-1990s. However, at the time the new "municipal districts" were also permitted to retain the usage of county in their official names. Comitatus (warband) In history writing, a comitatus , which

1134-700: Is sir which is derived from the English 'shire'. The word is officially used to signify counties in Wales. In the Gaelic form, Scottish traditional county names are generally distinguished by the designation siorramachd —literally "sheriffdom", e.g. Siorramachd Earra-ghaidheal (Argyllshire). This term corresponds to the jurisdiction of the sheriff in the Scottish legal system. A county in Alberta used to be

1215-429: Is Latin for a group of companions ( comites ), is an armed escort or retinue , especially in the context of Germanic warrior culture , where warbands were tied to a leader by an oath of fealty. The concept describes the relations between a lord and his retainers. Traditionally scholars have seen such Germanic warbands as the origin of later, medieval European institutions involving nobles and their armed retainers. On

1296-558: Is a debate on the future of the county municipality as an administrative entity. Some people, and parties, such as the Conservative and Progress Party , call for the abolition of the county municipalities once and for all, while others, including the Labour Party , merely want to merge some of them into larger regions. The territorial administration of Poland since 1999 has been based on three levels of subdivision. The country

1377-483: 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 ( kecamatan ) which are further divided into villages or ward. Regency in Indonesia is similar to the concept of "county" in countries such as

1458-626: Is divided into voivodeships (provinces); these are further divided into powiats (counties or districts). The term powiat is often translated into English as county (or sometimes district ). In historical contexts this may be confusing because the Polish term hrabstwo (a territorial unit administered/owned by a hrabia ( count ) is also literally translated as "county" and it was subordinated under powiat . The 380 county-level entities in Poland include 314 "land counties" (powiaty ziemskie) and

1539-433: Is equivalent to the municipality of Oslo. Each county has its own county council ( fylkesting ) whose representatives are elected every four years together with representatives to the municipal councils . The counties handle matters such as high schools and local roads, and until 1 January 2002 hospitals as well. This last responsibility was transferred to the state-run health authorities and health trusts , and there

1620-498: Is generally viewed more by scholars as a literary ideal rather than a historical reality. Regarding sources that support the comitatus, Stephen Morillo claims, "Few topics in early medieval history are as obscure as the comitatus , or warband, perhaps the basic social and military unit of organization among the post-Roman ruling classes. Because the warband members were almost all illiterate, their world must come to us either through heroic oral poetry (often not recorded until long after

1701-600: Is seen in Old English heroic literature, such as The Battle of Maldon , Beowulf , The Battle of Brunanburh ,The Battle of Finnsburh , and the story of "Cynewulf and Cyneheard." The comitatus is also examined through a Christian context in works such as Dream of the Rood , where Christ is depicted more as a warrior-king doing battle with the Devil and accepts physical defeat for spiritual victory. The rood, or cross, in

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1782-490: Is the Lithuanian word for county. Since 1994 Lithuania has 10 counties; before 1950 it had 20. The only purpose with the county is an office of a state governor who shall conduct law and order in the county. Norway has been divided into 11 counties ( Bokmål : fylker , Nynorsk : fylke ; singular: fylke ) since 2020; they previously numbered 19 following a local government reform in 1972. Until that year Bergen

1863-573: The Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220). It remains one of the oldest titles of local-level government in China and significantly predates the establishment of provinces in the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368). 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

1944-547: The National Register of Historic Places . 38°05′N 106°18′W  /  38.08°N 106.30°W  / 38.08; -106.30 County When the Normans conquered England, they brought the term with them. Although there were at first no counts, vicomtes or counties in Anglo-Norman England, the earlier Anglo-Saxons did have earls , sheriffs and shires . The shires were

2025-501: The People's Republic of China (PRC), 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

2106-484: The ROC-controlled territories . 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 (must be imperial capitals or seats of prefectures) could be divided and administered by two or three counties. Such counties are called 倚郭縣 ( yǐguō xiàn , 'county leaning on

2187-1070: The Russian Empire in the Cossack Hetmanate , Sloboda Ukraine , Southern Ukraine , and Right-Bank Ukraine . In 1913 there were 126 counties in Ukrainian-inhabited territories of the Russian Empire. Under the Austrian Empire in 1914 there were 59 counties in Ukrainian-inhabited Galicia, 34 in Transcarpathia , and 10 in Bukovina . Counties were retained by the independent Ukrainian People's Republic of 1917–1921, and in Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Romania until

2268-701: 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 (ROC). The English nomenclature county was adopted following the establishment of the ROC. In addition, provincial cities have the same level of authority as counties. Above county, there are special municipalities (in effect) and province (suspended due to economical and political reasons). There are currently 13 counties in

2349-658: The historic counties of England . In 1974, the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties replaced the system of administrative counties and county boroughs which was introduced in 1889. The counties generally belong to level 3 of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics ( NUTS 3 ). In 1965 and 1974–1975, major reorganisations of local government in England and Wales created several new administrative counties such as Hereford and Worcester (abolished again in 1998 and reverted, with some transfers of territory, to

2430-503: The municipality of Bucharest , constitute the official administrative divisions of Romania . They represent the country 's NUTS-3 ( Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics – Level 3) statistical subdivisions within the European Union and each of them serves as the local level of government within its borders. Most counties are named after a major river , while some are named after notable cities within them, such as

2511-433: The 66 "city counties" ( miasta na prawach powiatu or powiaty grodzkie ) powiat . They are subdivisions of the 16 voivodeship , and are further subdivided into 2,477 gminas (also called commune or municipality ). The Romanian word for county, comitat , is not currently used for any Romanian administrative divisions. Romania is divided into a total of 41 counties ( Romanian : județe ), which along with

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2592-509: The Germans not being overly beautiful or fast and foot-soldiers having the speed to keep up with the cavalry. The best warriors were placed at the main battle-line along with the cavalry. Tacitus further explains the battle practices of Germanic warriors, "The battle-line is made up of wedge-shaped formations. To give ground, provided that you return to the attack, is considered good tactics rather than cowardice. They [Germanic warriors] bring back

2673-461: The Germans were partly used to criticize what he viewed was the corruption and softness of the Roman empire around 100 A.D. In addition, much of Tacitus's information is not first hand knowledge but information he collected from others. Much of the evidence supporting the comitatus occurs centuries after the writings of Tacitus and are presented through oral heroic poetry. As a result, the comitatus

2754-543: The Great , and were originally more or less independent kingdoms (although the most important Saxon Kingdom on the island of Britain, Alfred's own Wessex , no longer survives in any form). In England, in the Anglo-Saxon period, shires were established as areas used for the raising of taxes , and usually had a fortified town at their centre. This became known as the shire town or later the county town . In many cases,

2835-671: The Soviet annexations at the start of World War II. 99 counties formed the Ukrainian SSR in 1919, where they were abolished in 1923–25 in favour of 53 okruhas (in turn replaced by oblasts in 1930–32), although they existed in the Zakarpattia Oblast until 1953. The United Kingdom is divided into a number of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties . There are also ceremonial counties which group small non-metropolitan counties into geographical areas broadly based on

2916-583: The UK are usually responsible for education, emergency services, planning, transport, social services, and a number of other functions. Until 1974, the county boundaries of England changed little over time. In the medieval period, a number of important cities were granted the status of counties in their own right, such as London , Bristol and Coventry , and numerous small exclaves such as Islandshire were created. In 1844, most of these exclaves were transferred to their surrounding counties. In Northern Ireland ,

2997-480: 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. The ostans (provinces) of Iran are further subdivided into counties called shahrestān ( Persian : شهرستان ). County consists of a city centre, a few bakhsh ( Persian : بخش ), and many villages around them. There are usually

3078-663: The Wife's Lament, "that man's kinsmen began to think in secret that they would separate us." How typical this is of the medieval genre of the frauenlied – with the romantic theme of a woman being left by her husband because he needs to be with his liege lord – is however debatable. Even in Anglo-Saxon England, if the Exeter Book contains few pieces featuring women or written from the female perspective, Beowulf by contrast has roles for women precisely in strengthening

3159-428: The age of 18 living with them, 52.70% were married couples living together, 11.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.30% were non-families. 26.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.15. In the county, the population was spread out, with 28.40% under

3240-468: The age of 18, 7.90% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 26.90% from 45 to 64, and 10.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 101.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $ 25,495, and the median income for a family was $ 29,405. Males had a median income of $ 25,158 versus $ 18,862 for females. The per capita income for

3321-587: The armor and weapons of late first century Germanic warriors, Tacitus explains that few carried long lances or swords. More commonly, Germanic warriors bore frameae , or sharp spears with short, narrow blades that could be used in close quarters or in long-range fighting. Warriors who fought on horseback carried a shield and spear, and foot-soldiers often used javelins. Warriors, according to Tacitus, often fought naked or "lightly clad in short cloaks." Few warriors wore breastplates or helmets; however, any helmets worn were made out of animal hide or metal. A shield may bear

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3402-516: The art of warfare. They would reside at the court from the age of seven or eight until they turned fourteen or fifteen. At the age of fourteen or fifteen, they would be granted weapons that were appropriate to their status and would serve militarily in the comitatus . Fostering helped to create loyalty among chiefdoms, often because a lord was fostering his sons at other courts or because the boys he had fostered had grown up and become lords themselves. A lord's family also often comprised large portions of

3483-685: The basis of local organisation of police, fire departments and, sometimes, administration of elections. Each administrative district consists of an elected council and an executive, and whose duties are comparable to those of a county executive in the United States, supervising local government administration. Historically, counties in the Holy Roman Empire were called Grafschaften . The majority of German districts are "rural districts" (German: Landkreise ), of which there are 294 as of 2017 . Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants (and smaller towns in some states) do not usually belong to

3564-496: The bodies of the fallen even when a battle hangs in the balance." The comitatus has also been seen as an Indo-European concept that predates Roman times, practiced from Western Europe to China, especially among Eurasian steppe tribes. In early medieval England, a lord may foster the children and relatives of allied chiefdoms, which involved sending one's sons to the court of another kinsman or lord. The son(s) would then grow up with other boys similar to their age and be taught

3645-465: The city walls') or 附郭縣 ( fùguō xiàn , 'county attached to the city walls'). 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 (seat of the eponymous prefecture, also known as Canton in the Western world)

3726-634: The cohesion and unity of the comitatus: thus the 'peace-weaver' (a woman given in marriage to resolve a feud) Queen Wealtheow makes the normative claim that “Here each comrade is true to the other/loyal to lord, loving in spirit./The thanes have one purpose, the people are ready:/having drunk and pledged, the ranks do as I bid.”. Tacitus finds that women helped late first century Germanic warriors fight their battles. According to Tacitus, warbands were frequently composed of men of one family or clan and kept near to them their women and children during battles. Mothers and wives of warriors treated wounds and compared

3807-406: The colors of a warrior's choice. Throwing away one's shield in the battlefield, or fleeing from battle, was considered a disgrace that could cause a warrior to be banned from attending assemblies and religious rituals and sacrifices. Tacitus describes the battle tactics of Germanic warriors, claiming that the strength of Germanic warriors was in their infantry rather than their cavalry, the horses of

3888-502: The context of pre-modern Italy, the Italian word contado generally refers to the countryside surrounding, and controlled by, the city state. The contado provided natural resources and agricultural products to sustain the urban population. In contemporary usage, contado can refer to a metropolitan area, and in some cases large rural/suburban regions providing resources to distant cities. Apskritis (plural apskritys )

3969-511: The counties of Meath and Westmeath and small parts of surrounding counties constituted the province of Mide , which was one of the "Five Fifths" of Ireland (in the Irish language the word for province, cúige , means 'a fifth': from cúig , 'five'); however, these have long since been absorbed into Leinster. In the Republic each county is administered by an elected " county council ", and

4050-520: The counties of other states), just like before 1950, when the word 'megye' even appeared in legal texts. The 19 counties constitute the highest level of the administrative subdivisions of the country together with the capital city Budapest, although counties and the capital are grouped into seven statistical regions. Counties are subdivided into districts ( járás ) and municipalities, the two types of which are towns ( város ) and villages ( község ), each one having their own elected mayor and council. 23 of

4131-479: The county is one type of municipal-level division. Denmark was divided into counties ( Danish : amter ) 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 ( len ) in Denmark–Norway with the same number of counties. This number does not include

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4212-435: The county seat. The Swedish division into counties, län , which literally means ' fief ', was established in 1634, and was based on an earlier division into provinces ; Sweden is divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities ( kommuner ). At the county level there is a county administrative board led by a governor appointed by the central government of Sweden , as well as an elected county council that handles

4293-482: The county was $ 13,121. About 18.70% of families and 22.60% of the population were below the poverty line , including 27.60% of those under age 18 and 12.50% of those age 65 or over. Like many Colorado counties with a strong Hispanic presence, Saguache leans Democratic in Presidential elections. The last Republican to carry the county was Ronald Reagan in 1984 . Saguache County has nine locations listed in

4374-516: The county. The population density was 2 people per square mile (0.77 people/km). There were 3,087 housing units at an average density of 1 units per square mile (0.39 units/km). The racial makeup of the county was 71.29% White , 0.12% Black or African American , 2.06% Native American , 0.46% Asian , 23.00% from other races , and 3.08% from two or more races. 45.26% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 2,300 households, out of which 33.40% had children under

4455-462: The coward might die before his time. This is the spirit which inspired the code of the comitatus . While his lord lived, the warrior owed him loyalty unto death. If his lord were killed, the warrior had to avenge him or die in the attempt. The lord in his turn had the duty of being generous to his warriors. He had to be the great fighter to attract men, a man of noble character and a generous giver of feasts and treasure to hold them. The comitatus ideal

4536-415: The districts that became the historic counties of England , and given the same Latin translation comitatus . Many English county names derive from the name of the county town ( county seat ) with the word shire added on, for example Gloucestershire and Worcestershire . The term "county" evolved to designate a level of local administration that was immediately beneath a national government , within

4617-417: The enemy's side. Comitatus , being the agreement between a Germanic lord and his subservients (his Gefolge or host of followers), is a special case of clientage , and related to the practice of feudalism . Partly influenced by the Roman practice of patronage ( patrocinium ), - as exemplified by the lex agraria , of a general distributing land to his officers after their retirement, as well as by

4698-515: 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. County is the common English translation for the character 군 ( gun or kun ) that denotes the current second level political division in South Korea . In North Korea ,

4779-607: The later bucellarius or private follower - the Germanic comitatus eventually evolved into a wholesale exchange between a social superior and inferior. The feudal social inferior or vassal would pledge military service and protection to the superior (Lord). In return, the superior would reward the inferior with land, compensation, or privileges. The Germanic term for the comitatus is reconstructed as *druhtiz , with Old English forms dryht and druht , and Scandinavian drótt . Equivalents highlighting different features of

4860-573: The lord/man bond include the trust-element of the early Frankish antrustio , royal bodyguard; the Danish vederlag or Society, and the Norse hird or household following. The Wife's Lament in the Exeter Book uses the language of the comitatus to sharpen awareness of the conflict between the wife's claim on her lover, and the brotherhood-claims of the lord and his followers: In the words of

4941-461: The municipalities. Gotland is a special case of being a county council with only one municipality and the functions of county council and municipality are performed by the same organisation. In Ukraine the county ( Ukrainian : повіт , romanized :  povit ) was introduced in Ukrainian territories under Poland in the second half of the 14th century, and in the eighteenth century under

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5022-471: The nation, municipality , and local geography, municipalities may or may not be subject to direct or indirect county control. The functions of both levels are often consolidated into a city government when the area is densely populated, and are generally not when it is less densely populated. Outside English-speaking countries , an equivalent of the term county is often used to describe subnational jurisdictions that are structurally equivalent to counties in

5103-414: The northwest section of the present-day county. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 3,170 square miles (8,200 km), of which 3,169 square miles (8,210 km) is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km) (0.05%) is water. It is the 7th largest of Colorado's 64 counties . As of the census of 2000, there were 5,917 people, 2,300 households, and 1,557 families living in

5184-512: 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

5265-472: The old provincial divisions are merely traditional names with no political significance. The number and boundaries of administrative counties in the Republic of Ireland were reformed in the 1990s. For example, County Dublin was divided into three: Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown , Fingal , and South Dublin ; the City of Dublin had existed for centuries before. The cities of Cork and Galway have been separated from

5346-419: The other hand, many scholars today consider the Roman era report of these warbands as more of a literary trope rather. Scholars Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson describe the comitatus more fully: A heroic warrior brought up in this [ comitatus ] tradition would show a reckless disregard for his life. Whether he was doomed or not, courage was best, for the brave man could win lof [glory among men] while

5427-400: The period in which the oral tradition thrived) or through hostile clerical chroniclers with little sympathy for warband values." Stephen S. Evans, who examines the comitatus in England during the period between the fifth and eighth centuries, admits, "Given the dearth of sources for this period as well as the differing rates of development of the various kingdoms, it is impossible to determine

5508-455: The poem acts as a retainer "who is forced by his very loyalty to become the instrument of his beloved Lord's execution." In late Roman and early medieval times, the Latin word comitatus referred to an office or jurisdiction held by a comes or count. In later medieval and modern times, "comitatus" became the Latin term for a geographical region or county where the jurisdiction of the count

5589-462: The relationship they have with their national government; but which may not be administratively equivalent to counties in predominantly English-speaking countries. Counties are the current second-level political division in Kenya. Each county has an assembly where members of the county assembly (MCAs) sit. This assembly is headed by a governor. Each county is also represented in the Senate of Kenya by

5670-500: The royal administration, but from the 13th century they became self-governments of the nobles and kept this character until the 19th century when in turn they became modern local governments. The island of Ireland was historically divided into 32 counties, of which 26 later formed the Republic of Ireland and 6 made up Northern Ireland . These counties are traditionally grouped into four provinces : Leinster (12 counties), Munster (6), Connacht (5) and Ulster (9). Historically,

5751-571: The same reform, the number of municipalities was slashed from 270 to 98 and all municipalities now belong to a region. A comté was a territory ruled by a count ( comte ) in medieval France. In modern France, the rough equivalent of a county as used in many English-speaking countries is a department ( département ). Ninety-six departments are in metropolitan France , and five are overseas departments , which are also classified as overseas regions. Departments are further subdivided into 334 arrondissements , but these have no autonomy; they are

5832-519: The shires were named after their shire town (for example Bedford shire ), but there are several exceptions, such as Cumberland , Norfolk and Suffolk . In several other cases, such as Buckinghamshire , the modern county town is different from the town after which the shire is named. (See Toponymical list of counties of the United Kingdom ) Most non-metropolitan counties in England are run by county councils and are divided into non-metropolitan districts , each with its own council. Local authorities in

5913-436: The six county councils, if not their counties, were abolished in 1973 and replaced by 26 local government districts. The traditional six counties remain in common everyday use for many cultural and other purposes. The thirteen historic counties of Wales were fixed by statute in 1539 (although counties such as Pembrokeshire date from 1138) and most of the shires of Scotland are of at least this age. The Welsh word for county

5994-593: The subdivisions of the Duchy of Schleswig , which was only under partial Danish control. The number of counties in Denmark (excluding Norway) had dropped to around 20 by 1793. Following the reunification of South Jutland with Denmark in 1920, four counties replaced the Prussian Kreise . Aabenraa and Sønderborg County merged in 1932 and Skanderborg and Aarhus were separated in 1942. From 1942 to 1970,

6075-410: The town and rural areas of their counties. The cities of Limerick and Waterford were merged with their respective counties in 2014. Thus, the Republic of Ireland now has 31 'county-level' authorities, although the borders of the original twenty-six counties are still officially in place. In Northern Ireland, the six county councils and the smaller town councils were abolished in 1973 and replaced by

6156-577: The towns have the rights of a county although they do not form independent territorial units equal to counties. The vármegye was also the historic administrative unit in the Kingdom of Hungary , which included areas of present-day neighbouring countries of Hungary. Its Latin name ( comitatus ) is the equivalent of the French comté . Actual political and administrative role of counties changed much through history. Originally they were subdivisions of

6237-480: The two separate historic counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire) and also created several new metropolitan counties based on large urban areas as a single administrative unit. In Scotland, county-level local government was replaced by larger regions , which lasted until 1996. Modern local government in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and a large part of England is trending towards smaller unitary authorities:

6318-498: The war injuries of their men to other warriors. Women also gave encouragement and food to warriors in battle. If Germanic combatants were losing a battle, Tacitus claims that women aided the cause by "thrusting forward their bare bosoms, and making them [the Germanic warriors] realize the imminent prospect of enslavement -- a fate which the Germans feared more desperately for their women than for themselves." Women were also believed by Germans to hold within them "an element of holiness and

6399-400: Was a separate county, but today it is a municipality within the county of Vestland . All counties form administrative entities called county municipalities ( fylkeskommuner or fylkeskommunar ; singular: fylkeskommune ), further subdivided into municipalities ( kommuner or kommunar ; singular: kommune ). One county, Oslo , is not divided into municipalities, rather it

6480-476: Was effective. Posse comitatus ("power/force of the county"; comitatus is 4th declension so the genitive termination is ūs ), usually shortened to posse, is a group of people helping a sheriff or other official representing the county to enforce the law. The term comitatus is credited to the Roman historian Tacitus . In his treatise Germania (98.AD), the comitatus is a retinue of warriors who follow

6561-710: Was historically divided by Nanhai County ( 南海縣 ) and Panyu County ( 番禺縣 ). 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. Regency ( kabupaten ) in Indonesia

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