The state of California is divided into 58 counties. The region was first divided into twenty-seven counties on February 18, 1850. These were further sub-divided to form sixteen additional counties by 1860. Another fourteen were counties formed through further sub-division from 1861 to 1893. The last, Imperial County, was formed in 1907. California is home to San Bernardino County, the largest county in the contiguous United States, as well as Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the United States.
More counties in California are named for saints than in any other state.
List
Defunct counties
- Klamath County was created in 1851 from the northern half of Trinity County. Part of the county's territory went to Del Norte County in 1857, and in 1874 the remainder was divided between Humboldt and Siskiyou counties.
- Pautah County was created in 1852 out of territory which, the state of California assumed, was to be ceded to it by the United States Congress from territory in what is now the state of Nevada. When the cession never occurred, the California State Legislature officially abolished the never-organized county in 1859.
- Buena Vista County - created in 1855 by the California legislature out of the southeastern territory of Tulare County on the west of the Sierra Nevada but was never officially organized. The south of Tulare County was later organized as Kern County in 1866, with additions from Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.
- Coso County - created in 1864 by the California legislature out of territory of Mono County and Tulare County on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada but was never officially organized. The region was later organized in 1866 as Inyo County with additions from Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.
Notes
External links
- California State Association of Counties
- State map showing the county names and linking to county data
- California State Association of Counties- The Creation of Our 58 Counties, with Maps of the 58 Counties Each Decade ca.1850â€"1900
- California State Association of Counties, Map of California Counties: c. 1907-Present
