List of counties in California
The U.S. state of California is divided into 58 counties. Counties are responsible for local services and law enforcement for areas within their borders that are not within incorporated cities, as well as providing local-level courts.
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First establishment of California counties
On January 4, 1850, the California constitutional committee recommended the formation of 18 counties. They were Benicia, Butte, Fremont, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Monterey, Mount Diablo, Oro, Redding, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and Sutter. On April 22, the counties of Branciforte, Calaveras, Coloma, Colusi, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Trinity, and Yuba were added. Benicia was renamed Solano, Coloma to El Dorado, Fremont to Yola, Mt. Diablo to Contra Costa, San Jose to Santa Clara, Oro to Tuolumne, and Redding to Shasta. One of the first state legislative acts regarding counties was to rename Branciforte County to Santa Cruz, Colusi to Colusa, and Yola to Yolo.
The last Californian county to have been established is Imperial County, California in 1907.
Table of California counties
The present number of counties was achieved over time by subdivision of many of the larger counties into smaller ones. The links in the column FIPS County Code are to the Census Bureau Info page for that county.
| State Abbr. | FIPS State Code | State |  | ||
| CA | 06 | California | |||
| FIPS County Code[1] | County Name | Formed | History | ||
| 001 | Alameda County | 1853 | from parts of Contra Costa and Santa Clara Counties | ||
| 003 | Alpine County | 1864 | from parts of Amador, El Dorado, Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties | ||
| 005 | Amador County | 1854 | from parts of Calaveras and El Dorado. Part of the county's territory went to Alpine County in 1864 | ||
| State Abbr. | FIPS State Code | State |  | ||
| CA | 06 | California | |||
| FIPS County Code | County Name | Formed | History | ||
| 007 | Butte County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Plumas County in 1854 and to Tehama in 1856 | ||
| 009 | Calaveras County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Amador County in 1854 and to Alpine in 1864 | ||
| 011 | Colusa County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Tehama County in 1856 and to Glenn in 1891 | ||
| 013 | Contra Costa County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Alameda County in 1853 |  | |
| 015 | Del Norte County | 1857 | from parts of Klamath County | ||
| 017 | El Dorado County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Amador County in 1854 and to Alpine County in 1864 | ||
| 019 | Fresno County | 1856 | from parts of Mariposa, Merced and Tulare. Part of the county's territory went to Mono County in 1861 and to Madera in 1893 | ||
| 021 | Glenn County | 1891 | from parts of Colusa | ||
| 023 | Humboldt County | 1853 | from parts of Trinity | ||
| 025 | Imperial County | 1907 | from parts of San Diego. The most recent county formed. | ||
| 027 | Inyo County | 1866 | from parts of Mono and Tulare |  | |
| 029 | Kern County | 1866 | from parts of Los Angeles and Tulare | ||
| 031 | Kings County | 1893 | from parts of Tulare | ||
| 033 | Lake County | 1861 | from parts of Napa | ||
| 035 | Lassen County | 1864 | from parts of Plumas and Shasta | ||
| 037 | Los Angeles County | * | One of the original counties. Parts of the county's territory went to San Bernardino County 1853, Kern in 1866 and Orange in 1889 | ||
| 039 | Madera County | 1893 | from parts of Fresno | ||
| 041 | Marin County | * | One of the original counties | ||
| 043 | Mariposa County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Tulare County in 1852, Merced in 1855, Fresno in 1856 and Mono in 1861. Mariposa County was the largest of the state's original counties, but territory that was once part of Mariposa is now part of 12 other counties -- Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Merced, Mono, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, and Tulare. | ||
| 045 | Mendocino County | * | One of the original counties. |  | |
| 047 | Merced County | 1855 | from parts of Mariposa. Part of the county's territory went to Fresno in 1856 | ||
| 049 | Modoc County | 1855 | from parts of Siskiyou | ||
| 051 | Mono County | 1861 | from parts of Calaveras, Fresno and Mariposa. Part of the county's territory went to Inyo in 1866 | ||
| 053 | Monterey County | — | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to San Benito in 1874 | ||
| 055 | Napa County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Lake in 1861 | ||
| 057 | Nevada County | 1851 | from parts of Yuba County | ||
| 059 | Orange County | 1889 | from parts of Los Angeles County |  | |
| 061 | Placer County | 1851 | from parts of Sutter and Yuba Counties | ||
| 063 | Plumas County | 1854 | from parts of Butte County. Part of the county's territory went to Lassen in 1864 | ||
| 065 | Riverside County | 1893 | from parts of San Bernardino and San Diego Counties | ||
| 067 | Sacramento County | * | One of the original counties | ||
| 069 | San Benito County | 1874 | from parts of Monterey County | ||
| 071 | San Bernardino County | 1853 | from parts of Los Angeles County. Part of the county's territory went to Riverside in 1893 |  | |
| 073 | San Diego County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Riverside in 1893 and to Imperial in 1907 | ||
| 075 | San Francisco County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to San Mateo in 1856 | ||
| 077 | San Joaquin County | * | One of the original counties | ||
| 079 | San Luis Obispo County | * | One of the original counties | ||
| 081 | San Mateo County | 1856 | from part of San Francisco County | ||
| 083 | Santa Barbara County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Ventura in 1872 | ||
| 085 | Santa Clara County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Alameda in 1853 | ||
| 087 | Santa Cruz County | * | One of the original counties | ||
| 089 | Shasta County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Siskiyou in 1852, to Tehama in 1856 and to Lassen in 1864 |  | |
| 091 | Sierra County | 1852 | from part of Yuba County | ||
| 093 | Siskiyou County | 1852 | from parts of Shasta and Klamath. Part of the county's territory went to Modoc in 1855 | ||
| 095 | Solano County | * | One of the original counties | ||
| 097 | Sonoma County | * | One of the original counties | ||
| 099 | Stanislaus County | 1854 | from part of Tuolumne | ||
| 101 | Sutter County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Placer in 1851 | ||
| 103 | Tehama County | 1856 | from parts of Butte, Colusa and Shasta | ||
| 105 | Trinity County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Klamath in 1852 and to Humboldt in 1853 |  | |
| 107 | Tulare County | 1852 | from part of Mariposa. Part of the county's territory went to Fresno in 1856, to Kern in 1866, to Inyo in 1866 and to Kings in 1893 | ||
| 109 | Tuolumne County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Stanislaus in 1854 and to Alpine in 1864 | ||
| 111 | Ventura County | 1872 | from part of Santa Barbara | ||
| 113 | Yolo County | * | One of the original counties | ||
| 115 | Yuba County | * | One of the original counties. Part of the county's territory went to Placer in 1851, to Nevada in 1851 and to Sierra in 1852 | ||
- ^ The FIPS county code is the five-digit Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code which uniquely identifies counties and county equivalents in the United States. The three-digit number is unique to each individual county within a state, but to be unique within the entire United States, it must be prefixed by the state code. This means that, for example, while Humboldt County, California is number 023, Nye County, Nevada and Grant County, Oregon also have the number 023. There also is a Humboldt County, Nevada with the number 013 and a Humboldt County, Iowa with the number 091. While Santa Cruz County, California has the number 087, there is also a Santa Cruz County, Arizona with the number 023. To uniquely identify Humboldt County, California, you would need to use the state code of 06 plus the county code of 023. Thus the unique identifier for the entire United States for Humboldt County, California would be 06023, for Santa Cruz County, California would be 06087, etc.
Defunct counties
- Klamath County was created in 1851 from the northern half of Trinity County, but in 1874 it was divided between Humboldt and Siskiyou counties. Part of the county's territory went to Del Norte in 1857
- 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 state legislature officially abolished the never-created county in 1859.
See also
| Lists of Counties in the United States (Parishes in Louisiana; Boroughs and census areas in Alaska) |
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External links
- California State Association of Counties
- State map showing the county names and linking to county data
Categories
Lists of U.S. counties by state | California counties