There are 99

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. The first two counties,

Des Moines County Des Moines County is located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 38,910. The county seat and largest city is Burlington, Iowa, Burlington. It is one of Iowa's two original counties alo ...

and

Dubuque County Dubuque County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 99,266, making it the eighth-most populous county in Iowa. The county seat is Dubuque. The county is named for Julien Dubuque, the first Eur ...

, were created in 1834 when Iowa was still part of the

Michigan Territory The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit w ...

. In preparation for Michigan's statehood, part of Michigan Territory was formed into

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belmont was ...

in 1836. Two years later, the western portion was split off to become

Iowa Territory The Territory of Iowa was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 4, 1838, until December 28, 1846, when the southeastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Iowa. The remaind ...

. The south-eastern part of Iowa Territory became Iowa, the 29th state in the union, on 28 December 1846, by which point 44 counties had been created. Counties continued to be created by the state government until 1857, when the last county, Humboldt County, was created. One of the most significant days in Iowa county history was January 15, 1851, on which 49 counties were created. The Iowa Constitution of 1857, which is still in effect today, states that counties must have an area of at least , and no county may be reduced below that size by boundary changes. However, exceptions to this rule were granted, as ten counties have areas below this size. (The table below shows land area, but the Constitution deals with total area.) The smallest county (Dickinson) has a land area of , while the largest (Kossuth) has an area 973 sq mi (2,520 km²). Polk County is the most densely populated county at , an increase in density from 2010 when it was . Polk County contains the state's capital and largest city,

Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. In addition, Iowa has one of the smallest percentages of counties whose boundaries are dictated by natural means, the vast majority of which are being formed by lines of survey instead, resulting in many "box counties".

County information

The

Federal Information Processing Standard The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of publicly announced standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military, American ...

(FIPS) code, used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county. The column labeled '#' is the official county number when listed alphabetically. This number is used for many governmental and organizational purposes, including state income tax preparation. From 1930 to 1978, it was also used on Iowa license plates until it was replaced by the full county name. Finally, the number in the column headed "Map #" is used by the National Atlas of the United States, shown on the left; for purposes of the National Atlas, counties are numbered in geographical order beginning in the NW corner of the map.

Former counties

The following counties no longer exist: * Bancroft (1851–1855), merged with

Kossuth County Kossuth County () is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 14,828. The county seat is Algona, Iowa, Algona. History Kossuth County was founded on January ...

*Cook (1836–1837), merged with Muscatine County * Crocker (1870–1871), merged with

*Risley (1851–1853), formed Hamilton County *Yell (1851–1853), formed Webster County

References

External links

Iowa: Individual County Chronologies
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Counties In Iowa

Counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Iowa, counties in

County information

Former counties

See also

References

External links