There are 15
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 of
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. Four counties (Mohave, Pima, Yavapai and Yuma) were created in 1864 following the organization of the
Arizona Territory in 1862. The now defunct
Pah-Ute County was split from Mohave County in 1865, but merged back in 1871. All but La Paz County were created by the time Arizona was granted statehood in 1912. La Paz County was established in 1983 after many years of pushing for independence from Yuma County.
Eight of Arizona's fifteen counties are named after various
Native American groups that are resident in parts of what is now Arizona, with another (
Cochise County
Cochise County () is a county in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is named after the Native American chief Cochise.
The population was 125,447 at the 2020 census. The county seat is Bisbee and the most populous city is ...
) being named after a native leader. Four other counties,
Gila County
Gila County ( ) is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,272. The county seat is Globe.
Gila County comprises the Payson, Arizona Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Gila County contains p ...
,
Santa Cruz County,
Pinal County
Pinal County is in the central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. According to the 2020 census, the population of the county was 425,264, making it Arizona's third-most populous county. The county seat is Florence. The county was founded in 187 ...
, and
Graham County, are named for physical features of Arizona's landscape: the
Gila River, the
Santa Cruz River,
Pinal Peak
Pinal Peak, located in southern Gila County, Arizona, is the highest point in the Pinal Mountains, with an elevation of . It is the highest point of land located in between the Salt and Gila rivers in Arizona before they merge, making it visible ...
, and
Mount Graham
Mount Graham (called in Nnee biyati' (Western Apache) Dził Nchaa Sí'an - ′Big Seated Mountain′) is a mountain in Graham County, Arizona, United States, approximately northeast of Tucson. The mountain reaches in height. It is the highes ...
, respectively. Another county,
La Paz County
La Paz County is the 15th county in the U.S. state of Arizona, located in the western part of the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 16,557, making it the second-least populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Parker. Th ...
, is named after a former settlement, while the final county,
Greenlee County, is named after one of the state's early pioneers.
Under Arizona laws, a county shall not be formed or divided by county initiative unless each proposed county would have all of the following characteristics: (1) at least three-fourths of one percent of the total state assessed valuation and at least the statewide per capita assessed valuation; (2) a population of at least three-fourths of one percent of the total state population according to the most recent United States decennial census; (3) at least one hundred square miles of privately owned land; (4) common boundaries with either (a) at least three other existing or proposed counties; or (b) at least two other existing or proposed counties and the state boundary. A county formation commission is required to be formed to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed county. A proposal to divide a county must be approved by a majority of the votes cast in each proposed new county.
Under the
Arizona Constitution, counties are politically and legally creatures of the state, and do not have charters of their own. Counties are governed by boards of supervisors which act in the capacity of executive authority for the county within the statutes and powers prescribed by Arizona state law. With few exceptions, these powers are narrowly construed. The state legislature devotes considerable time to local matters, with limited discretion granted to the Board of Supervisors on minor ordinance, zoning, and revenue collection issues.
Arizona's
postal abbreviation is AZ and its
FIPS code
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 ...
is 04.
__TOC__
Alphabetical listing
Excluded counties
*
Doña Ana County, New Mexico Territory
*
Rio Arriba County, New Mexico Territory
*
Santa Ana County, New Mexico Territory
Santa Ana County was one of the seven original partidos created in New Mexico under Mexican rule. Under U.S. rule, it became a U.S. Territorial county from 1852 until 1876, when it was absorbed by Bernalillo County. It does not exist today as an ...
*
Socorro County, New Mexico Territory
*
Taos County, New Mexico Territory
*
Valencia County, New Mexico Territory
Extinct counties
*
Pah-Ute County, Arizona Territory (1865–1871), now part of
Clark County, Nevada
Clark County is located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,265,461. Most of the county population resides in the Las Vegas Census County Divisions, which hold 1,771,945 people as of the 2010 Census, acros ...
and
Mohave County, Arizona
Proposed counties
* Butte County: In 1897, James C. Goodwin, with the support of
Charles T. Hayden and others, introduced a bill at the Territorial Legislature to split Maricopa County into two, with
Tempe being the county seat.
There have also been proposals, introduced in 1900 and 1913, to divide Maricopa County, with
Mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by a ...
as the new county's seat.
* Sierra Bonita County: proposed at the
13th Arizona Territorial Legislature
The 13th Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly was a session of the Arizona Territorial Legislature which began on January 12, 1885, in Prescott, Arizona. The session's accomplishments included allocation of a variety of territorial institution ...
in 1885, with
Willcox proposed as the county seat. The proposal died by one vote.
See also
* Bannon County, a fictional county in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, was the site of the
UFO
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
crash in the film ''
Hangar 18''.
* The television series
Medium
Medium may refer to:
Science and technology
Aviation
*Medium bomber, a class of war plane
*Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data
* Medium of ...
, set in
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
, featured the main character working for the district attorney's office of the fictional Mariposa County, used as a stand-in for
Maricopa County
Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...
, the county that Phoenix actually serves as the county seat of.
*
Arizona Association of Counties
References
{{featured list
Arizona, List of counties in
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 ...