This is a list of the 16
counties in the
U.S. state of
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
. Before statehood, Maine was officially part of the state of
and was called the
District of Maine
The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780 to March 15, 1820, when it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. The district was a part of the Commonwealth of Massachuse ...
. Maine was granted statehood on March 15, 1820, as part of the
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a Slave states an ...
. 9 of the 16 counties had their borders defined while Maine was still part of Massachusetts, and hence are older than the state itself.
Even after 1820, the exact location of the northern border of Maine was disputed with
Britain, until the question was settled and the northern counties signed their final official form, the
Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed in 1842. Almost all of
Aroostook County
Aroostook County ( ; french: Comté d'Aroostook) is a county in the U.S. state of Maine along the Canada–U.S. border. As of the 2020 census, the population was 67,105. Its county seat is Houlton, with offices in Caribou and Fort Kent.
Kn ...
was disputed land until the treaty was signed.
The first county to be created was
York County, created as
York County, Massachusetts by the government of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
in 1652 to govern territories it claimed in southern Maine. No new counties have been created since 1860, when
Knox County and
Sagadahoc County
Sagadahoc County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,699. Its county seat is Bath. In geographic area, it is the smallest county in Maine.
Sagadahoc County is part of the Portland ...
were created. The most populous counties tend to be located in the southeastern portion of the state, along the Atlantic seaboard. The largest counties in terms of land area are inland and further north. Maine's county names come from a mix of British, American, and Native American sources, reflecting Maine's pre-colonial, colonial, and national heritage.
[
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, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify states and counties, is provided with each entry. Maine's code is 23, which when combined with any county code would be written as 23XXX. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.
Alphabetical list
Song
A song is taught to many elementary school children across the state, titled the Maine County Song, to aid in memorizing the names of the state's 16 counties. It is sung to the tune of " Yankee Doodle".
An alternate version as put forth by the Maine Secretary of State's Kids' Page:
References
{{Featured list
Maine, List of counties in
county
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 ...