| Counties of New Hampshire | |
|---|---|
| Location | State of New Hampshire |
| Number | 10 |
| Populations | 31,094 (Coös) – 430,462 (Hillsborough) |
| Areas | 369 square miles (960 km2) (Strafford) – 1,801 square miles (4,660 km2) (Coös) |
| Government | |
| Subdivisions |
|
There are tencounties in theU.S. state ofNew Hampshire. Five of the counties were created in 1769, when New Hampshire was still an English colony and not a state, during the first subdivision of the state into counties. The last counties created wereBelknap County andCarroll County, in 1840.
Seven of New Hampshire's counties were named for prominent British or American people. Two are named after geographic locations. At least one county's name originates in a Native American language:Coös County, named for anAlgonquian word meaning "small pines".Merrimack County, which is named afterthe river, may originate in a Native American language as well, but the etymology of the river's name is uncertain.
The counties tend to be smaller in land area towards the southern end of the state, where New Hampshire population is concentrated, and larger in land area in the less populous north.[1][2]
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, whileBelknap County,New Hampshire is 001,Addison County,Vermont andAlachua County,Florida are also 001. To uniquely identify Belknap County, New Hampshire, one must use the state code of 33 plus the county code of 001; therefore, the unique nationwide identifier for Belknap County, New Hampshire is 33001. The links in the columnFIPS County Code are to the Census Bureau Info page for that county.[3]
| County | FIPS code [3] | County seat [4] | Est. [4] | Formed from [5] | Etymology [2] | Population Density | Population [6] | Area [4][6] | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belknap County | 001 | Laconia | 1840 | Parts of Merrimack County and Strafford County. | Jeremy Belknap (1744–1798), early New Hampshire historian. | 162.74/sq mi (62.83/km2) | 65,257 | 401 sq mi (1,039 km2) |  |
| Carroll County | 003 | Ossipee | 1840 | Part of Strafford County. | Charles Carroll of Carrollton (1737–1832), the last surviving signatory of theUnited States Declaration of Independence. | 56.30/sq mi (21.74/km2) | 52,580 | 934 sq mi (2,419 km2) |  |
| Cheshire County | 005 | Keene | 1769 | One of five original counties. | English county ofCheshire. | 110.28/sq mi (42.58/km2) | 78,078 | 708 sq mi (1,834 km2) |  |
| Coös County | 007 | Lancaster | 1803 | Part of Grafton County. | AnAlgonquian word meaning "small pines". | 17.26/sq mi (6.66/km2) | 31,094 | 1,801 sq mi (4,665 km2) |  |
| Grafton County | 009 | Haverhill | 1769 | One of five original counties. | Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton (1735–1811), aPrime Minister of Great Britain (1768–1770). | 54.29/sq mi (20.96/km2) | 93,045 | 1,714 sq mi (4,439 km2) |  |
| Hillsborough County | 011 | Manchester and Nashua | 1769 | One of five original counties. | Wills Hill, 1st Marquess of Downshire (1718–1793), known in America as theEarl of Hillsborough, who served as the firstSecretary of State for the Colonies. | 491.39/sq mi (189.73/km2) | 430,462 | 876 sq mi (2,269 km2) |  |
| Merrimack County | 013 | Concord | 1823 | Parts of Hillsborough County and Rockingham County. | TheMerrimack River. | 169.02/sq mi (65.26/km2) | 157,869 | 934 sq mi (2,419 km2) |  |
| Rockingham County | 015 | Brentwood | 1769 | One of five original counties. | Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (1730–1782), a two-timePrime Minister of Great Britain (1765–1766, 1782). | 463.93/sq mi (179.12/km2) | 322,433 | 695 sq mi (1,800 km2) |  |
| Strafford County | 017 | Dover | 1769 | One of five original counties. | William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1626–1695), an English noble who owned colonial lands. | 363.69/sq mi (140.42/km2) | 134,202 | 369 sq mi (956 km2) |  |
| Sullivan County | 019 | Newport | 1827 | Part of Cheshire County. | John Sullivan (1740–1795), the third and fifthgovernor of New Hampshire (1786–1788, 1789–1790). | 81.96/sq mi (31.64/km2) | 44,012 | 537 sq mi (1,391 km2) |  |
