County (United States)

A county, in the United States, is a form of government that is right below the state. 48 out of the 50 states in the United States use counties. Louisiana calls its counties "parishes" while Alaska got rid of counties and only uses boroughs. Both of these are equal to the county. The list that the U.S. Census Bureau keeps that lists all of the counties in the United States says that there are 3,481 counties or other kinds of divisions that are equal to the county in the United States.
The mid-western and northeastern states in the United States divide the county further into townships or towns, some of which have municipalities. The place where the county government and courts are is called the "county seat". 
On average, a county in the United States has a population of around 100,000 people. The county that has the most people living in it is Los Angeles County, California, where 9.8 million people live. The county that has the fewest people living in it is Kalawao county, HI where only about 90 people live. 
The average number of counties in each state is 62. Louisiana has the fewest counties with having none. It is divided into parishes instead of counties. In states with counties, Delaware has the fewest with only 3. Texas has the most counties with 254. 
These pages list all of the counties in each state: