List of counties in Idaho facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Counties of Idaho |
|
---|---|
Location | State of Idaho |
Number | 44 |
Populations | 801 (Clark) – 524,673 (Ada) |
Areas | 408 square miles (1,060 km2) (Payette) – 8,485 square miles (21,980 km2) (Idaho) |
Government | County government |
Subdivisions | cities, towns, townships, unincorporated communities, Indian reservations, census designated place |
Idaho is a state in the western United States. Like all U.S. states, Idaho is divided into smaller areas called counties. These counties help organize the state and provide local government services. Idaho has 44 counties, each with its own history and unique features.
Contents
How Idaho's Counties Were Formed
Idaho became a U.S. territory in March 1863. The very first county created was Owyhee County in December 1863. More counties quickly followed. Oneida County was formed in January 1864. Soon after, Shoshone, Nez Perce, Idaho, Boise, and Alturas Counties were recognized in February 1864. Kootenai and Ada Counties were created in December 1864.
Idaho's current borders were set in 1868. Lemhi County was created the next year. By 1890, when Idaho became the 43rd state, there were 18 counties. More counties were added over time. For example, Canyon, Fremont, and Bannock Counties were created. In 1895, two counties, Alturas and Logan, were combined to form Blaine County. Lincoln County was then formed from part of Blaine County.
Between 1911 and 1919, many new counties were created. This brought the total number of counties to 44, which is how many Idaho has today.
License Plate Codes
Since 1945, each Idaho county has a special code on its license plates. This code usually starts with the first letter of the county's name.
If several counties start with the same letter, a number is added before the letter. This number shows their order in an alphabetical list. For example, the four counties starting with 'L' are Latah, Lemhi, Lewis, and Lincoln. Their codes are 1L, 2L, 3L, and 4L.
Some counties are the only ones that start with their specific letter. These include Elmore, Idaho, Kootenai, Nez Perce, Shoshone, Valley, and Washington Counties. For these, only the letter is used as the code.
List of Idaho Counties
Here is a list of Idaho's 44 counties. It includes their county seat, when they were established, and what their name means.
County |
FIPS code | County seat | Est. | Origin | License plate prefix | Etymology |
Population | Area | Map |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ada County | 001 | Boise | 1864 | Boise County | 1A | Named for Ada Riggs, daughter of a member of the Idaho Territorial Legislature. | 524,673 | ( 2,732 km2) |
1,055 sq mi![]() |
Adams County | 003 | Council | 1911 | Washington County | 2A | John Adams, the second President of the United States. | 4,903 | ( 3,535 km2) |
1,365 sq mi![]() |
Bannock County | 005 | Pocatello | 1893 | Bingham County | 1B | Named for the Bannock Native American tribe. | 90,400 | ( 2,883 km2) |
1,113 sq mi![]() |
Bear Lake County | 007 | Paris | 1875 | Oneida County | 2B | Named for Bear Lake on the Utah/Idaho border. | 6,766 | ( 2,515 km2) |
971 sq mi![]() |
Benewah County | 009 | St. Maries | 1915 | Kootenai County | 3B | Named for Ben'wah, a chief of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. | 10,369 | ( 2,010 km2) |
776 sq mi![]() |
Bingham County | 011 | Blackfoot | 1885 | Oneida County | 4B | Named for Henry H. Bingham, a general and U.S. Congressman. | 50,395 | ( 5,426 km2) |
2,095 sq mi![]() |
Blaine County | 013 | Hailey | 1895 | Alturas and Logan Counties | 5B | Named for James G. Blaine, a former United States Secretary of State. | 25,041 | ( 6,851 km2) |
2,645 sq mi![]() |
Boise County | 015 | Idaho City | 1864 | original county | 6B | Named for the Boise River. | 8,517 | ( 4,926 km2) |
1,902 sq mi![]() |
Bonner County | 017 | Sandpoint | 1907 | Kootenai County | 7B | Named for Edwin L. Bonner, who started a ferry service on the Kootenai River. | 52,547 | ( 4,501 km2) |
1,738 sq mi![]() |
Bonneville County | 019 | Idaho Falls | 1911 | Bingham County | 8B | Named for Benjamin Bonneville, a French-born explorer of the West. | 131,366 | ( 4,841 km2) |
1,869 sq mi![]() |
Boundary County | 021 | Bonners Ferry | 1915 | Bonner County | 9B | Named because it borders Canada to the north. | 13,557 | ( 3,287 km2) |
1,269 sq mi![]() |
Butte County | 023 | Arco | 1917 | Bingham, Blaine, and Jefferson Counties | 10B | Named for the Buttes (isolated hills) rising from the Snake River Plain. | 2,758 | ( 5,783 km2) |
2,233 sq mi![]() |
Camas County | 025 | Fairfield | 1917 | Blaine County | 1C | Named for Camassia, a plant important for food to Native Americans and early settlers. | 1,232 | ( 2,789 km2) |
1,077 sq mi![]() |
Canyon County | 027 | Caldwell | 1892 | Ada County | 2C | Likely named for a canyon of the Boise River or the Snake River. | 257,674 | ( 1,528 km2) |
590 sq mi![]() |
Caribou County | 029 | Soda Springs | 1919 | Bannock County | 3C | Named for the Caribou Mountains. | 7,219 | ( 4,574 km2) |
1,766 sq mi![]() |
Cassia County | 031 | Burley | 1879 | Owyhee County | 4C | Named for Cassia Creek or James John Cazier, a member of the Mormon Battalion. | 25,696 | ( 6,648 km2) |
2,567 sq mi![]() |
Clark County | 033 | Dubois | 1919 | Fremont County | 5C | Named for Sam K. Clark, an early settler and Idaho Senator. | 801 | ( 4,571 km2) |
1,765 sq mi![]() |
Clearwater County | 035 | Orofino | 1911 | Nez Perce County | 6C | Named for the Clearwater River. | 9,214 | ( 6,377 km2) |
2,462 sq mi![]() |
Custer County | 037 | Challis | 1881 | Alturas and Lemhi Counties | 7C | Named for the General Custer mine, which was named after General George Armstrong Custer. | 4,523 | ( 12,758 km2) |
4,926 sq mi![]() |
Elmore County | 039 | Mountain Home | 1889 | Alturas County | E | Named for the Ida Elmore mines, known for gold and silver. | 29,724 | ( 7,972 km2) |
3,078 sq mi![]() |
Franklin County | 041 | Preston | 1913 | Oneida County | 1F | Named for Franklin D. Richards, an early leader in the LDS Church. | 15,494 | ( 1,725 km2) |
666 sq mi![]() |
Fremont County | 043 | Saint Anthony | 1893 | Bingham County | 2F | Named for John C. Frémont, an explorer of the American West. | 14,196 | ( 4,836 km2) |
1,867 sq mi![]() |
Gem County | 045 | Emmett | 1915 | Boise and Canyon Counties | 1G | Named for Idaho's nickname, "Gem State." | 21,071 | ( 1,458 km2) |
563 sq mi![]() |
Gooding County | 047 | Gooding | 1913 | Lincoln County | 2G | Named for Frank R. Gooding, a former Governor and U.S. Senator of Idaho. | 16,061 | ( 1,893 km2) |
731 sq mi![]() |
Idaho County | 049 | Grangeville | 1864 | original county | I | Named for the Columbia River steamship Idaho, launched in 1860. | 17,890 | ( 21,976 km2) |
8,485 sq mi![]() |
Jefferson County | 051 | Rigby | 1913 | Fremont County | 1J | Named for Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States. | 34,198 | ( 2,836 km2) |
1,095 sq mi![]() |
Jerome County | 053 | Jerome | 1919 | Gooding and Lincoln Counties | 2J | Named for Jerome Hill, his son-in-law Jerome Kuhn, or his grandson Jerome Kuhn, Jr. | 25,479 | ( 1,554 km2) |
600 sq mi![]() |
Kootenai County | 055 | Coeur d'Alene | 1864 | Nez Perce County | K | Named for the Kootenai Native American tribe. | 185,010 | ( 3,225 km2) |
1,245 sq mi![]() |
Latah County | 057 | Moscow | 1888 | Nez Perce County | 1L | Named for Latah Creek, which means "the place of pine trees and sestle" in Nez Perce. | 41,301 | ( 2,789 km2) |
1,077 sq mi![]() |
Lemhi County | 059 | Salmon | 1869 | Idaho County | 2L | Named for Limhi, a king mentioned in the Book of Mormon. | 8,441 | ( 11,821 km2) |
4,564 sq mi![]() |
Lewis County | 061 | Nezperce | 1911 | Nez Perce County | 3L | Named for Meriwether Lewis, a leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. | 3,739 | ( 1,241 km2) |
479 sq mi![]() |
Lincoln County | 063 | Shoshone | 1895 | Blaine County | 4L | Named for Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States. | 5,450 | ( 3,124 km2) |
1,206 sq mi![]() |
Madison County | 065 | Rexburg | 1913 | Fremont County | 1M | Named for James Madison, the fourth President of the United States. | 54,547 | ( 1,222 km2) |
472 sq mi![]() |
Minidoka County | 067 | Rupert | 1913 | Lincoln County | 2M | Its name comes from Native American languages, meaning "a fountain or spring of water" or "broad expanse." | 22,480 | ( 1,968 km2) |
760 sq mi![]() |
Nez Perce County | 069 | Lewiston | 1864 | original county | N | Named for the Nez Perce, a Native American tribe. | 42,987 | ( 2,199 km2) |
849 sq mi![]() |
Oneida County | 071 | Malad City | 1864 | original county | 1O | Named for Oneida Lake in New York, where many early settlers came from. | 4,953 | ( 3,108 km2) |
1,200 sq mi![]() |
Owyhee County | 073 | Murphy | 1863 | original county | 2O | An old spelling of Hawaii. Hawaiian fur trappers explored this area in the early 1800s. | 12,722 | ( 19,886 km2) |
7,678 sq mi![]() |
Payette County | 075 | Payette | 1917 | Canyon County | 1P | Named for Francois Payette, a Canadian-born fur trader and early settler. | 27,279 | ( 1,057 km2) |
408 sq mi![]() |
Power County | 077 | American Falls | 1913 | Bingham, Blaine, and Oneida Counties | 2P | Named for the American Falls Power Plant. | 8,253 | ( 3,642 km2) |
1,406 sq mi![]() |
Shoshone County | 079 | Wallace | 1864 | original county | S | Named for the Shoshone Native American tribe. | 14,026 | ( 6,822 km2) |
2,634 sq mi![]() |
Teton County | 081 | Driggs | 1915 | Bingham, Fremont, and Madison Counties | 1T | Named for the Teton Range mountains in Wyoming. | 12,549 | ( 1,165 km2) |
450 sq mi![]() |
Twin Falls County | 083 | Twin Falls | 1907 | Cassia County | 2T | Named for the Twin Falls waterfall on the Snake River. | 95,156 | ( 4,986 km2) |
1,925 sq mi![]() |
Valley County | 085 | Cascade | 1917 | Boise and Idaho Counties | V | Named for the Long Valley located in the county. | 12,644 | ( 9,668 km2) |
3,733 sq mi![]() |
Washington County | 087 | Weiser | 1879 | Ada County | W | Named for George Washington, the first President of the United States. | 11,425 | ( 3,771 km2) |
1,456 sq mi![]() |
Counties That No Longer Exist
Over time, some counties were created and then later combined or changed. Here are two counties that no longer exist in Idaho:
- Alturas County was created in 1864 and ended in 1895.
- Logan County was created in 1889 and also ended in 1895.
See also
In Spanish: Anexo:Condados de Idaho para niños