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{{More citations needed|date=August 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2y seat is the entire county.<ref>{{cite web|title=Counties in Virginia and the Location of Their Seats of Government|url=http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/CommissiononLocalGovernment/PDFs/county.seats.pdf|publisher=Virginia Commission on Local Government|access-date=10 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113040156/http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/CommissiononLocalGovernment/PDFs/county.seats.pdf|archive-date=13 November 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Ellicott City, Maryland|Ellicott City]], the county seat of [[Howard County, Maryland]], is the largest unincorporated county seat in the United States, followed by [[Towson, Maryland|Towson]], the county seat of [[Baltimore County, Maryland]]. Likewise, some county seats may not be incorporated in their own right, but are located within incorporated municipalities. For example, [[Cape May Court House, New Jersey]], though unincorporated, is a section of [[Middle Township, New Jersey|Middle Township]], an incorporated municipality. In some states, often those that were among the original [[Thirteen Colonies]], county seats include or formerly included "Court House" as part of their name, such as [[Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia]].▼
A '''county seat''' is an administrative center, [[seat of government]], or capital city of a [[county]] or [[parish (administrative division)|civil parish]]. The term is in use in five countries: [[Canada]], [[China]], [[Hungary]], [[Romania]], and the [[United States]]. An equivalent term, '''shire town''', is used in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Vermont]] and in several other English-speaking jurisdictions.<ref>[https://vtliving.com/vermontshires/ VT Shire Towns: Visiting The Shires of Vermont]</ref>
==Canada==
==Canada==. Jr. |translator-last2=Duke |translator-first2=Michael S. |year=2012 |orig-year=2006 |title=China: A New Cultural History |publisher=Columbia University Press |page=102 |isbn=9780231159203}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Goodman |editor-first=David S.G. |year=2015 |title=Handbook of the Politics of China |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing Limited |page=159 |isbn=9781782544364}}</ref> The number of counties in [[China proper]] gradually increased from dynasty to dynasty. As [[Qin Shi Huang]] reorganized the counties after his unification, there were about 1,000. Under the Eastern [[Han dynasty]], the number of counties increased to above 1,000. About 1400 existed when the [[Sui dynasty]] abolished the [[Commandery (China)|commandery]] level (郡 jùn), which was the level just above counties, and demoted some commanderies to counties. ▼
In [[Canada]], the [[Provinces and territories of Canada|provinces]] of [[Ontario]], [[Quebec]], [[New Brunswick]], [[Prince Edward Island]], and [[Nova Scotia]] have counties as an administrative division of government below the provincial level, and thus county seats. In the provinces of Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia the term "shire town" is used in place of county seat.<ref>{{cite web |title=County Map of Nova Scotia |url=https://archives.novascotia.ca/maps/county/ |website=Nova Scotia Archives |access-date=3 June 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title='What happened?' Long forgotten Dorchester wharf was once heart of shire town |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/roadside-history-james-upham-dorchester-wharf-new-brunswick-1.6724447 |website=CBC News |publisher=CBC |access-date=3 June 2024}}</ref>
==China==
{{Main|Counties of China}}
County seats in China are the administrative centers of the counties in the [[China|People's Republic of China]].
▲''Xian'' have existed since the [[Warring States period]] and were set up nationwide by the [[Qin dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hsu |first=
In Imperial China, the county was a significant administrative unit because it marked the lowest level of the imperial bureaucratic structure;<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zarrow |first1=Peter |title=China in War and Revolution, 1895–1949 |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-21976-6 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ijaAAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |language=en}}</ref> in other words, it was the lowest level that the government reached. Government below the county level was often undertaken through informal non-bureaucratic means, varying between dynasties. The head of a county was the [[county magistrate|magistrate]], who oversaw both the day-to-day operations of the county as well as civil and criminal cases.
The current number of counties mostly resembled that of the later years of the [[Qing dynasty]]. Changes of location and names of counties in [[History of China|Chinese history]] have been a major field of research in Chinese historical geography,
== Taiwan ==
{{Main|County (Taiwan)}}
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2023}}
[[File:苗栗縣政府 Miaoli County Government - panoramio.jpg|thumb|[[Miaoli]], the county seat of [[Miaoli County]] in Taiwan]]
In [[Taiwan]], the first counties were first established in 1661 by the [[Kingdom of Tungning]]. The later ruler [[Taiwan under Qing rule|Qing empire]] inherited this type of administrative divisions. With the increase of [[Han Chinese]] population in Taiwan, the number of counties also grew by time. By the end of Qing era, there were 11 counties in Taiwan. [[Protestant missions in China|Protestant missionaries]] in China first romanized the term as '''hien'''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davidson |first1=James W. |author-link=James W. Davidson |title=The Island of Formosa, Past and Present: History, People, Resources, and Commercial Prospects: Tea, Camphor, Sugar, Gold, Coal, Sulphur, Economical Plants, and Other Productions |year=1903 |publisher=Macmillan & Co. |url=https://archive.org/details/islandofformosap00davi |location=London and New York |ol=6931635M |page=[https://archive.org/details/islandofformosap00davi/page/93 93]}}</ref> When [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan]] became a [[Empire of Japan|Japanese colony]] in 1895, the hierarchy of divisions also incorporated into the [[Administrative divisions of Japan|Japanese system]] in the period when Taiwan was under Japanese rule.
By September 1945, Taiwan was divided into 8 [[prefectures of Japan|prefectures]] ({{lang|ja|州}} and {{lang|ja|廳}}), which remained after the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] took over.
There are 13 county seats in Taiwan, which function as [[county-administered city|county-administered cities]], [[Township (Taiwan)|urban townships]], or [[Township (Taiwan)|rural townships]].
===Lists of county seats===
Line 35 ⟶ 52:
[[File:Allentown.jpg|thumb|[[Allentown, Pennsylvania]], the third-largest city in [[Pennsylvania]] and county seat of [[Lehigh County, Pennsylvania|Lehigh County]]]]
[[File:Renville County Courthouse MN.jpg|thumb|Many county seats in the United States feature a historic courthouse, such as this one in [[Renville County, Minnesota]].]]
===Function===
[[File:QACourthouse QueenstownMD.jpg|thumb|The old courthouse in [[Centreville, Maryland]], the county seat of [[Queen Anne's County, Maryland]], U.S.]]
In most of the [[United States]], a [[County (United States)|county]] is an [[Administrative division|administrative]] or political subdivision of a [[U.S. state|state]] that consists of a geographic area with specific [[Border|boundaries]] and usually some level of governmental authority.<ref name=NACO>{{cite web |url = http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/Overview.aspx |title = An Overview of County Government |work = [[National Association of Counties]] |access-date = 25 April 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130417063950/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/Overview.aspx |archive-date = 17 April 2013 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref> The city, town, or populated place that houses county government is known as the '''seat''' of its county. Generally, the county legislature, county courthouse, sheriff's department headquarters, hall of records, jail and correctional facility are located in the county seat, though some functions (such as highway maintenance, which usually requires a large garage for vehicles, along with asphalt and salt storage facilities) may also be located or conducted in other parts of the county, especially if it is geographically large.
▲
===U.S. counties with more than one county seat===
Most counties have only one county seat. However, some counties in [[Alabama]], [[Arkansas]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Iowa]], [[Kentucky]], [[Massachusetts]], [[Mississippi]], [[Missouri]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New York (state)|New York]], and [[Vermont]] have two or more county seats, usually located on opposite sides of the county. Examples include [[Harrison County, Mississippi]], which has both [[Biloxi, Mississippi|Biloxi]] and [[Gulfport, Mississippi|Gulfport]] as county seats, and [[Hinds County, Mississippi]], which has both [[Raymond, Mississippi|Raymond]] and the state capital of [[Jackson, Mississippi|Jackson]]. The practice of multiple county seat towns dates from the days when travel was difficult. There have been few efforts to eliminate the two-seat arrangement, since a county seat is a source of [[boosterism|civic pride]] for the towns involved, along with providing employment opportunities.
There are 36 counties with multiple county seats in 11 states:
* [[Coffee County, Alabama]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.coffeecounty.us/History.html|title=History of Coffee County|author=Coffee County, Alabama|access-date=19 August 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027140704/http://www.coffeecounty.us/History.html|archive-date=27 October 2011}}</ref><!-- NACo lists only one, but county website says there are two. -->
* [[St. Clair County, Alabama]]
* [[Arkansas County, Arkansas]]
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* [[Clay County, Arkansas]]
* [[Craighead County, Arkansas]]
* [[Franklin
* [[Logan County, Arkansas]]
* [[Mississippi County, Arkansas]]
* [[Prairie County, Arkansas]]
* [[Sebastian County, Arkansas]]
* [[Yell County, Arkansas]]
* [[Columbia County, Georgia]]
* [[Lee County, Iowa]]
* [[Campbell County, Kentucky]]
* [[Kenton County, Kentucky]]
* [[Essex County, Massachusetts]]
* [[Middlesex County, Massachusetts]]
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===Other variations===
====Alaska====
[[Alaska]] is divided into [[List of boroughs and census areas in Alaska|boroughs]] rather than counties; the county seat in these case is referred to as the "borough seat"; this includes six consolidated city-
====Louisiana====
In [[Louisiana]], which is divided into [[List of parishes in Louisiana|parishes]] rather than counties, county seats are referred to as "parish seats".
====New England====
In [[New England]], counties have served mainly as dividing lines for the states' judicial systems. [[Rhode Island]] has no county level of government and thus no county seats, and [[Massachusetts]] has dissolved many but not all of its county governments. In [[Vermont]], [[Massachusetts]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleII/Chapter231/Section82|title=MGL c. 231, s. 82|access-date= 15 July 2013}}</ref> and [[Maine]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/33/title33sec701.html|title=Title 33, §701: Office in shire town|work=mainelegislature.org}}</ref> county government consists only of a [[Superior Court]] and [[Sheriffs in the United States|Sheriff]] (as an [[officer of the court]]), both located in a designated "shire town." Bennington County, Vermont has two shire towns; the court for "North Shire" is in the shire town [[Manchester, Vermont|Manchester]], and the Sheriff for the county and court for "South Shire" are in the shire town Bennington.{{cn|date=August 2023}}
In 2024, [[Connecticut]], which had not defined their counties for anything but statistical, historical and weather warning purposes since 1960, along with ending the use of county seats in particular, will fully transition with the permission of the [[United States Census Bureau]] to a system of [[Councils of governments in Connecticut|councils of government]] for the purposes of boundary definition and as county equivalents.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Proposed Change to County Equivalents in Connecticut|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/ct_county_equiv_change.pdf|website=US Census Bureau}}</ref>
====South Dakota====
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