The U.S. state of Alabama has sixty-seven counties. The oldest is Washington County (created June 4, 1800) and the youngest is Houston County (created February 9, 1903).
Alabama was claimed by Spain, as Spanish Florida, and by England, as the Province of Carolina. The first permanent colony was made by the French on the banks of the Mobile River in 1702.
After the American Revolutionary War, West Florida south of the 31st parallel became a part of Spain while most of the rest was put in the Mississippi Territory. The territorial assembly established some of the earliest county divisions which have survived to the present. In 1817 the western part of the territory became the State of Mississippi and the remainder the Alabama Territory. The Alabama territorial legislature made some more counties.
Alabama became the 22nd state of the United States in 1819. The Alabama state legislature made more counties from former Indian lands as the Indian Removal Act took effect and settlers populated different areas of Alabama.
In 1820, Alabama had 29 counties. By 1830 there were 36, with Indians still occupying land in northeast and far western Alabama. By 1840, 49 counties had been created; 52 by 1850; 65 by 1870; and the present 67 counties by 1903.
According to 2020 U.S. Census data, the average population of Alabama's sixty-seven counties was 74,989, while Jefferson County had the most people (674,721), and Greene County (7,730) had the least. The average land area is . The largest county is Baldwin (), and the smallest is Etowah ().
The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify counties, is provided with each entry. (In this system, St. Clair County is alphabetized ahead of Shelby County.) The FIPS code links in the table point to U.S. Census "quick facts" pages for each county.
Counties
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Former counties and county names
Baine County (for David W. Baine), changed to Etowah County in 1868
Baker County (for Alfred Baker, a local landowner), changed to Chilton County in 1874 Benton County, first named in 1832 for Thomas Hart Benton. In 1849, Benton renounced his support for slavery, alienating him from the Democratic Party. He lost his seat in 1851, and in 1858 the name of the county was changed to Calhoun County, honoring Benton's Senate rival, John C. Calhoun, who had died soon after presiding over the momentous Compromise of 1850. Cahawba County, for the former capital city of Cahawba, changed to Bibb County in 1820 Cotaco County (for Cotaco Creek), changed to Morgan County in 1821 Elk County (for the Elk River), originally part of another Houston County (for John Houstoun), changed to Lauderdale County and Limestone County in 1818 Hancock County (for John Hancock), changed to Winston County in 1858 Jones County (for Josiah Jones, a local political leader), changed back to Covington County in 1868 after Jones refused the honor Jones County (for E. P. Jones), then Sanford County, before becoming Lamar County in 1877 Sanford County (for H. C. Sanford), changed to Lamar County in 1877
Fictional counties of note
Aurora County, the setting for several books by Deborah Wiles. Beechum County, the setting for the 1992 film, My Cousin Vinny. Greenbow County, the title character's birthplace in the 1986 Winston Groom novel Forrest Gump, which was adapted into a feature film in 1994. Hazzard County, the setting for the CBS TV show The Dukes of Hazzard, that ran from 1979-1985. Maycomb County, the setting for Harper Lee's 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird, which was adapted into a feature film in 1962. Pearl County, the setting for William March's 1943 novel Looking Glass and of several of his short stories.