List of counties in Maine

There are 16 counties in the U.S. state of Maine

Map of Maine's counties

List

County	FIPS code[1]	Seat[2]	Established[2]	Origin	Meaning of name	Population (2020)[3]	Area[2][4]	Map
Androscoggin County	001	Auburn	1854	From parts of Cumberland County, Kennebec County, and Lincoln County	The Androscoggin Native American tribe.	111,139	497 sq mi (1,287 km2)
Aroostook County	003	Houlton	1839	From parts of Penobscot County, and Washington County	A Mi'kmaq word meaning beautiful river.	67,105	6,829 sq mi (17,687 km2)
Cumberland County	005	Portland	1761	As Cumberland County, Massachusetts from part of York County	Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, son of George II of Great Britain.	303,069	1,217 sq mi (3,152 km2)
Franklin County	007	Farmington	1838	From parts of Kennebec County, Oxford County, and Somerset County	Benjamin Franklin, the Founding Father, scientist, printer, and diplomat.	29,456	1,744 sq mi (4,517 km2)
Hancock County	009	Ellsworth	1790	As Hancock County, Massachusetts, from part of Lincoln County	John Hancock (1737–1793), the Founding Father and president of the convention that produced the United States Declaration of Independence.	55,478	2,351 sq mi (6,089 km2)
Kennebec County	011	Augusta	1799	As Kennebec County, Massachusetts from part of Lincoln County	The Kennebec River in Maine.	123,642	951 sq mi (2,463 km2)
Knox County	013	Rockland	1860	From parts of Lincoln County and Waldo County	Henry Knox (1750–1806), the first United States Secretary of War (1789 - 1794), who lived in Thomaston, Maine.	40,607	1,142 sq mi (2,958 km2)
Lincoln County	015	Wiscasset	1760	As Lincoln County, Massachusetts from part of York County	The city of Lincoln, England.	35,237	700 sq mi (1,813 km2)
Oxford County	017	Paris	1805	As Oxford County, Massachusetts from parts of Cumberland County and York County	Probably named for Oxford, Massachusetts.	57,777	2,175 sq mi (5,633 km2)
Penobscot County	019	Bangor	1816	As Penobscot County, Massachusetts from part of Hancock County	The Penobscot Native American tribe.	152,199	3,556 sq mi (9,210 km2)
Piscataquis County	021	Dover-Foxcroft	1838	From parts of Penobscot County and Somerset County	An Abenaki word meaning rapid waters.	16,800	4,377 sq mi (11,336 km2)
Sagadahoc County	023	Bath	1854	From part of Lincoln County	A Abenaki word meaning mouth of big river.	36,699	370 sq mi (958 km2)
Somerset County	025	Skowhegan	1809	As Somerset County, Massachusetts from parts of Kennebec County	The county of Somerset in England.	50,477	4,095 sq mi (10,606 km2)
Waldo County	027	Belfast	1827	From parts of Hancock County, Kennebec County and Lincoln County	Samuel Waldo, Maine landowner and a colonial soldier in the 1745 siege of Louisbourg.	39,607	853 sq mi (2,209 km2)
Washington County	029	Machias	1790	As Washington County, Massachusetts from part of Lincoln County	George Washington, the first President of the United States.	31,095	3,255 sq mi (8,430 km2)
York County	031	Alfred	1652	As Yorkshire County, Massachusetts from the southern part of the District of Maine. Renamed York County by Massachusetts in 1668	York, England, the birthplace of Christopher Levett who first attempted to settle the area.	211,972	1,271 sq mi (3,292 km2)

Song

A song is taught to many elementary school children across the state, entitled the Maine County Song, to aid in memorizing the names of the state's 16 counties. It is sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

Sixteen counties has our state

Cumberland and Franklin

Piscataquis and Kennebec

Oxford, Androscoggin

Waldo, Washington, and York

Lincoln, Knox, and Hancock

Sagadahoc and Somerset

Aroostook and Penobscot^[5]

An alternate version as put forth by the Maine Secretary of State's Kids' Page:

The sixteen counties in our state

Are Cumberland and Franklin

Piscataquis and Somerset

Aroostook, Androscoggin

Sagadahoc and Kennebec

Lincoln, Knox and Hancock

Waldo, Washington and York

Oxford and Penobscot^[6]

However the traditional version is:

Sixteen counties in our state

are Cumberland and Franklin

Waldo York Piscataquis

Oxford and Androscoggin

Washington and Somerset

Lincoln Knox and Hancock

Kennebec Sagadahoc

Aroostook and Penobscot

References

1. "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA.gov. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
2. National Association of Counties. "NACo County Explorer". Retrieved 2015-10-25.
3. "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Maine".
4. "Maine QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau". State & County QuickFacts. Archived from the original on 2007-04-10. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
5. "16 counties fit nicely in 'Yankee Doodle'". Archived from the original on 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2012-03-25.
6. "Secretary of State Kid's Page (Home)". Archived from the original on 2009-05-06. Retrieved 2012-03-25.