United States Counties
The new census numbers have arrived for the year 2000, giving more current populations and more precise land area numbers. The number of county-equivalents is the same as in 1990 at 3,141. However, there have been a few changes. Two new boroughs were created in Alaska during the decade; however, this was offset by the absorption of two previous county-equivalents into their surrounding counties in Montana and Virginia. The county-equivalents in Louisiana are known as parishes, and those in Alaska are known as boroughs. The five counties that comprise New York City are also known as boroughs. Many cities of Virginia are called independent cities, independent of their surrounding counties, which often have the same name, and for which they often serve as the county seat. These are indicated by "city" following the county name. The cities of Baltimore, MD and Saint Louis, MO are also independent cities and are also thus indicated. There are many county-equivalents in Alaska that are not organized boroughs, but merely census areas, with no legal government. These are indicated by "c.a." after the name, with the County Seat position indicated by the most important city in brackets. Two counties in South Dakota, Shannon County and Todd County, are also unorganized, being attached to adjacent counties (Fall River County and Tripp County, respectively) for legal purposes, as is Kalawao County in Hawaii to Maui County. The portion of Yellowstone National Park in Montana that was previously not part of any county was absorbed into the neighboring counties of Gallatin County and Park County. Alaska has two new boroughs, Denali Borough and Yakutat Borough. Denali was carved from part of the Yukon-Koyukuk census area, and Yakutat was similarly carved from part of the former Skagway-Yakutat-Angoon census area (now renamed Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon). In Virginia, the formerly independent city of South Boston is now part of its surrounding Halifax County.
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