This is a list of the sixteen counties in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

. Before statehood, Maine was officially part of the state of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 and was called the District of Maine

District of Maine

The District of Maine was a legal designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from American independence until the Missouri Compromise on March 4, 1820, after which it gained its independence from Massachusetts and became the 23rd state in the Union...

. Maine was granted statehood on March 15, 1820 as part of the Missouri Compromise

Missouri Compromise

The Missouri Compromise was an agreement passed in 1820 between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States Congress, involving primarily the regulation of slavery in the western territories. It prohibited slavery in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30'...

. Nine of the sixteen counties had their borders defined while Maine was still part of Massachusetts, and hence are older than the state itself. Even after 1820, the exact location of the northern border of Maine was disputed with Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, until the question was settled and the northern counties took their final, official form by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

The Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty resolving several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies...

, signed in 1842. Almost all of Aroostook County

Aroostook County, Maine

Aroostook County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. In 2010, its population was 71,870. In land area, it is the largest county in the state and the largest U.S. county east of the Mississippi River. Its seat is Houlton...

 was disputed land until the treaty was signed.

The first county to be created was York County

York County, Maine

York County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. In 2010, the population was 197,131. Its county seat is Alfred.Founded in 1636, it is the oldest county in Maine and one of the oldest in the United States....

, created as York County, Massachusetts

York County, Massachusetts

York County, Massachusetts was a county in what is now the U.S. state of Maine. It was established in 1652 when the Massachusetts Bay Colony first asserted territorial claims over the settlements of southern Maine, extending from the Piscataqua River to just east of the mouth of the Presumpscot...

 by the government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...

 in 1652 to govern territories it claimed in southern Maine. No new counties have been created since 1860, when Knox County

Knox County, Maine

Knox County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 39,736. Its county seat is Rockland. The county is named for American Revolutionary War general and Secretary of War Henry Knox, who lived in the county from 1795 until his death in 1806. The county was...

 and Sagadahoc County

Sagadahoc County, Maine

Sagadahoc County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 35,293. Its county seat is Bath. In total area, it is the smallest county in Maine....

 were created. The most populous counties tend to be located in the southwestern portion of the state, along the Atlantic seaboard. The largest counties in terms of land area are inland. Maine's county names derive from a mix of British, American, and Native American sources, reflecting Maine's pre-colonial, colonial, and national heritage.

The Federal Information Processing Standard

Federal Information Processing Standard

A Federal Information Processing Standard is a publicly announced standardization developed by the United States federal government for use in computer systems by all non-military government agencies and by government contractors, when properly invoked and tailored on a contract...

 (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify states and counties, is provided with each entry. Maine's code is 23, which when combined with any county code would be written as 23XXX. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.

List

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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

Yankee Doodle

"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known Anglo-American song, the origin of which dates back to the Seven Years' War. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today and is the state anthem of Connecticut...

.

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

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

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