There are 92 counties in the U.S. state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

. Each county serves as the local level of government within its borders. Although Indiana was organized into the United States since the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, its land was not always available for settlement. The Vincennes Tract, Clark's Grant and an area known as " The Gore" in southeastern Indiana (resulting from the Treaty of Greenville 1795) existed during the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolutionary War. Established in 1 ...

. The remainder of Indiana land was acquired by Indian Removal Act and purchases by treaty between 1804 and 1840. The largest purchase (called "Delaware New Purchase" or just "New Purchase") resulted from the

Treaty of St. Mary's (1818) The Treaty of St. Mary's may refer to one of six treaties concluded in fall of 1818 between the United States and Natives of central Indiana regarding purchase of Native land. The treaties were *Treaty with the Wyandot, etc. *Treaty with the Wy ...

which acquired about 1/3 of the state in the central portion. All or most of 35 counties were eventually carved from the area. The oldest counties are generally in the south near the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

, whereas newer ones were in the north in territory acquired later. Many of the final counties were formed subsequent to the acquisition and break up of the Big Miami Reserve (encompassing present day Howard County and parts of surrounding counties) between 1834 and 1840. The oldest and newest counties in Indiana are Knox County, created in 1790, and Newton County, created in 1859. As of the 2021

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

estimates, the population of Indiana was 6,805,985, the average population of Indiana's 92 counties is 73,978, with Marion County as the most populous (971,102), and Ohio County (5,978) the least. 54 counties have 30,000 or more people; 17 counties have populations exceeding 100,000, five of which exceed 250,000; and only six counties have fewer than 10,000 people. The average land area is . The largest county is

Allen Allen, Allen's or Allens may refer to: Buildings * Allen Arena, an indoor arena at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee * Allen Center, a skyscraper complex in downtown Houston, Texas * Allen Fieldhouse, an indoor sports arena on the Univer ...

(657 sq. mi., 1,702 km²) and the smallest is Ohio (86 sq. mi., 223 km²). According to the

Constitution of Indiana The Constitution of Indiana is the highest body of state law in the U.S. state of Indiana. It establishes the structure and function of the state and is based on the principles of federalism and Jacksonian democracy. Indiana's constitution is su ...

, no county may be created of less than , nor may any county smaller than this be further reduced in size, which precludes any new counties. County government in Indiana consists of two bodies, the county council and the commissioners. Many Indiana counties are named for

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Founding Fathers The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

and personalities of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

and Battle of Tippecanoe; early leaders of Indiana Territory and Indiana, as well as surrounding states like

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

; plus Native American tribes and geographical features. The

Federal Information Processing Standard The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) of the United States are a set of publicly announced standards that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed for use in computer systems of non-military, American ...

(FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify states and counties, is provided with each entry. Indiana's code is 18, which when combined with any county code would be written as 18XXX. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county. In Indiana, the most commonly seen number associated with counties is the state county code, which is a sequential number based on the alphabetical order of the county. It has been used on automobile license plates since 1963. It first held a prominent place on the left side of the plates as part of the license plate number until the year 2008 when it was moved above the serial number and 2012 when it was moved to the lower right corner. On license plates, county codes 93, 95, and 97-99 were also used for Marion County in addition to 49. 94 and 96 were used for Lake County in addition to 45. These additional numbers ceased to be used as of 2008. In addition these codes are also used by

INDOT The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Indiana charged with maintaining and regulating transportation and transportation related infrastructure such as state owned airports, state highways ...

for structure IDs on objects such as bridges and overpasses. __NOTOC__

Counties

References

;Sources *

External links

Association of Indiana Counties

National Association of Counties
{{U.S. Counties

Counties

Counties

See also

References

External links