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 County A type of governmental unit that is the primary legal subdivision of every State except Alaska and Louisiana; also, a type of functioning MCD found in American Samoa. See also borough, county equivalent, parish.

County Block Map A set of large-scale maps for each county or equivalent entity, displaying boundaries and names/numbers of census blocks, decennial census tabulation entities, and ground features such as roads and streams. These maps are the most detailed and complete set of cartographic information that the Census Bureau provides.

County code A three-digit code assigned by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to identify each county and statistically equivalent entity within a State. The NIST assigns the codes based on the alphabetic sequence of county names; it documents these codes in a FIPS publication (FIPS PUB 6). The Census Bureau also documents these codes in its Geographic Identification Code Scheme. The NIST leaves gaps in the numbering system to accommodate new counties or statistically equivalent entities. See also Federal Information Processing Standards, Geographic Identification Code Scheme.

County equivalent A geographic entity that is not legally referred to as a county, but is recognized by the Census Bureau as equivalent to a county for purposes of data presentation. See also borough, census area, district, independent city, island, municipality, municipio, parish, State.

County group An area with a population of 100,000 or more, generally comprising a group of contiguous counties, identified on one of the 1980 or 1990 census public-use microdata samples (PUMS). The term is applied loosely, since some of the areas included are single counties, single cities, groups of places, or groups of towns or townships in New England and a few other States, all of which meet the 100,000 minimum population criterion. See also public-use microdata area, public-use microdata sample. GlossaryG-17