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List of California counties

The U.S. state of California is divided into 58 counties. Counties are responsible for local services and law enforcement for areas within their borders that are not within incorporated cites, as well as providing local-level courtss.

On January 4, 1850, the California constitutional committee recommended the formation of 18 counties. They were Benicia, Butte, Fremont, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Monterey, Mount Diablo, Oro, Redding, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and Sutter. On April 22, the counties of Branciforte, Calaveras, Coloma, Colusi, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Trinity, and Yuba were added. Benicia was renamed Solano, Coloma El Dorado, Fremont Yola, Mt. Diablo Contra Costa, San Jose Santa Clara, Oro Tuolumne, and Redding Shasta. One of the first state legislative acts regarding counties was to rename Branciforte County to Santa Cruz, Colusi to Colusa, and Yola to Yolo.

The present number of counties was achieved over time by subdivision of many of the larger counties into smaller ones. The 1850 counties are marked with an asterisk (*).

Table of contents
1 Counties which no longer exist
2 History of county creations and modifications
3 External links

Counties which no longer exist

History of county creations and modifications

External links