A
county, abbreviated
Cnty. (
US) or
Co. (
UK and
Ireland), is a
geographical region of a country used for administrative or other purposes, in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the
Old French conté or
cunté denoting a
jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a
count (
earl) or a
viscount. The modern French is
comté, and its equivalents in other languages are
contea,
contado,
comtat,
condado,
Grafschaft,
graafschap,
Gau, etc. (cf.
conte,
comte,
conde,
Graf).