Maine Counties Map: Click All 16 Counties

How many counties are in Maine?

Maine has 16 counties. 41 states have more, and 8 have fewer.

Maine has 16 counties. Aroostook County, known simply as The County, is bigger than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Cumberland County, home to Portland, has the most people, and Kennebec County holds the capital, Augusta.

Maine's counties grow larger as you travel north. The southern and coastal counties hold most of the state's people, while Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties cover the vast North Woods. Maine borders only one other state, New Hampshire, and touches the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick, so most of its border counties face Canada rather than another state.

How Maine's counties were formed

York County, created by Massachusetts in 1652 as Yorkshire, is Maine's oldest; Maine was part of Massachusetts until 1820. Cumberland and Lincoln counties followed in 1760. Aroostook County was formed in 1839, the year of a border dispute with British Canada known as the Aroostook War. Knox County, created in 1860, was the 16th and last.

Maine regions and the counties in each

Maine is usually taught in four parts. Southern Maine is York and Cumberland counties, with Portland and most of the state's people. The Midcoast runs from Sagadahoc through Lincoln and Knox counties to Waldo, a coastline of peninsulas and harbors. Down East is Hancock and Washington counties, with Acadia National Park and the easternmost point in the United States at Lubec. The North Woods and Highlands cover Aroostook, Piscataquis, Somerset and Franklin counties, home to Mount Katahdin and the end of the Appalachian Trail.

Notable places on the Maine county map

Mount Katahdin, the state's highest point at 5,268 feet, rises in Baxter State Park in Piscataquis County and marks the northern end of the Appalachian Trail. Acadia National Park is mostly on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, with a section on Isle au Haut in Knox County. Moosehead Lake, the largest lake in Maine, lies in Piscataquis and Somerset counties. Maine's coast is so jagged that its tidal shoreline is longer than California's, and more than 60 lighthouses still stand along it, including Portland Head Light in Cumberland County, first lit in 1791.

Maine counties map: the biggest and smallest

Aroostook County is the largest county in Maine, with 6,671 square miles of land, about 22% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii and Rhode Island. Sagadahoc County is the smallest, at 254 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Sagadahoc County (254 sq mi), Knox County (365 sq mi) and Lincoln County (456 sq mi).

Which counties in Maine have the most people?

Cumberland County has the most people, about 313,809 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 22% of everyone in Maine. The three biggest counties together hold 49% of the state's 1,405,012 people. Piscataquis County has the fewest, about 17,432.

The most crowded is Cumberland County, with about 375 people per square mile. The emptiest is Piscataquis County, with about 4 people per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Augusta in?

Augusta, the capital of Maine, is in Kennebec County. Kennebec County ranks 4th of 16 by population. Maine is called the Pine Tree State, and it became the 23rd state in 1820.

Counties on the Maine border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. Maine shares a border with New Hampshire.

How Maine's counties compare with other states

Maine ranks 39th among the 50 states in land area and 42nd in population. Its average county covers about 1,928 square miles and holds about 87,813 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Maine's counties are bigger than usual in size. Bigger counties mean fewer names to learn for a state this size.

Landmarks for learning the counties of Maine

• Aroostook County is the huge northern county along the Canadian border.
• Cumberland and York counties line the southern coast.
• Kennebec County (Augusta) is in the middle, along the Kennebec River.

With 16 counties, you can take on the whole map at once in a Practice round. Then print the Maine county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 16 Maine counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

Maine geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the Northeast states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in maine, and check maine town tuitioning to see whether a program may help pay for Maine history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.