I share living in Albuquerque with Art Brooks and agree with him completely about counties in New Mexico. For the most part they are vast expanses of land, mostly covered with scrub brush and cactus (south) or huge mountain ranges (north). I had not connected it to the local indigenous cultures, but that makes a lot of sense. In Texas, however, the counties are much smaller and run like little fiefdoms (sp.?). The county judge is the be-all and end-all of all things politic, and the county sheriff might as well be God (or his lieutenant.) When weather warnings are issued they are issued according to county lines, not major cities. Makes it dreadfully difficult to know if a tornado is barreling down on you unless you carry an atlas with you. And in Louisiana, there are no counties, they are refered to as Parishes. Don't know the particulars about what makes them different, other than the name. I have often wondered about the use of "county Down" etc, in regards to Ireland. Good thread.

Freightdawg