La Paz County, Arizona
county in Arizona, United States
La Paz County (Spanish: Condado de La Paz) is the 15th county in the U.S. state of Arizona, located in the western part of the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 16,557, making it the second-least populous county in Arizona. The county seat is Parker. The name of the county is the Spanish word for "the peace", and is taken from the early settlement (later ghost town) of La Paz along the Colorado River.
History
La Paz County was established in 1983 after voters approved separating the northern portion of Yuma County, making it the only county to be established after Arizona became a state in 1912, and currently the second youngest county in the United States (behind the consolidated city-county of Broomfield, Colorado, which was established in 2001). The county did not have a large enough tax base to begin supporting a separate county government immediately and had to rely on state money at first. As a result, the Arizona State Legislature changed Arizona laws to make splitting other existing counties much more difficult.
Under the revised Arizona laws, a county shall not be formed or divided by county initiative unless each proposed county would have all of the following characteristics: (1) at least three-fourths of one percent of the total state assessed valuation and at least the statewide per capita assessed valuation; (2) a population of at least three-fourths of one percent of the total state population according to the most recent United States decennial census; (3) at least one hundred square miles of privately owned land; (4) common boundaries with either (a) at least three other existing or proposed counties; or (b) at least two other existing or proposed counties and the state boundary. A county formation commission is required to be formed to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed county. A proposal to divide a county must be approved by a majority of the votes cast in each proposed new county.
“La Paz County, Arizona” enters the record as county in Arizona, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what County, Arizona and county can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“La Paz County, Arizona” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, County, Arizona and county provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q58759. VIAF identifies the subject as 145471286. The Library of Congress control number is n84185045. Authority coordinates are 33.840, -113.943. 3 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 1983, 1912 and 2001.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “La Paz County, Arizona” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.