View source for List of counties of Prince Edward Island

{{short description|None}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox subdivision type
| name = Counties of Prince Edward Island
| alt_name = 
| map = File:Canada Prince Edward Island location map 2.svg
| image_caption = 
| territory = [[Prince Edward Island|Province of Prince Edward Island]]
| start_date = 
| current_number = 3
| number_date = 
| population_range = 18,327 ([[Kings County, Prince Edward Island|Kings]]) – 89,770 ([[Queens County, Prince Edward Island|Queens]])
| area_range = 1,687.58 km<sup>2</sup> ([[Kings County, Prince Edward Island|Kings]]) – 2,006.27 km<sup>2</sup> ([[Prince County, Prince Edward Island|Prince]])
| government = [[County government]] (defunct)
| subdivision = [[List of parishes in Prince Edward Island|Parishes]], [[List of townships in Prince Edward Island|townships]], [[List of municipalities in Prince Edward Island|municipalities]]
}}

The [[Provinces and territories of Canada|Canadian province]] of [[Prince Edward Island]] has three counties that have historically been used as administrative divisions for the provincial government, and prior to [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]] (in 1873), the colonial government.

The current system of land division in Prince Edward Island, including its three counties, dates to a series of surveys undertaken in 1764-65 by Captain [[Samuel Holland (surveyor)|Samuel Holland]] of the [[British Army]]'s [[Royal Engineers|Corps of Royal Engineers]].  Holland's survey saw the island divided into the three counties, each of which had a "royalty" (or [[shire town]]) as a county seat.  The rest of the county outside the royalty was sub-divided into parishes for the [[Church of England]], measuring approximately {{convert|60000|acre|sqkm|abbr=on}}; the parishes were further sub-divided into townships measuring approximately {{convert|20000|acre|sqkm|abbr=on}}.

The counties are no longer used as administrative boundaries for the provincial government; however, they continue to be used as [[Census divisions of Canada|census division]]s by [[Statistics Canada]] for statistical purposes in administering the [[Census in Canada|Canadian census]].<ref name=censusdivisions>{{cite web |title=Population and dwelling counts, for Canada and census divisions, 2021 and 2016 censuses – 100% data |url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000701 |publisher=Statistics Canada |date=9 February 2022 |access-date=6 May 2025}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!scope="col"| County
!scope="col"| County seat<br>(current)
!scope="col"| County seat<br>(historical)
!scope="col"| Established
!scope="col"| Population<br>(2021)<ref name=censusdivisions/>
!scope="col"| Population<br>(2016)<ref name=censusdivisions/>
!scope="col"| Change<br><ref name=censusdivisions/>
!scope="col"| Land area<br>(km<sup>2</sup>)<ref name=censusdivisions/>
!scope="col"| Population&nbsp;density<br>(per km<sup>2</sup>)<ref name=censusdivisions/>
!scope="col"| Map
|-
|scope="row"| [[Kings County, Prince Edward Island|Kings]] || [[Georgetown, Prince Edward Island|Georgetown]] || [[Kings Royalty, Prince Edward Island|Kings Royalty]] || 1765 || {{change|18327|17154|dec=1|align=center|invert=on}} ||align=center| {{nts|1687.58}} ||align=center| {{Pop density|18327|1687.58|prec=1}}||align=center| [[File:Prince Edward Island Kings County.svg|100px]]
|-
|scope="row"| [[Queens County, Prince Edward Island|Queens]] || [[Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island|Charlottetown]] || [[Queens Royalty, Prince Edward Island|Queens Royalty]] || 1765 || {{change|89770|81843|dec=1|align=center|invert=on}} ||align=center| {{nts|1987.32}} ||align=center| {{Pop density|89770|1987.32|prec=1}}||align=center| [[File:Prince Edward Island Queens County.svg|100px]]
|-
|scope="row"| [[Prince County, Prince Edward Island|Prince]] || [[Summerside, Prince Edward Island|Summerside]] || [[Prince Royalty, Prince Edward Island|Prince Royalty]] || 1765 || {{change|46234|43910|dec=1|align=center|invert=on}} ||align=center| {{nts|2006.27}} ||align=center| {{Pop density|46234|2006.27|prec=1}}||align=center| [[File:Prince Edward Island Prince County.svg|100px]]
|- class="sortbottom" style="text-align:center;" style="background: #f2f2f2;"
|align=left| '''Total counties'''
|align=center| '''&mdash;'''
|align=center| '''&mdash;'''
|align=center| '''&mdash;'''
|{{change|154331|142907|dec=1|align=center|bold=on|invert=on||bgcolour=#f2f2f2}}
|align=center| '''{{nts|5681.17}}'''
|align=center| '''{{Pop density|154331|5681.18|prec=1}}'''
|align=center| '''&mdash;'''
|-
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Canada}}
*[[Administrative divisions of Canada]]

{{Subdivisions of Prince Edward Island|counties=yes}}
{{Canada topic|Census divisions of}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Counties of Prince Edward Island| ]]
[[Category:Lists of populated places in Prince Edward Island|Counties]]
[[Category:Lists of counties|Prince Edward Island]]