Monroe County, Pennsylvania

Monroe County is in the of. Named in honor of, the fifth , the is located in the east of the state, along its border with. In 2000, its population was 138,687. Its is. The county is home to.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,599 (617 ). 1,576 km² (608 sq mi) of it is land and 23 km² (9 sq mi) of it (1.44%) is water. Monroe County was formed from the northern section of Northampton County.

Due to its close proximity to, Pennsylvania governor and many  executives have decided to construct a "backup" Wall Street, in case of a terrorist attack on New York. The construction would contain millions of square feet of office space in Monroe County alone. Over seven other Pennsylvania counties will also have headquarters.

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (west)
 * (northwest)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 138,687 people, 49,454 households, and 36,447 families residing in the county. The was 88/km² (228/sq mi). There were 67,581 housing units at an average density of 43/km² (111/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 88.21%, 6.02% or , 0.21% , 1.11% , 0.03% , 2.42% from , and 1.99% from two or more races. 6.63% of the population were or  of any race. It is one of the fastest growing counties in the nation.

There were 49,454 households out of which 36.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.70% were living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.30% were non-families. 20.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.16.

In the county, the population was spread out with 26.80% under the age of 18, 8.60% from 18 to 24, 28.80% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 12.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 97.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.40 males.

Politics
The county is closely-divided politically between the and  parties. In the, the county was carried by a margin of four votes. In, there were 101,228 registered voters in Monroe County.


 * Democratic: 43,323 (42.80%)
 * Republican: 38,597 (38.13%)
 * Other: 19,308 (19.07%)

Municipalities
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities:, , townships, and, in at most two cases,. The following cities, boroughs and townships are located in Monroe County:

Census-designated places
s are geographical areas designated by the for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.

Colleges and universities

 * (Monroe Campus)
 * (Monroe Campus)

Other Notable Resources
In addition to its rich cultural heritage, Monroe County is home to the Pennsylvania portion of the National Recreation Area, Sullivan Trail (The portion of the route of General 's famous march of 1778 from Easton to New York that reaches from  to . This trail leads to the road that scales Big Pocono Mountain, one of the highest points in the Poconos that offers magnificent vistas.),  (manufacturer of vaccines),  (home of two major  events held annually),, , The  (named the number one outlet center in North America by the Outlet Retail Merchants Association (ORMA) for 2000-2001), three state parks (,  and ), and  (a major element of the Communications-Electronics Command and the largest Communications-Electronics repair, overhaul and fabrication facility in the ).