Columbia County, New York


 * There is also a in New York.

Columbia County is a located in the  of. As of the, the population was 63,094. The is. The name comes from the Latin feminine form of the name of, which was at the time of the formation of the county a popular proposal for the name of the.

History
When counties were established in the in, the present Columbia County was part of. This was an enormous county, including the northern part of New York State as well as all of the present State of and, in theory, extending westward to the. This county was reduced in size on, by the creation of , and further on ,  by the creation of , both containing territory now in Vermont.

On, , what was left of Albany County was split into three parts, one remaining under the name Albany County. The other two were called (later renamed ) and  (later renamed ). From 1772 to Albany County included, besides the present territory of Albany County, all of the present Columbia County, as well as what are now, , and , parts of the present  and , and a piece of what is now southwestern Vermont.

In, Columbia County was split off from Albany County.

Geography
Columbia County is in the eastern part of New York State, southeast of and immediately west of the  border. The western border is the.

According to the, the county has a total area of 1,679 (648 ). 1,647 km² (636 sq mi) of it is land and 32 km² (13 sq mi) of it (1.93%) is water.

The terrain is gentle, rolling hills, rising sharply into the and  along the state line.

The highest point is on the state line near the summit of Alander Mountain, at approximately 2,110 feet (643 m) above sea level, in the town of Copake. The lowest point is at or near sea level along the Hudson.

Adjacent counties

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Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 63,094 people, 24,796 households, and 16,588 families residing in the county. The was 38/km² (99/sq mi). There were 30,207 housing units at an average density of 18/km² (48/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 92.09%, 4.52% or , 0.21% , 0.80% , 0.03% , 0.90% from , and 1.45% from two or more races. 2.53% of the population were or  of any race.

There were 24,796 households out of which 29.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.20% were living together, 10.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.10% were non-families. 27.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.10% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 26.90% from 25 to 44, 26.30% from 45 to 64, and 16.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 99.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $41,915, and the median income for a family was $49,357. Males had a median income of $34,702 versus $25,878 for females. The for the county was $22,265. About 6.40% of families and 9.00% of the population were below the, including 11.80% of those under age 18 and 6.80% of those age 65 or over.

Cities, towns, and villages

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 * => labels in parentheses indicate official political designation.
 * => labels in parentheses indicate official political designation.