Belknap County, New Hampshire

Belknap County is one of ten  in the  of. It is located in New Hampshire's, slightly southeast of the state's geographic center. The is. As of 2000, the county's population is 56,325.

History
Belknap County was organized in by removing parts of northeastern  and northwestern. It is named for Dr., a renowned preacher, historian, and author of The History of New Hampshire. The first County Court was held within the town of, at a village known as Merideth Bridge on the Winnipesaukee River. In, the town of Laconia was separated from Meredith.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,214 (469 ). 1,039 km² (401 sq mi) of it is land and 174 km² (67 sq mi) of it (14.35%) is water, most of which is part of.

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (east)
 * (southwest)
 * (northwest)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 56,325 people, 22,459 households, and 15,496 families residing in the county. The was 54/km² (140/sq mi). There were 32,121 housing units at an average density of 31/km² (80/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 97.61%, 0.29% or , 0.30% , 0.55% , 0.02% , 0.16% from , and 1.06% from two or more races. 0.74% of the population were or  of any race. 95.0% spoke, 2.7% and 1.2%  as their first language.

There were 22,459 households out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were living together, 9.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 3% were non-families. 24.40% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the county the population was spread out with 23.60% under the age of 18, 6.70% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 26.40% from 45 to 64, and 15.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 97.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.10 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $43,605, and the median income for a family was $50,510. Males had a median income of $34,741 versus $25,445 for females. The for the county was $22,758. About 4.50% of families and 6.10% of the population were below the, including 7.60% of those under age 18 and 4.90% of those age 65 or over.

Politics
The party is the majority political party in Belknap County, holding 14 out of the county's 20 seats in the state legislature as of. However, both state senators representing the county are.

Cities and towns
There are ten towns and one city in Belknap County. The towns are:
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The only city is the county seat,.