Apache County, Arizona



Apache County is located in the northeast corner of the of. As of the its population was 69,423. The is.

Geography
Apache County contains parts of the, the , and. is entirely within the county.

According to the, the county has a total area of 29,056 (11,218 ). 29,020 km² (11,205 sq mi) of it is land and 35 km² (14 sq mi) of it (0.12%) is water.

Adjacent Counties

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History
A history of the area, written in 1896, records the following about Apache County.

''Apache County was created in 1879 and lies in the northeastern corner of the Territory. Until March, 1895, it also embraced what is now, but at that date the latter was set apart and established as a separate county. Apache County is justly noted for its great natural resources and advantages. It is destined some day in the early future to have a large agricultural population. Now, immense herds of cattle and flocks of sheep roam over its broad mesas and its fertile valleys. The Navajo Indians occupy the northern part of the county-in fact, occupy much of the remainder of the county, as they refuse to remain on their reservation, preferring to drive their sheep and cattle on lands outside their reservation, where the grazing is better. The southern part is a fine grazing country, while the northern part is cut up into picturesque gorges and canons by the floods of past centuries.''

In the late, the county was. At that time, the county covered more than 21,177 square miles in territory. In September,, near in what is now , Owens was involved in one of the Old West's most famous gunfights, when he killed three men and wounded a fourth while serving a  on outlaw Andy Blevins/Andy Cooper, an active participant in a raging , later dubbed the.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 69,423 people, 19,971 households, and 15,257 families residing in the county. The was 2/km² (6/sq mi). There were 31,621 housing units at an average density of 1/km² (3/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 76.88%, 19.50% , 0.25% or , 0.13% , 0.06% , 1.75% from , and 1.43% from two or more races. 4.49% of the population were or  of any race. 58.39% reported speaking at home, while 38.39% speak  and 2.71%.

There were 19,971 households out of which 43.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.30% were living together, 21.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.60% were non-families. 21.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.41 and the average family size was 4.04.

In the county the population was spread out with 38.50% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 25.10% from 25 to 44, 18.70% from 45 to 64, and 8.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 98.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.50 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $23,344, and the median income for a family was $26,315. Males had a median income of $30,182 versus $22,312 for females. The for the county was $8,986. About 33.50% of families and 37.80% of the population were below the, including 42.80% of those under age 18 and 36.50% of those age 65 or over. The county's makes it one of the.

Apache County is one of only 38 county-level census divisions of the United States where the most spoken language is not English and one of only 3 where it is neither English nor Spanish. 58.32% of the population speak at home, followed by English at 38.34% and Spanish at 2.72%.

Education
The following School districts serve Apache County:



In addition several other schools, including charter schools and tribal schools operated by the 's Office of Education Programs, serve the county.