Butte County, California

Butte County is a located in the  of the  of, north of state capital. As of the, it had a population of 203,171. 2005 estimates place this at 214,185. The is. Butte County is the "Land of Natural Wealth and Beauty."

Butte County is watered by the and the. and are additional perennial streams, both tributary to the Sacramento. It is the site of, the sixth largest in the. The is the home of  and of.

There are four major hospitals and the State of California defines Butte County as being inside Health Service Area 1. A special district, the Butte County Air Quality Management District, regulates airborne pollutant emissions in the county. It does this following regional regulations, state, and federal laws. For example, in recent years, the agency changed rules that used to allow residents to burn household trash outdoors.

Several movies have been filmed in Butte County, including ', The Outlaw Josie Wales, ', ', ', Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy ,''",and Under Wraps.

History
Butte County was one of California's first counties, created in at time of statehood. Part of the county's territory was given to in  and to  in.

Its name is derived from the Marysville or, which lay within the boundaries when it was created. The word butte is derived from the Teutonic word meaning "a blunt extension or elevation." In the, it signifies "a small hill or mound of earth detached from any mountain range." Butte is the only California County whose name is a French word. There is also which flows through Butte County, and has s.

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 4,344 (1,677 ). 4,246 km² (1,639 sq mi) of it is land and 97 km² (38 sq mi) of it (2.24%) is water.

The county is drained by the and. Part of the county's western border is formed by the. The county lies along the western slope of the, the steep slopes making it prime territory for the sighting of power plants. About a half dozen of these plants are located in the county.

Cities and towns

 * , home of
 * , home of

Ghost Towns

 * - the original of Butte County, this city has long been forgotten; the only reminder of it is now an overgrown cemetery.
 * - now located under

Adjacent Counties

 * - south
 * - south
 * - southwest
 * - west
 * - north
 * - east

Major Highways

 * [[Image:California 32.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 70.svg|20px]]
 * [[Image:California 99.svg|20px]]

Public Transportation
or the B-Line, provides service in and between Chico, Oroville, Paradise, Gridley and Biggs. Chico is also a connection point for buses to Glenn County and  buses to Plumas County.

buses stop in Chico.

Airports
General Aviation airports in Butte County include:

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 203,171 people, 79,566 households, and 49,410 families residing in the county. The was 48/km² (124/sq mi). There were 85,523 housing units at an average density of 20/km² (52/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 84.52%, 1.39% or , 1.90% , 3.32% , 0.15% , 4.82% from , and 3.90% from two or more races. 10.50% of the population were or  of any race. 14.2% were of, 11.1% , 10.2% , 7.8% and 5.6%  ancestry according to. 87.9% spoke, 7.8% and 1.4%  as their first language.

There were 79,566 households out of which 28.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.70% were living together, 11.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.90% were non-families. 27.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.00% under the age of 18, 13.60% from 18 to 24, 24.80% from 25 to 44, 21.80% from 45 to 64, and 15.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 96.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $31,924, and the median income for a family was $41,010. Males had a median income of $34,137 versus $25,393 for females. The for the county was $17,517. About 12.20% of families and 19.80% of the population were below the, including 23.80% of those under age 18 and 7.30% of those age 65 or over.

Local
The citizens of the county of Butte are represented by the five member. Current Supervisors are:



State
Most citizens of Butte County, are members of with a few in the southwest corner of the county being in the. The citizens in the 3rd are represented by (-Chico), and those int the 2nd are represented by  (-Richvale) in the. All Butte County citizens are members of, represented by (, Grass Valley) in the.

Federal
Most citizens of Butte County are represented in by Republican, while the rest of the county is represented in  by Republican.

Butte is a -leaning county in and  elections. The last Democrat to win a majority in the county was in.

Educational institutions
There are roughly 90 public schools in the county according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. The schools are operated by 15 school districts and the County Office of Education.