independent city
In the United States, an independent city is a city that is not associated with or a territory of any county. The United States Census Bureau considers independent cities statistically equivalent to counties. There are 41 independent cities: 38 in Virginia (due to the Constitution of the commonwealth of Virginia making all incorporated cities free cities); Baltimore, MD; Carson City, NV; and St. Louis, MO.
In Virginia, the independent city can cause particularly interesting boundaries, such as for the City of Fairfax, an independent city that lies geographically inside the county of Fairfax. The county seat is situated inside the City of Fairfax and therefore is part of the county, which creates a small doughnut hole of land within the city that is Fairfax County instead of City of Fairfax.
For more information, see census.gov.
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