Coös County, New Hampshire

Coös County
Coös County Courthouse in Lancaster
Location within the U.S. state of New Hampshire
New Hampshire's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 44°36′50″N 71°20′24″W / 44.613773°N 71.339943°W / 44.613773; -71.339943
Country United States
State New Hampshire
Founded1803
Named afterAlgonquian for “small pines”
SeatLancaster
Largest cityBerlin
Area
  Total
1,830.3 sq mi (4,740 km2)
  Land1,794.6 sq mi (4,648 km2)
  Water35.7 sq mi (92 km2)  1.95%
Population
 (2020)
  Total
31,268
  Estimate 
(2022)
31,504
  Density17.4/sq mi (6.7/km2)
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
  Summer (DST)UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district2nd
Websitecooscountynh.us

Coös County (/ˈk.ɒs/, with two syllables) or Coos County is the northernmost county in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,268, making it the least-populated county in the state. The county seat is Lancaster.

Coös County is part of the Berlin, NH–VT Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is the only New Hampshire county on the Canada–United States border, south of the province of Quebec, and thus is home to New Hampshire's only international port of entry, the Pittsburg–Chartierville Border Crossing. The only city in Coös County is Berlin, with the rest of the communities being towns, or unincorporated townships, gores and grants.

Major industries in Coös County include forestry and tourism, with the once-dominant paper-making industry in sharp decline. The county straddles two of the state's tourism regions. The southernmost portion of the county is part of the White Mountains Region and is home to Mount Washington. The remainder of the county is known as the Great North Woods Region, or known locally as the North Country.