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Defiance County
	Defiance County, Ohio
	Map
	; Location in the state of Ohio
	; Ohio's location in the U.S.
	Statistics
Founded	April 7, 1845
Seat	Defiance
Largest city	Defiance
Area; - Total; - Land; - Water	; 414 sq mi (1,073 km²); 411 sq mi (1,065 km²); 3 sq mi (8 km²), 0.73
Population; - (2000); - Density	; 39,500; 96/sq mi (37/km²)
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
	Website: www.defiance-county.com
	Named for: Fort Defiance

Defiance County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of 2000, the population was 39,500. Its county seat is Defiance^[2]. It was named after an early Army fortification, Fort Defiance, which was named that by Mad Anthony Wayne to signify the settler's "defiance" of the Indians.^[3]^[4]

The Defiance Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Defiance County.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 414 square miles (1,073 km²).411 square miles (1,065 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (8 km²) of it (0.73%) is water.

[edit] Adjacent counties

[edit] Demographics

Defiance County Population by year^[1]
2000 39,500 1990 39,350 1980 39,987 1970 36,949 1960 31,508 1950 25,925 1940 24,367 1930 22,714 1920 24,549 1910 24,498 1900 26,387 1890 25,769 1880 22,515 1870 15,719 1860 11,886 1850 6,966

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 39,500 people, 15,138 households, and 11,020 families residing in the county. The population density was 96 people per square mile (37/km²). There were 16,040 housing units at an average density of 39 per square mile (15/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 92.59% White, 1.75% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 3.59% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. 7.23% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 45.6% were of German, 13.5% American, 6.8% Irish and 5.1% English ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 15,138 households out of which 34.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.90% were married couples living together, 9.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.20% were non-families. 23.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county the population was spread out with 26.50% under the age of 18, 9.20% from 18 to 24, 27.40% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 12.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $44,938, and the median income for a family was $50,876. Males had a median income of $37,936 versus $23,530 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,667. About 4.50% of families and 5.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.40% of those under age 18 and 5.30% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Government

Defiance County Courthouse.

Main article: Ohio county government

[edit] Politics

This county is the most reliable bellwether county in the nation since 1988, based on how close the county's margin of victory was compared to the nation as a whole. The difference between 2004 difference in points vs. the national trend was just 0.1%. It was very tight in all the other elections since 1980: 4.6% in 2000, 0.4% in 1996, 0.04% (exactly) in 1992, 0.6% in 1988, 0.03 in 1984, and 2.1% in 1980.^[6]

Although in 2008, it finally lost its bellwether status when John McCain won here with 54% of the vote.^[7]