The states of Germany know 4 different names for the English common-law term county. As in the United States, these counties are administrative subdivisions of states. There are states in Germany which don't have any counties and larger cities are usually not organized inside of a county.

The tradional common law-like counties

While their administrative functions may vary, both an amt

AMT

-Aviation:*The ICAO code for ATA Airlines*Aircraft Maintenance Technician, a term used in the United States* Aviation Maintenance Technician, a United States Coast Guard rating-Businesses and business-related terms:...

 and a Verwaltungsgemeinschaft are the equivalent to a traditional US county. Amts exist in the states of Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein

Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...

, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is a federal state in northern Germany. The capital city is Schwerin...

 and Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

, while you can find a Verwaltungsgemeinschaft in Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

, Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, Saxony

Saxony

The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

, Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt

Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...

, Thuringia

Thuringia

The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....

.

Unified counties

Verbandsgemeinde

Verbandsgemeinde

A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...

 and Samtgemeinde are counties which have taken over all or nearly all administrative tasks from the municipal governments. Usually unincorporated settlements and smaller cities belong to these types of counties. Verbandsgemeinde is the term used for these counties in Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate

Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....

 and Saxony Anhalt. Samtgemeinde is the term applicable to counties in Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...

.

Legal basis for distinction

The above two types were identified based on the German law for Gebietskörperschaft (territorial government body) and Bundkörperschaft (federative government body). Amt and Verwaltungsgemeindschaft are identified as Bundkörperschafts and Verbandsgemeinde and Samtgemeinde are Gebietskörperschafts, according to their articles in the German Wikipedia.