Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Lancaster County, sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 552,984. Its county seat is Lancaster. Lancaster County comprises the Lancaster, Pennsylvania metropolitan statistical area.

Lancaster County is a tourist destination with its Amish community a major attraction. Contrary to popular belief, the word "Dutch" in "Pennsylvania Dutch" is not a mistranslation, but rather a corruption of the Pennsylvania German endonym Deitsch, which means "Pennsylvania Dutch / German" or "German". Ultimately, the terms Deitsch, Dutch, Diets, and Deutsch are all cognates of the Proto-Germanic word *þiudiskaz meaning "popular" or "of the people".