County Waterford (Contae Phort Láirge) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Waterford. Waterford City and County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county at large, including the city, was 116,176 according to the 2016 census. The county is based on the historic Gaelic territory of the Déise. There is an Irish-speaking area, Gaeltacht na nDéise, in the south-west of the county.
County Waterford has two mountain ranges, the Knockmealdown Mountains and the Comeragh Mountains. The highest point in the county is Knockmealdown, at 794 m. It also has many rivers, including Ireland's third-longest river, the River Suir (184 km); and Ireland's fourth-longest river, the Munster Blackwater (168 km). There are over 30 beaches along Waterford's volcanic coastline. A large stretch of this coastline, known as the Copper Coast, has been designated as a UNESCO Geopark, a place of great geological importance. To the west of Dungarvan is the Déise Gaeltacht, an Irish-speaking region comprising the areas of Ring, County Waterford and Old Parish.
Waterford City is the county seat; prior to the merger of the 2 Waterford authorities in June 2014 Dungarvan was the county seat for Waterford County Council.
