the only Republicans to carry the county since. |} Like several other Massachusetts counties, Essex County exists today only as a historical geographic region, and has no county government. All former county functions were assumed by state agencies in 1999. The sheriff (currently Kevin Coppinger) and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform duties within the county region, but there is no county council, commissioner, or county employees. Communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services. Geography Essex County is roughly diamond-shaped and occupies the northeastern corner of the state of Massachusetts. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (41%) is water. Essex County is adjacent to Rockingham County, New Hampshire to the north, the Atlantic Ocean (specifically the Gulf of Maine and Massachusetts Bay) to the east, Suffolk County to the south, Middlesex County to the west and a very small portion of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire to the far north west in Methuen. All county land is incorporated into towns or cities. Essex County includes the North Shore, Cape Ann, and the lower portions of the Merrimack Valley. Transportation These routes pass through Essex County: , in Methuen and Andover , about five miles from the coast, through Newburyport , from Andover to Salisbury through Lawrence and Haverhill , between I-95 and Route 1A, close to the coast , along the coast , in Beverly and Essex , in Methuen and Andover , in Peabody and Danvers , from Middleton to Beverly , from Methuen to Beverly , in Saugus , from Saugus to Beverly , in Haverhill , from Methuen to Salisbury through Lawrence and Haverhill , from Methuen to Newburyport through Haverhill , from Lawrence to Marblehead through Middleton , from Andover to Haverhill , from Beverly to Gloucester , at the tip of Cape Ann , Lynnfield through Cape Ann , from Lynnfield to Marblehead , in Lynn , from Andover to Gloucester , in Amesbury , in Methuen , in Salisbury The Lawrence Municipal Airport and Beverly Municipal Airport are regional airports within the county; the nearest commercial airports are Logan Airport in Boston and Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Manchester, NH. The MBTA commuter rail has two lines operating in Essex County: the Haverhill Line and the Newburyport Line,