Bieszczady County

Bieszczady County (Polish: powiat bieszczadzki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in the extreme south-east of Poland, on the border with Ukraine. It takes its name from the Bieszczady mountain range. The county was created on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. In 2002 the western part of the county was split off to form Lesko County. The only town in Bieszczady County is now Ustrzyki Dolne, the county seat, which lies 80 kilometres (50 mi) south-east of the regional capital Rzeszów.

Bieszczady County Powiat bieszczadzki
County
Flag Coat of arms
Location within the voivodeship
Coordinates (Ustrzyki Dolne): 49°26′N 22°36′E
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Subcarpathian
Seat	Ustrzyki Dolne
Gminas	Total 3 Gmina Czarna Gmina Lutowiska Gmina Ustrzyki Dolne
Area
• Total	1,138.17 km2 (439.45 sq mi)
Population  (2019)
• Total	21,799
• Density	19/km2 (50/sq mi)
• Urban	9,097
• Rural	12,702
Car plates	RBI
Website	http://www.bieszczadzki.pl/

The county covers an area of 1,138.17 square kilometres (439.4 sq mi). As of 2019 its total population is 21,799, of which the population of Ustrzyki Dolne is 9,097, and the rural population is 12,702. Its average population density of 19.0 persons per square kilometre (49 persons/sq mi) makes it the least densely populated county in Poland.^[1]

The county includes the greater part of Bieszczady National Park (Bieszczadzki Park Narodowy), and of the Polish part of the UNESCO-designated East Carpathian Biosphere Reserve.

Neighbouring counties

Bieszczady County is bordered by Lesko County to the west and Przemyśl County to the north. It also borders Ukraine to the east and south.

Administrative division

The county is subdivided into three gminas (one urban-rural and two rural). These are listed in the following table, in descending order of population.

Gmina	Type	Area (km2)	Population (2019)	Seat
Gmina Ustrzyki Dolne	urban-rural	477.7	17,305	Ustrzyki Dolne
Gmina Czarna	rural	184.6	2,399	Czarna
Gmina Lutowiska	rural	475.9	2,095	Lutowiska

References

1. GUS. "Population. Size and structure and vital statistics in Poland by territorial division in 2019. As of 30th June". stat.gov.pl. Retrieved 2020-09-14.

Rural landscape picture