__NOTOC__ Bieszczady County ( pl, powiat bieszczadzki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (

powiat A ''powiat'' (pronounced ; Polish plural: ''powiaty'') is the second-level unit of local government and administration in Poland, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture ( LAU-1, formerly NUTS-4) in other countries. The term "''powiat ...

) in

Subcarpathian Voivodeship Subcarpathian Voivodeship or Subcarpathia Province (in pl, Województwo podkarpackie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in the southeastern corner of Poland. Its administrative capital and largest city is Rzeszów. Along with the Marshall, it i ...

, in the extreme south-east of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, on the border with

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

. 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 The administrative division of Poland since 1999 has been based on three levels of subdivision. The territory of Poland is divided into ''voivodeships'' (provinces); these are further divided into ''powiats'' (counties or districts), and these i ...

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 Ustrzyki Dolne (; yi, Istrik, uk, Устри́ки-Долі́шні, translit=Ustrýky-Dolíshni) is a town in south-eastern Poland, situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999) close to the border with Ukraine. It is the capital of ...

, the county seat, which lies south-east of the regional capital

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ; la, Resovia; yi, ריישא ''Raisha'')) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów has been the capital of the Subcarpathian ...

. The county covers an area of . 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 (50.0 per square mile) makes it the least densely populated county in Poland. The county includes the greater part of

Bieszczady National Park Bieszczady National Park (; pl, Bieszczadzki Park Narodowy) is the third-largest national park in Poland, located in Subcarpathian Voivodeship in the extreme southeast corner of the country. In 2021, the national park became a UNESCO World Herit ...

(''Bieszczadzki Park Narodowy''), and of the Polish part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

-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

to the east and south.

Administrative division

The county is subdivided into three

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' , from German ''Gemeinde'' meaning ''commune'') is the principal unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,477 gminas throughout the country, encompassing over 4 ...

s (one urban-rural and two rural). These are listed in the following table, in descending order of population.

References

Rural landscape picture

{{Authority control Bieszczady