__NOTOC__ Kościerzyna County ( csb, Kòscérsczi kréz, pl, powiat kościerski) 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 "''powia ...

) in

Pomeranian Voivodeship Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomorskie Region, or Pomerania Province (Polish: ''Województwo pomorskie'' ; ( Kashubian: ''Pòmòrsczé wòjewództwò'' ), is a voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk. The ...

, northern

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 populous ...

. It came into being on 1 January 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. Its administrative seat and only town is

Kościerzyna Kościerzyna ( Kashubian and Pomeranian: ''Kòscérzëna''; formerly german: Berent, ) is a town in Kashubia in Gdańsk Pomerania region, northern Poland, with some 24,000 inhabitants. It has been the capital of Kościerzyna County in Pomerania ...

, which lies south-west of the regional capital

Gdańsk Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

. Its borders equal approximately the borders of the old Marquessate of Berent in the German Empire. The county covers an area of . As of 2019 its total population is 72,589, out of which the population of Kościerzyna is 23,776, and the rural population is 48,813.
''Kościerzyna County on a map of the counties of Pomeranian Voivodeship'' Kościerzyna County is bordered by

Kartuzy County __NOTOC__ Kartuzy County ( pl, powiat kartuski; csb, kartësczi pòwiat) is a county in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with administrative seat and largest town being Kartuzy. It came into being on 1 January 1999, as a result of the Polish l ...

to the north,

Gdańsk County __NOTOC__ Gdańsk County ( pl, powiat gdański) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government refo ...

and

Starogard County __NOTOC__ Starogard County ( pl, powiat starogardzki, csb, Starogarda kréj) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. The name is a combination of two terms: stari which is ...

to the east,

Chojnice County __NOTOC__ Chojnice County ( csb, Chòniczzi kréz, pl, powiat chojnicki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the P ...

to the south, and

Bytów County __NOTOC__ Bytów County ( csb, bëtowsczi pòwiat, pl, powiat bytowski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Pol ...

to the west.

History

Before the First Partition of the First Polish Republic in 1772, there was a non-town Kościerzyna County Council. During the

Prussian partition The Prussian Partition ( pl, Zabór pruski), or Prussian Poland, is the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired during the Partitions of Poland, in the late 18th century by the Kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian acquis ...

in 1818–1919, the Prussian district "Landkreis Berent" functioned. In the years 1920-1939 (the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

) and 1945-1975 ( PRL) there was a Kościerzyna Land District. In the period of September 1939 - February / March 1945, the area of the county was under

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

. In 1920, the county granted to Poland covered the area of 117,698 ha and was smaller than its Prussian counterpart of 6,301 ha, which left for the

Free City of Gdańsk The Free City of Danzig (german: Freie Stadt Danzig; pl, Wolne Miasto Gdańsk; csb, Wòlny Gard Gduńsk) was a city-state under the protection of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gd ...

(villages of Częstocin, Trzepowo, Gromadzin, Czarna Huta, Borowina, Olszanka, Sucha Huta, and Pawłowo).

Administrative division

The county is subdivided into eight

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 and seven rural). These are listed in the following table, in descending order of population.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koscierzyna County Land counties of Pomeranian Voivodeship