__NOTOC__ Rybnik County ( pl, powiat rybnicki) is a suburban county in

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite the Silesian ...

, southern

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 ...

, created in 1999 as a result of

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 ...

. Its administrative seat is the city of

Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; szl, Rybńik) is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, around 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Katowice, the region's capital, and around 19 km (11 miles) from the Czech border. It is on ...

, although the city is not part of the county (it constitutes a separate city county). The county consists of three disjoint parts, separated by the city of Rybnik. In the past decade, Rybnik country experienced significant population growth, due to

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

of adjacent cities. At the 2002 census, the population was 72,926. As of 2019, the population was 78,148.

History

Rybnik area was heavily influenced by the Cistercian in the Middle Ages. First Rybnik county was created in 1818 by the King of Prussia. It covered vast area, including current

Racibórz Racibórz (german: Ratibor, cz, Ratiboř, szl, Racibōrz) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Racibórz County. With Opole, Racibórz is one of the historic capitals of Upper Silesia, being t ...

Gliwice Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional cap ...

Mikołów Mikołów (german: Nikolai, szl, Mikołōw) is a town in Silesia, in southern Poland, near the city of Katowice. It borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union, a metropolis with a population of over 2 million, and is within a greater Silesi ...

and Wodzisław counties, as well as current city-county cities of

Żory Żory (; german: Sohrau, szl, Żory) is a town and city county in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland with 62,462 inhabitants (2019). Previously it was in Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is located in the historic Upper Silesia region about sout ...

and

Jastrzębie-Zdrój Jastrzębie-Zdrój (; german: Bad Königsdorff-Jastrzemb, originally ''Jastrzemb'', cs, Lázně Jestřebí, szl, Jastrzymbie-Zdrōj or ''Jastrzymbje-Zdrůj'') is a city in south Poland with 86,632 inhabitants (2021). Its name comes from the Poli ...

. Following

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the

Upper Silesia plebiscite The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out on 20 March 1921 to determine ownership of the province of Upper Silesia between Weimar Germany and Poland. The region was ethnically mixed with bot ...

, most of that area became part of Poland. In 1975 administrative reforms repealed counties (''powiaty'') in

. In 1999

Jerzy Buzek Jerzy Karol Buzek (born 3 July 1940) is a Polish politician and Member of the European Parliament from Poland. He has served as Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001, since being elected to the European Parliament in 2004, he served as Pre ...

government restored Rybnik county along with other counties.

Geography

Rybnik county is located mostly on Rybnik Flatlands, with only the very west parts being part of

Silesian Lowlands Silesian Lowlands (or Silesian Plains, pl, Nizina Śląska, cs, Slezská nížina, german: Schlesische Niederung) are lowlands located in Silesia, Poland in Central Europe. A small part is located in the Czech Republic. It is part of the Centra ...

and the very east – Ramża Mountain – marking

Silesian Upland Silesian Upland or Silesian Highland ( pl, Wyżyna Śląska) is a highland located in Silesia and Lesser Poland, Poland. Its highest point is the St. Anne Mountain (406 m). See also *Silesian Lowlands *Silesian-Lusatian Lowlands * Silesian ...

. Three spoil tips in

Czerwionka-Leszczyny Czerwionka-Leszczyny (german: Czerwionka-Leschczin) is a town in Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the only town in Rybnik county (which is separate from Rybnik city) and the seat of the larger Czerwionka-Leszczyny municipality whi ...

are widely recognizable landmark of Rybnik county. Some part of the country is also incorporated into

Rudy Landscape Park Rudy Landscape Park (full name ''Park Krajobrazowy Cysterskie Kompozycje Krajobrazowe Rud Wielkich'': "Landscape Park of the Cistercian Landscape Compositions of Rudy Wielkie") is a protected area ( Landscape Park) in southern Poland, establishe ...

Administrative division

The county is subdivided into five

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

Demographics

At the census of 2002 there were 72,926 people, 25,499 households and 20,362 families residing in the county. There were 18,026 married couples living together (12,675 of them had children), 210 partnerships (138 of them had children), 1,805 single mothers and 321 single fathers. The average household size was 2.84 and average family size was 3.33. There were 22,106 apartments in the county of average size of 78.0 square meters. Rybnik county experiences consequent population growth. Between 2002 and 2011 the population grew by 4.3% making 76,094 citizens on March 31, 2011. On December 31, 2011, the population was estimated to be 76,367 (+0.4%).

References

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