, settlement_type =

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, total_type = Total , image_flag = POL powiat bielski (województwo podlaskie) flag.svg , image_shield = POL powiat bielski (województwo podlaskie) COA.svg , image_map = POL powiat bielski (województwo podlaskie) map.svg , mapsize = 150px , map_caption = Bielsk County in Podlaskie Voivodeship , image_map1 = Bielsk County-Gminy.png , mapsize1 = 200px , map_alt1 = , map_caption1 = Gminy in Bielsk County , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Voivodeship , subdivision_name1 = Podlaskie , leader_title = County Executive , leader_name = Slawomir Jerzy Snarski , area_total_km2 = 1385.2 , population_total = 54,590 , population_as_of = 2019 , population_density_km2 = auto , population_urban = 29057 , population_blank1_title = Rural , population_blank1 = 25533 , coor_pinpoint = Bielsk Podlaski , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST = CEST , utc_offset_DST = +2 , coordinates = , seat = Bielsk Podlaski , parts_type =

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 , parts = Total 8 , p1 = Bielsk Podlaski , p2 = Brańsk , p3 =

Gmina Bielsk Podlaski __NOTOC__ Gmina Bielsk Podlaski is a rural gmina (Polish:''gmina wiejska'') in Bielsk County, Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is located in north-eastern Poland. Geography The gmina covers an area of Rivers Five rivers pass through the Gmina: * The N ...

, p4 = Gmina Boćki , p5 = Gmina Brańsk , p6 = Gmina Orla , p7 = Gmina Rudka , p8 = Gmina Wyszki , blank_name = Car plates , blank_info = BBI , website = http://www.powiatbielski.pl __NOTOC__ Bielsk County ( pl, powiat bielski) 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 Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern

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 ...

. It came into being on 1 January 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Bielsk Podlaski, which lies south of the regional capital

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok U ...

. The only other town in the county is Brańsk, lying west of Bielsk Podlaski. The county covers an area of . As of 2019 its total population is 54,590, out of which the population of Bielsk Podlaski is 25,290, that of Brańsk is 3,767, and the rural population is 25,533.

Neighbouring counties

Bielsk County is bordered by

Białystok County __NOTOC__ Białystok County ( pl, powiat białostocki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland, on the border with Belarus. It was created on 1 January 1999 as a result ...

to the north, Hajnówka County to the east, Siemiatycze County to the south and

Wysokie Mazowieckie County __NOTOC__ Wysokie Mazowieckie County ( pl, powiat wysokomazowiecki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Poli ...

to the west.

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

History

15th century

On 18 January 1493, Brańsk received a city charter based on

Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...

from the Grand Duke of

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, Alexander Jagiellon. It was the first city in Podlaskie to receive such a charter. On 18 November 1495, Bielsk Podlaski received a city charter based on

from the Grand Duke of

, Alexander Jagiellon.

16th century

On 1 July 1569, the Union of Lublin was signed between the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was Partitions of Poland, partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire, Habsburg Empire of ...

and the Kingdom of Poland forming the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. One of the terms of the treaty transferred the Podlaskie Voivodeship from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the Polish Crown.

18th century

On 24 October 1795, the Third Partition of Poland assigned Bielsk County and most of Podlaskie to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

19th century

On 7–9 July 1807, the Treaties of Tilsit were signed between Imperial Russia, the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

and

. The treaties repartitioned former Polish territory and assigned Bielsk County and most of eastern Podlaskie from

to Imperial Russia. It was, from 1796 to 1915, subdivided into 8 Volost. * włość oleksińska – Oleksin * włość dubiażyńska – Dubiażyn * włość klejnicka – Klejniki * włość łosińska – Łosinka * włość maleszewska – Malesze * włość nowoberezowska –

Nowe Berezowo Nowoberezowo is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Hajnówka, within Hajnówka County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, close to the border with Belarus. It lies approximately west of Hajnówka and south-east ...

* włość orleńska –

Orla Orla may refer to: Places *Orla, Missouri, USA *Orla, Texas, USA *Orla, Jharkhand, India *Orla, Podlaskie Voivodeship (north-east Poland), a village **Gmina Orla, a commune centred on the village *Orla, Krotoszyn County in Greater Poland Voivodesh ...

* włość pasynkowska – Pasynki

20th century

On 15 August 1915, the Gorlice-Tarnów Offensive by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

forces on the

Eastern Front of World War I The Eastern Front or Eastern Theater of World War I (german: Ostfront; ro, Frontul de răsărit; russian: Восточный фронт, Vostochny front) was a theater of operations that encompassed at its greatest extent the entire frontie ...

caused Bielsk County to come under the control of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. On 5 November 1916, a declaration by the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, promised the creation of the Kingdom of Poland in the areas of Poland controlled by the

, including Bielsk County. On 3 March 1918, the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers ( Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russi ...

was signed between the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

and the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in W ...

. Bielsk County was assigned to the Kingdom of Poland On 28 June 1919, the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

and the Little Treaty of Versailles were signed establishing the Second Polish Republic. Bielsk County was assigned to

. From 15 September 1939 to 23 September 1939 Bielsk County was occupied by German troops From 23 September 1939 to 22 June 1941 occupation by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

. Following the start of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

, 22 June 1941 to 30 July 1944, Bielsk County was occupied by the German Army. On 30 July 1944 Bielsk County was re-occupied by the

. On 5 February 1946, the

Border Agreement between Poland and the USSR of 16 August 1945 Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...

was ratified by

and the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

. The agreement assigned Bielsk County to

References

{{Podlaskie Voivodeship Bielsk