__NOTOC__
Karkonosze County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (
) in
Lower Silesian Voivodeship
Lower Silesian Voivodeship (, ) in southwestern Poland, is one of the 16 Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divided. It covers an area of and has a total population of 2,899,986.
It is one of the wealthiest ...
, south-western
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. It came into being 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.
The county covers an area of . Its administrative seat is the city of
Jelenia Góra
Jelenia Góra (; ; ) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, close to the Karkonosze mountain range running along the Polish-Czech bo ...
, although this city is not part of the county (it forms a separate city county, which is an
enclave
An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...
within Karkonosze County). There are four towns within the county:
Karpacz,
Szklarska Poręba,
Kowary
Kowary () is a town in Karkonosze County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland, with a population of around 11,000. It lies approximately south-east of Jelenia Góra, and south-west of the regional capital Wrocław. The town is ...
and
Piechowice
Piechowice is a town in Karkonosze County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Jelenia Góra, and west of the regional capital Wrocław.
, the town has a population of 6,194.
History
The a ...
. The first two of these are major
ski resorts.
As at 2019 the total population of the county is 63,639, out of which the population of the towns totals 28,213 and the rural population is 35,426.
Until July 2020 it was named Jelenia Góra County (). The change formally took effect on January 1, 2021.
Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z dnia 29 lipca 2020 r. w sprawie zmiany nazwy powiatu jeleniogórskiego na powiat karkonoski
''dziennikustaw.gov.pl'', 14 October 2020 The current name references the Karkonosze Mountains.
Neighbouring counties
Apart from the city of Jelenia Góra
Jelenia Góra (; ; ) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, close to the Karkonosze mountain range running along the Polish-Czech bo ...
, Karkonosze County is bordered by Lwówek Śląski County
Lwówek is a town in Nowy Tomyśl County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,961 inhabitants (2010).
History
Town rights were granted by King Władysław II Jagiełło. The town was known as Lwów, before the name was changed to the cu ...
and Złotoryja County to the north, and Jawor County
__NOTOC__
Jawor County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in ...
and Kamienna Góra County
__NOTOC__
Kamienna Góra County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms ...
to the east. It also borders the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
to the south and west.
Administrative division
The county is subdivided into nine gmina
The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...
s (four urban and five rural). These are listed in the following table, in descending order of population.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jelenia Gora County
Land counties of Lower Silesian Voivodeship