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Starogard County (, ) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (
) in
Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship ( ; ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship, or province, in northwestern Poland. The provincial capital is Gdańsk.
The voivodeship was established on January 1, 1999, out of the former voivodeships of Gdańsk Voivo ...
, northern
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 ...
. The name is a combination of two terms: stari which is Slavic for ''old'' and gard which is
Pomeranian language
The Pomeranian language ( or ; or ) is in the Lechitic languages#Languages, Pomeranian group of Lechitic languages (; ) within the West Slavic languages.
In medieval contexts, it refers to the dialects spoken by the Pomeranians (Slavic tribe) ...
stands for ''town'', ''city'', ''fortified settlement''. In this meaning, the term gard (also spelled as gôrd) is still being used in the only surviving dialect of the Pomeranian,
Kashubian language
Kashubian () or Cassubian (; ; ) is a West Slavic language belonging to the Lechitic subgroup.Stephen Barbour, Cathie Carmichael, ''Language and Nationalism in Europe'', Oxford University Press, 2000, p.199,
In Poland, it has been an officia ...
. The county 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. Its administrative seat and largest town is
Starogard Gdański
Starogard Gdański (; until 1950: ''Starogard''; formerly ) is a city in Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland with 48,328 inhabitants (2004). Starogard is the capital of Starogard County.
Founded in the Middle Ages, Starogard is a city with ...
, which lies south of the regional capital
Gdańsk
Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
. The county contains three other towns:
Skarszewy
Skarszewy () is a town in Starogard Gdański County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It is located within the ethnocultural region of Kociewie in the historic region of Pomerania, south of Gdańsk. Population: 6 809 (30 June 2005). In ...
, north-west of Starogard Gdański,
Skórcz
Skórcz () is a town in Starogard County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, with 3,609 inhabitants (2017). It is located in the ethnocultural region of Kociewie in the historic region of Pomerania.
History
Following the joint German-So ...
, south of Starogard Gdański, and
Czarna Woda
Czarna Woda is a town in Starogard County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, with 2,735 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is located within the ethnocultural region of Kociewie within Pomerania.
The town's name translates to "Black ...
, south-west of Starogard Gdański. Starogard County is part of the area traditionally inhabited by the
Kociewiacy
The Kocievians (), are a Polish ethnocultural group indigenous to the present-day voivodeships of Pomerania and Kuyavia–Pomerania, in north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kociewie and they speak the Kociewian diale ...
ethnic group.
The county covers an area of . As of 2019 its total population is 127,676, out of which the population of Starogard Gdański is 47,775, that of Skarszewy is 6,994, that of Skórcz is 3,625, that of Czarna Woda is 2,786, and the rural population is 66,496.
''Starogard County on a map of the counties of Pomeranian Voivodeship''
Starogard County is bordered by
Gdańsk County
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Gdańsk County () 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 reforms passed in 1998. ...
to the north,
Tczew County
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Tczew County () 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 reforms passed in 1998. I ...
to the east,
Åšwiecie County
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Åšwiecie County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms p ...
to the south,
Tuchola County
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Tuchola County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government reforms pas ...
to the south-west, and
Chojnice County
Chojnice County (, ) 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 reforms in 1998. Its administra ...
and
Kościerzyna County
__NOTOC__
Kościerzyna County (, ) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1 ...
to the west.
Administrative division
The county is subdivided into 13
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 (three urban, one urban-rural and nine rural). These are listed in the following table, in descending order of population.
References
{{Authority control
Starogard