Pisz County

Pisz County (Polish: powiat piski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, northern Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Pisz, which lies 88 kilometres (55 mi) east of the regional capital Olsztyn. The county contains three other towns: Orzysz, 24 km (15 mi) north-east of Pisz, Ruciane-Nida, 17 km (11 mi) west of Pisz, and Biała Piska, 18 km (11 mi) east of Pisz.

The county covers an area of 1,776.17 square kilometres (685.8 sq mi). As of 2006 its total population is 57,553, out of which the population of Pisz is 19,332, that of Orzysz is 5,804, that of Ruciane-Nida is 4,894, that of Biała Piska is 4,006, and the rural population is 23,517.

Neighbouring counties

Pisz County is bordered by Giżycko County to the north, Ełk County and Grajewo County to the east, Kolno County and Ostrołęka County to the south, Szczytno County to the west, and Mrągowo County to the north-west.

Pisz

Pisz [pʲiʂ] (until 1946, German: Johannisburg, Polish: Jańsbork) is a town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Poland, with a population of 19,328 in 2004. It is the seat of Pisz County. Pisz is located at the junction of Lake Roś and the Pisa River.

Etymology

The name Pisz originates from the word "pisa", meaning "swamp" in the ancient Prussian language. Pisz received the name of the castle in 1645, when it became a city by the decree of Władysław IV Vasa. The local people of Mazury called the castle "Jańsbork" or 'Pysz', and this name remained until 1946.

History

The site of today's Pisz was originally inhabited by the indigenous ethnic group of Old Prussians. In 1345 the Teutonic Order began constructing a castle nearby at the southernmost point of the Johannisburger Heide, or Piska Forest, in the Masurian Lake District. The castle was named Johannisburg, after St. John the Baptist. The settlement nearby held a market as early as 1367, but it was not until 1645 that it received its town charter. The town's first mayor was Fryderyk Adam Czerniewski. The official German name of the town was Johannisburg, while the Polish-speaking residents referred to it as Jańsbork. Its early growth owed much to the residents' skill in beekeeping, and it was located on trade routes leading to Gdańsk and to the Vistula and Narew Rivers. It became part of Ducal Prussia in 1525 and Brandenburg-Prussia in 1618.