Sanok County

Sanok County (Polish: powiat sanocki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland, on the Slovak border. 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 Sanok, which lies 56 kilometres (35 mi) south of the regional capital Rzeszów. The only other town in the county is Zagórz, lying 6 km (4 mi) south-east of Sanok.

The county covers an area of 1,225.12 square kilometres (473.0 sq mi). As of 2006 its total population is 94,740, out of which the population of Sanok is 39,481, that of Zagórz is 4,990, and the rural population is 50,269.

Neighbouring counties

Sanok County is bordered by Krosno County to the west, Brzozów County to the north, Przemyśl County to the north-east and Lesko County to the east. It also borders Slovakia to the south.

Administrative division

The county is subdivided into eight gminas (one urban, one urban-rural and six rural). These are listed in the following table, in descending order of population.

Sanok

Sanok [ˈsanɔk] (in full The Royal Free City of Sanok - Polish: Królewskie Wolne Miasto Sanok, Latin: Sanocum, Yiddish: סאניק‎, Sonik) is a town in south-eastern Poland with 39,110 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009.

Geography

It is the capital of Sanok County in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship. Previously, it was in the Krosno Voivodeship (1975–1998) and in the Ruthenian Voivodeship (1340–1772), which was part of the Lesser Poland province. Historically it was part of the Land of Sanok and the Ruthenian Voivodeship. This historic city is situated on the San River at the foot of Castle Hill in the Lesser Poland (Małopolska) region. It lies in a wooded, hilly area near the national road number 28, which runs along southern Poland, from Ustrzyki Dolne to Wadowice (340 km or 211 mi away). It is located in the heartland of the Pogórze Bukowskie part of Doły (Pits), and its average elevation is 300 m (984 ft) above sea level, although there are some hills located within the confines of the city. Sanok is located on the bank of the river San. The area surrounding mountain range stretching between the Wisłok, Osława and San Rivers in the Salt Mountains (Central Beskidian Piedmont), in the inland with temperateness climate. The hills of the Bieszczady mountain range are typical for this countryside. Sanok County is bordered by Krosno County to the west, Brzozów County to the north, Przemyśl County to the north-east and Lesko County to the east. It also borders Slovakia to the south. Before World War II, the Oslawa and San Rivers line was designated the wild frontier between Poles and Lemkos. The city is a member of Carpathian Euroregion, which is designed to bring together the people who inhabit the region of the Carpathian Mountains and to facilitate their cooperation in the fields of science, culture, education, trade, tourism and economy.