Karkonosze County

Karkonosze County Powiat karkonoski
County
Flag Coat of arms
Location within the voivodeship
Coordinates: 50°54′13″N 15°43′58″E
Country	Poland
Voivodeship	Lower Silesian
Seat	Jelenia Góra
Gminas	Total 9 (incl. 4 urban) Karpacz Kowary Piechowice Szklarska Poręba Gmina Janowice Wielkie Gmina Jeżów Sudecki Gmina Myslakowice Gmina Podgórzyn Gmina Stara Kamienica
Area
• Total	628.21 km^2 (242.55 sq mi)
Population  (2019-06-30[1])
• Total	63,639
• Density	100/km^2 (260/sq mi)
• Urban	28,213
• Rural	35,426
Car plates	DJE
Website	https://www.powiatkarkonoski.eu

Karkonosze County (Polish: powiat karkonoski; German: Riesengebirgslandkreis) 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 1998.

The county covers an area of 628.2 square kilometres (242.5 sq mi). Its administrative seat is the city of Jelenia Góra, although this city is not part of the county (it forms a separate city county, which is an enclave within Karkonosze County). There are four towns within the county: Karpacz, Szklarska Poręba, Kowary and Piechowice. 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 (Polish: powiat jeleniogórski). The change formally took effect on January 1, 2021.^[2] The current name references the Karkonosze Mountains.

Neighbouring counties

Apart from the city of Jelenia Góra, Karkonosze County is bordered by Lwówek Śląski County and Złotoryja County to the north, and Jawor County and Kamienna Góra County to the east. It also borders the Czech Republic to the south and west.

Administrative division

The county is subdivided into nine gminas (four urban and five rural). These are listed in the following table, in descending order of population.

Gmina	Type	Area (km^2)	Population (2019)	Seat
Kowary	urban	37.4	10,869
Gmina Mysłakowice	rural	88.8	10,160	Mysłakowice
Gmina Podgórzyn	rural	82.5	8,260	Podgórzyn
Gmina Jeżów Sudecki	rural	94.4	7,438	Jeżów Sudecki
Szklarska Poręba	urban	75.4	6,557
Piechowice	urban	43.2	6,194
Gmina Stara Kamienica	rural	110.5	5,266	Stara Kamienica
Karpacz	urban	38.0	4,593
Gmina Janowice Wielkie	rural	58.1	4,302	Janowice Wielkie

References

1. "Population. Size and structure and vital statistics in Poland by territorial division in 2019. As of 30th June". stat.gov.pl. Statistics Poland. 2019-10-15. Retrieved 2020-02-14.
2. Rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów z dnia 29 lipca 2020 r. w sprawie zmiany nazwy powiatu jeleniogórskiego na powiat karkonoski, dziennikustaw.gov.pl, 14 October 2020