Sandomierz County

NOTOC
Sandomierz County (powiat sandomierski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south central 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 Sandomierz, which lies east of the regional capital Kielce. The county also contains the towns of Koprzywnica, lying south west of Sandomierz, and Zawichost, north east of Sandomierz. The county covers an area of As of 2019 its total population is 77,352, out of which the population of Sandomierz is 23,494, that of Koprzywnica is 2,470, that of Zawichost is 1,771, and the rural population is 49,617.

Sandomierz County is bordered by Kraśnik County to the north east, Stalowa Wola County to the east, the city of Tarnobrzeg and Tarnobrzeg County to the south, and Staszów County and Opatów County to the west.

The county is subdivided into nine gminas (one urban, two urban rural and six rural). These are listed in the following table, in descending order of population. GminaTypeArea(km2)Population(2019)SeatSandomierzurban28.823,494 Gmina Dwikozyrural84.88,727DwikozyGmina Samborzecrural85.48,493SamborzecGmina Klimontówurban rural99.28,036KlimontówGmina Łoniówrural87.07,440ŁoniówGmina Koprzywnicaurban rural69.26,657KoprzywnicaGmina Obrazówrural71.96,376ObrazówGmina Zawichosturban rural80.24,435ZawichostGmina Wilczycerural69.93,694Wilczyce

The recorded history of the Sandomierz County area dates back to the mid 14th century, when King Kazimierz Wielki (reigned 1333–1370) reformed the territorial structure of Poland. Since Sandomierz had already been one of the most important cities of the kingdom, and the seat of a castellan, the castellany was replaced by a county. Until the first partition of Poland in 1772 Sandomierz County had the area of 6290 sq. kilometers. Stretched along both banks of the Vistula, in 1667 it included such towns, as Opatow, Polaniec, Staszow, Wachock, Rudnik nad Sanem, Zawichost, Nowa Slupia, Mielec and Ozarow. Sandomierz County also formed part of the Duchy of Warsaw, of Russian controlled Congress Poland (as part of the Radom Governorate), and of the Second Polish Republic (as part of the Kielce Voivodeship (1919–39)).