Nowy Sącz County (Polish: powiat nowosądecki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, southern 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 is the city of Nowy Sącz, although the city is not part of the county (it constitutes a separate city county). The county contains five towns: Krynica-Zdrój, 31 km (19 mi) south-east of Nowy Sącz, Stary Sącz, 9 km (6 mi) south-west of Nowy Sącz, Grybów, 19 km (12 mi) east of Nowy Sącz, Piwniczna-Zdrój, 21 km (13 mi) south of Nowy Sącz, and Muszyna, 33 km (21 mi) south-east of Nowy Sącz.
The county covers an area of 1,550.24 square kilometres (598.6 sq mi). As of 2006 its total population is 197,718, out of which the population of Krynica-Zdrój is 11,243, that of Stary Sącz is 8,987, that of Grybów is 6,025, that of Piwniczna-Zdrój is 5,717, that of Muszyna is 4,980, and the rural population is 160,766.
The county is subdivided into 16 gminas (one urban, four urban-rural and 11 rural). These are listed in the following table, in descending order of population.
The history of Nowy Sacz County dates back to late 13th century, when King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia granted Magdeburg rights to Nowy Sacz. The new town quickly became most important administrative center of the region, and the seat of a local castellan and starosta. The county was probably established during the reign of King Kazimierz Wielki, who encouraged settlement in this sparsely populated region of his domain.
