Bielsk County (Polish: powiat bielski) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Podlaskie Voivodeship, north-eastern Poland. It came into being on 1 January 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Bielsk Podlaski, which lies 39 kilometres (24 mi) south of the regional capital Białystok. The only other town in the county is Brańsk, lying 25 km (16 mi) west of Bielsk Podlaski.
The county covers an area of 1,385.2 square kilometres (534.8 sq mi). As of 2006 its total population is 60,047, out of which the population of Bielsk Podlaski is 26,876, that of Brańsk is 3,794, and the rural population is 29,377.
Read more about Bielsk County: Neighbouring Counties, Administrative Division
Famous quotes containing the word county:
“It would astonish if not amuse, the older citizens of your County who twelve years ago knew me a stranger, friendless, uneducated, penniless boy, working on a flat boat—at ten dollars per month to learn that I have been put down here as the candidate of pride, wealth, and aristocratic family distinction.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)