Tatra County

Tatra County (Polish: powiat tatrzański) 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 and only town is Zakopane, which lies 85 kilometres (53 mi) south of the regional capital Kraków. The county takes its name from the Tatra mountain range, which covers most of its territory. The county covers an area of 471.62 square kilometres (182.1 sq mi). As of 2006 its total population is 65,393, out of which the population of Zakopane is 27,486 and the rural population is 37,907. The mountainous southern part of the county (211 km2) makes up the Tatra National Park. This area, together with the Slovak Tatra National Park across the border, make up a UNESCO-designated biosphere reserve.