Nowy Sącz County (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 south-east of Nowy Sącz, Stary Sącz, 9 km south-west of Nowy Sącz, Grybów, 19 km east of Nowy Sącz, Piwniczna-Zdrój, 21 km south of Nowy Sącz, and Muszyna, 33 km south-east of Nowy Sącz.
The county covers an area of 1550.24 km2. 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.
Apart from the city of Nowy Sącz, Nowy Sącz County is also bordered by Nowy Targ County and Limanowa County to the west, Brzesko County and Tarnów County to the north, and Gorlice County to the east. It also borders Slovakia to the south.
