Nowy Sącz County (Pol. powiat nowosądecki) is one of 19 land counties of Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It has an area of 1550,2 km², with the population of over 207,000, the population density is 134,1 p/km². The county's administrative centre is Nowy Sącz, which geographically doesn't belong to it. Nowy Sącz County came into being on January 1, 1999 as a result of an administrative reform.
The first written records about the settlement on the territory of Nowy Sącz County date back to 1224. In 1257 Prince of Kraków Boleslaw 'the Chaste One' (Bolesław Wstydliwy) delegated his wife Kinga for the management of Sącz lands, she contributed to the creation of the Order of poor Ladies in the modern city of Stary Sącz. Later all the control authorities of Sącz lands were shifted to Stary Sączу. In 1292 the King Wenceslaus II shifted the settlement Sącz to the village of Kamienica, the place where subsequently arose the town of Nowy Sącz. After the First Partition of Poland Sącz became the part of Austria. Then Sącz County was formed, it subjected to Wielicky district. After World War II the Sącz lands were included into Kraków Voivodeship and Nowy Sącz has become an admimistrative center of the county. As a result of an admimistrative reform of 1975 the Nowy Sącz Voivodeship emerged and existed up to the next territorial reform in 1999.
The natural conditions and resources of the Nowy Sącz County created the possibilities for the development of health tourism. There are balneological resorts in the region, among which the biggest are:
For those who enjoy alpine skiing there are such sport and tourism centres: