It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998.

Its administrative seat and largest town is Szczytno, which lies 45 kilometres (28 mi) south-east of the regional capital Olsztyn.

The only other town in the county is Pasym, lying 18 km (11 mi) north-west of Szczytno.

[1] The county covers an area of 1,933.1 square kilometres (746.4 sq mi).

In 1825 Szczytno County (Kreis Ortelsburg) had 38028 inhabitants, including by mother tongue: 34928 (~92%) Polish and 3100 (~8%) German.