Get to know the Hungarian counties – Part 1

Hungary has been divided into 19 counties since 1950. Besides the capital, counties are the largest administrative units in the country that can be further divided into districts, cities, towns and villages. Get to know a little more about each Hungarian county in alphabetic order.

Bács-Kiskun County

Bács-Kiskun county is located in the Southern part of Hungary. It is the largest county in Hungary with an area of 8,445 km2. This region of the country is mostly flat. The county seat and also the largest city of Bács-Kiskun county is Kecskemét. Kecskemét is the 8^th largest city in Hungary. The main sight in Kecskemét is the Cifra Palace. Famous Hungarian composer, Zoltán Kodály was born in Kecskemét.

Baranya County

Baranya county is also located in the Southern part of Hungary. The county shares a border with Croatia. The capital of Baranya county is Pécs which was the European Capital of Culture in 2010. Pécs is also known as the Hungarian Mediterranean city. The University of Pécs was founded in 1367, it was the first university in the country. The world-famous Zsolnay porcelain also comes from Pécs.

Pécs

Békés county

Békés County is situated on the South-East of Hungary, sharing a border with Romania. The capital of Békés county is Békéscsaba which is located on the Great Hungarian Plain. Famous Hungarian supermodel, Enikő Mihalik was born in Békéscsaba. World-famous Hungarian painter, Mihály Munkácsy lived in Békéscsaba for a while, and today you can visit a museum and a memorial house in his honour in Békéscsaba. Békéscsaba is also famous for its sausages.

Photo: www.csabaikolbaszfesztival.hu

Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county

Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county is located in North-Eastern Hungary, on the border with Slovakia. Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén is the second largest county of Hungary both by area (after Bács-Kiskun) and by population (after Pest County). The capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county is Miskolc which is the fourth largest city in Hungary. One of tourists’ favourite Hungarian sights: Lillafüred is also a part of Miskolc.

Lillafüred
Photo: Facebook.com/Lillafüred

Csongrád county

Csongrád county is in Southern Hungary, situated on both sides of Tisza. The county is on the border with Serbia and Romania. The administrative centre of Csongrád county is Szeged, the third largest city of Hungary. The Szeged Open Air Festival is one of the most popular programs in the summer.

Fejér county

Fejér county is located in Central Hungary. It lies on the West bank of the Danube. The capital of Fejér county is Székesfehérvár. Székesfehérvár was the capital of Hungary in the middle ages. Most popular sights in the county are: the Bory Castle, Nádas winery, the Flower Clock in Székesfehérvár and Lake Velence.

Árpád Bath in Székesfehérvár
Photo: Facebook.com/SzékesfehérváriÁrpádFürdő

Győr-Moson-Sopron county

Győr-Moson-Sopron county is located in North-Western Hungary, on the border with Slovakia and Austria. The capital of Győr-Moson-Sopron county is Győr, the sixth largest city in the country. The famous Pannonhalma Archabbey is only 20 km from Győr.

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Hajdú-Bihar county

Hajdú-Bihar county is in the Eastern part of Hungary, on the border with Romania. The capital of Hajdú-Bihar county is Debrecen which is Hungary’s second largest city after Budapest.

Debrecen was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century. Debrecen was also the capital of Hungary during the Hungarian revolution in 1848.

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Heves County

Heves county is located in Northern Hungary. It lies between the right bank of Tisza and the Mátra and Bükk mountains. The county seat is Eger. Eger is known for its castle, thermal baths, baroque buildings and the Ottoman minaret. Famous Hungarian historical novel Eclipse of the Crescent Moon by Géza Gárdonyi tells the story of the siege of Eger by the turks in 1552.