Békés County (former)

Békés was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory, which was smaller than that of present Békés county, is now in southeastern Hungary. The capital of the county was Gyula.

Békés County
Comitatus Bekesiensis (Latin)
Békés vármegye (Hungarian)
Komitat Békés (German)
Békešská župa (Slovak)
County of the Kingdom of Hungary
(11th century-1541)
County of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom
(1541-1566)
County of the Kingdom of Hungary
(1699-1786, 1790-1853, 1860-1946)
Coat of arms of Békés
Coat of arms

CapitalBékés;
Gyula (1405-1946)
Area
 • Coordinates46°39′N 21°16′E / 46.650°N 21.267°E / 46.650; 21.267
 
• 1910
3,670 km2 (1,420 sq mi)
Population 
• 1910
298,710
History 
• Established
11th century
• Ottoman conquest
1566
• County recreated
1699
• Merged into Békés-Csanád-Csongrád County
1 June 1786
• County recreated
26 April 1790
• Merged into \-Csanád County
10 January 1853
• County recreated
20 October 1860
• Monarchy abolished
1 February 1946
Today part ofHungary

Geography

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Map of Bekes, 1891.

Békés county shared borders with the Hungarian counties Csongrád, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Hajdú, Bihar, Arad and Csanád. The river Körös flowed through the county. Its area was 3,670 km2 around 1910.

History

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Békés county arose as one of the first comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary, in the 11th century. In 1950, the territory of Békés county was expanded with:

Demographics

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Ethnic map of the county with data of the 1910 census (see the key in the description).
Population by mother tongue[a]
Census Total Hungarian Slovak Romanian German Other or unknown
1880[1] 229,757 152,877 (69.84%) 53,517 (24.45%) 5,347 (2.44%) 6,611 (3.02%) 530 (0.24%)
1890[2] 258,386 188,781 (73.06%) 56,876 (22.01%) 6,019 (2.33%) 6,110 (2.36%) 600 (0.23%)
1900[3] 278,731 201,619 (72.33%) 64,467 (23.13%) 6,069 (2.18%) 6,191 (2.22%) 385 (0.14%)
1910[4] 298,710 219,261 (73.40%) 66,770 (22.35%) 6,125 (2.05%) 6,048 (2.02%) 506 (0.17%)
Population by religion[b]
Census Total Lutheran Calvinist Roman Catholic Eastern Orthodox Jewish Other or unknown
1880 229,757 82,780 (36.03%) 82,129 (35.75%) 50,838 (22.13%) 7,149 (3.11%) 6,255 (2.72%) 606 (0.26%)
1890 258,386 92,327 (35.73%) 91,339 (35.35%) 58,867 (22.78%) 7,477 (2.89%) 7,189 (2.78%) 1,187 (0.46%)
1900 278,731 98,882 (35.48%) 95,548 (34.28%) 66,857 (23.99%) 7,870 (2.82%) 7,358 (2.64%) 2,216 (0.80%)
1910 298,710 105,724 (35.39%) 98,596 (33.01%) 75,738 (25.36%) 8,374 (2.80%) 7,444 (2.49%) 2,834 (0.95%)

Subdivisions

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In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Békés county were:

Districts (járás)
District Capital
  Békés Békés
  Békéscsaba Békéscsaba
  Gyoma Gyoma
  Gyula Gyula
  Orosháza Orosháza
  Szarvas Szarvas
  Szeghalom Szeghalom
Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város)
Gyula
 
Gyula Castle

Notes

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  1. ^ Only linguistic communities > 1% are displayed.
  2. ^ Only religious communities > 1% are displayed.

References

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  1. ^ "Az 1881. év elején végrehajtott népszámlálás főbb eredményei megyék és községek szerint rendezve, II. kötet (1882)". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  2. ^ "A Magyar Korona országainak helységnévtára (1892)". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  3. ^ "A MAGYAR KORONA ORSZÁGAINAK 1900". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  4. ^ "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-29.