Sáros County

Sáros (-Hungarian, Slovak: Šariš, Latin: comitatus Sarossiensis, German: Scharosch) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in northeastern Slovakia. Today, Šariš is only an informal designation of the corresponding territory.

Sáros County Comitatus Sarossiensis (Latin) Sáros vármegye (Hungarian) Komitat Scharosch (German) Šarišská župa (Slovak)
County of the Kingdom of Hungary
13th century–1920
Coat of arms
Capital	Eperjes
Area
• Coordinates	49°0′N 21°14′E
• 1910	3,652 km2 (1,410 sq mi)
Population
• 1910	174,600
History
• Established	13th century
• Treaty of Trianon	4 June 1920
Today part of	Slovakia
Prešov is the current name of the capital.

Geography

Map of Sáros, 1891.

Sáros county shared borders with the Austrian crownland Galicia and the Hungarian counties Szepes, Abaúj-Torna and Zemplén. It was situated between the Levoča Hills (i.e., Szepesség (Spiš)), Kassa and Felső-Szvidnyik. The river Tarca flowed through the county. Its area was 3,652 km² around 1910.

Capitals

The capital of Sáros county was Sáros Castle. After various other towns, since 1647 the capital has been Prešov.

Former county of Sáros superimposed on map of contemporary Slovakia.

History

Sáros county was created in the 13th century from the comitatus Novi Castri (Újvár County, named after Novum Castrum, today Abaújvár) which included also the territories of the later counties of Abaúj and Heves.

In the aftermath of World War I, all of Sáros county became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia, as recognized by the concerned states in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. During World War II, when Czechoslovakia was divided, Šariš became part of the First Slovak Republic. Since 1993, Šariš has been part of Slovakia, located in the Prešov Region. Historically a prosperous region, it is nowadays relatively poor.

Demographics

Ethnic map of the county with data of the 1910 census (see the key in the description).

Population by mother tongue

Census	Total	Slovak	Ruthenian	Hungarian	German	Other or unknown
1880	168,013	115,470 (70.84%)	30,898 (18.96%)	4,226 (2.59%)	10,699 (6.56%)	1,706 (1.05%)
1890	168,021	112,331 (66.86%)	35,019 (20.84%)	5,708 (3.40%)	11,811 (7.03%)	3,152 (1.88%)
1900	174,470	115,141 (65.99%)	33,988 (19.48%)	10,926 (6.26%)	10,886 (6.24%)	3,529 (2.02%)
1910	174,620	101,855 (58.33%)	38,500 (22.05%)	18,088 (10.36%)	9,447 (5.41%)	6,730 (3.85%)

Population by religion

Census	Total	Roman Catholic	Greek Catholic	Lutheran	Jewish	Other or unknown
1880	168,013	88,828 (52.87%)	51,361 (30.57%)	14,741 (8.77%)	12,735 (7.58%)	348 (0.21%)
1890	168,021	89,805 (53.45%)	51,855 (30.86%)	14,267 (8.49%)	11,822 (7.04%)	272 (0.16%)
1900	174,470	93,753 (53.74%)	53,434 (30.63%)	14,494 (8.31%)	12,262 (7.03%)	527 (0.30%)
1910	174,620	94,223 (53.96%)	52,938 (30.32%)	14,224 (8.15%)	12,323 (7.06%)	912 (0.52%)

Subdivisions

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

Districts (járás)
District	Capital
Bártfa	Bártfa (now Bardejov)
Eperjes	Eperjes (now Prešov)
Felsővízköz	Felsővízköz (now Svidník)
Girált	Girált (now Giraltovce)
Héthárs	Héthárs (now Lipany)
Kisszeben	Kisszeben (now Sabinov)
Lemes	Lemes (now Lemešany)
Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város)
Bártfa (now Bardejov)
Eperjes (now Prešov)
Kisszeben (now Sabinov)