Békés County (former)

Békés County
County of the Kingdom of Hungary
11th century–1946
Coat of arms
Capital		Gyula 46°39′N 21°16′E / 46.650°N 21.267°ECoordinates: 46°39′N 21°16′E / 46.650°N 21.267°E
History
•	Established	11th century
•	Disestablished	1946
Area
•	1910	3,670 km^2 (1,417 sq mi)
Population
•	1910	298,710
	Density	81.4 /km^2  (210.8 /sq mi)
Today part of		Hungary

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.

Geography

Békés county shared borders with the Hungarian counties Csongrád, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Hajdú, Bihar, Arad and Csanád. The river Körös/Criş flowed through the county. Its area was 3671 km² around 1910.

History

Map of Békés county

Békés county arose as one of the first comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary, in the 11th century. After World War II, the territory of Békés county was expanded with:

• the northeastern part of former Csanád-Arad-Torontál county (the Hungarian part of pre-1918 Arad county and the north-eastern part of pre-1918 Csanád county)
• a part of former Bihar county (the area around Sarkad and Okány)
• a part of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county (the area around Dévaványa)

Demographics

1900

In 1900, the county had a population of 278,731 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:^[1]

Total:

• Hungarian: 201,619 (72,4%)
• Slovak: 64,467 (23,1%)
• German: 6,191 (2,2%)
• Romanian: 6,069 (2,2%)
• Serbian: 31 (0,0%)
• Ruthenian: 23 (0,0%)
• Croatian: 21 (0,0%)
• Other or unknown: 310 (0,1%)

According to the census of 1900, the county was composed of the following religious communities:^[2]

Total:

• Lutheran: 98,882 (35,5%)
• Calvinist: 95,548 (34,3%)
• Roman Catholic: 66,857 (24,0%)
• Greek Orthodox: 7,870 (2,8%)
• Jewish: 7,358 (2,6%)
• Greek Catholic: 773 (0,3%)
• Unitarian: 599 (0,2%)
• Other or unknown: 844 (0,3%)

1910

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

In 1910, the county had a population of 298,710 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:^[3]

Total:

• Hungarian: 219,261 (73,4%)
• Slovak: 66,770 (22,4%)
• Romanian: 6,125 (2,1%)
• German: 6,048 (2,0%)
• Ruthenian: 4 (0,0%)
• Croatian: 17 (0,0%)
• Serbian: 76 (0,0%)
• Other or unknown: 409 (0,1%)

According to the census of 1910, the county was composed of the following religious communities:^[4]

Total:

• Lutheran: 105,724 (35,4%)
• Calvinist: 98,596 (33,0%)
• Roman Catholic: 75,738 (25,4%)
• Greek Orthodox: 8,374 (2,8%)
• Jewish: 7,444 (2,5%)
• Unitarian: 893 (0,3%)
• Greek Catholic: 748 (0,2%)
• Other or unknown: 1,193 (0,4%)

Subdivisions

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

References

1. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
2. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
3. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-06-24.
4. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-06-24.