Csongrád County (former)

Csongrád County
County of the Kingdom of Hungary
12th century–1920
Coat of arms
Capital		Szentes 46°39′N 20°16′E / 46.650°N 20.267°ECoordinates: 46°39′N 20°16′E / 46.650°N 20.267°E
History
•	Established	12th century
•	Treaty of Trianon	June 4, 1920
Area
•	1910	3,569 km^2 (1,378 sq mi)
Population
•	1910	325,568
	Density	91.2 /km^2  (236.3 /sq mi)
Today part of		Hungary, Serbia

Csongrád (Hungarian: Csongrád, Serbian: Čongrad or Чонград) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory, which was smaller than that of present Csongrád county, is now in southern Hungary and northern Serbia. The capital of the county was Szentes.

Name

The name Csongrád/Čongrad is Slavic by origin. In Slavic languages, this name means "a black city" (čon/čorni = black, grad = city/town). Indeed, the county was named after a town of Csongrád.

Geography

Csongrád county shared borders with the Hungarian counties Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Békés, Csanád, Torontál and Bács-Bodrog. The river Tisza flowed through the county. Its area was 3,544 km² around 1910.

History

Csongrád county arose in the 11th century as one of the first comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary. It was taken by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, and by the Habsburg Monarchy in the end of the 17th century.

In 1920, the Treaty of Trianon assigned a small part of the territory of the county (a small area around Horgoš in northern Vojvodina) to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (renamed to Yugoslavia in 1929). The rest remained in Hungary.

After World War II, the southern part of former Csanád-Arad-Torontál county (the Hungarian part of pre-1918 Torontál county and the south-western part of pre-1918 Csanád county) was added to Csongrád county.

Demographics

1900

In 1900, the county had a population of 296,111 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:^[1]

Total:

• Hungarian: 290,137 (98,0%)
• German: 3,582 (1,2%)
• Serbian: 889 (0,3%)
• Slovak: 564 (0,2%)
• Romanian: 423 (0,1%)
• Croatian: 81 (0,0%)
• Ruthenian: 8 (0,0%)
• Other or unknown: 427 (0,1%)

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

Total:

• Roman Catholic: 216,777 (73,2%)
• Calvinist: 61,315 (20,7%)
• Jewish: 9,537 (3,2%)
• Lutheran: 4,838 (1,6%)
• Greek Orthodox: 2,068 (0,7%)
• Greek Catholic: 603 (0,2%)
• Unitarian: 484 (0,2%)
• Other or unknown: 489 (0,2%)

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 325,568 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:^[3]

Total:

• Hungarian: 319,274 (98,1%)
• German: 2,862 (0,9%)
• Serbian: 1,235 (0,4%)
• Romanian: 773 (0,2%)
• Slovak: 646 (0,2%)
• Croatian: 94 (0,0%)
• Ruthenian: 11 (0,0%)
• Other or unknown: 673 (0,2%)

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

Total:

• Roman Catholic: 243,343 (74,7%)
• Calvinist: 61,832 (19,0%)
• Jewish: 10,296 (3,2%)
• Lutheran: 5,449 (1,7%)
• Greek Orthodox: 2,828 (0,9%)
• Greek Catholic: 857 (0,3%)
• Unitarian: 547 (0,1%)
• Other or unknown: 416 (0,1%)

Subdivisions

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

Districts (járás)
District	Capital
Csongrád	Csongrád
Tiszáninnen	Kiskundorozsma
Tiszántúl	Mindszent
Urban counties (törvényhatósági jogú város)
Hódmezővásárhely
Szeged
Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város)
Szentes

References

1. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
2. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
3. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
4. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2012-06-25.