Nógrád County (former)

Nógrád (Hungarian; Latin: comitatus Neogradiensis, German: Neuburg or Neograd, Slovak: Novohrad) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now divided between Hungary and Slovakia. The name Novohrad is still used in Slovakia as an informal designation of the corresponding territory. The name is derived from the former Nógrád castle in Hungary.

Nógrád County
Comitatus Neogradiensis (Latin)
Nógrád vármegye (Hungarian)
Komitat Neograd (German)
Novohradská župa (Slovak)
County of the Kingdom of Hungary
(11th century-1923, 1938-1945)
Coat of arms of Nógrád
Coat of arms

CapitalBalassagyarmat
Area
 • Coordinates48°5′N 19°18′E / 48.083°N 19.300°E / 48.083; 19.300
 
• 1910
4,128 km2 (1,594 sq mi)
Population 
• 1910
261,517
History 
• Established
11th century
• Treaty of Trianon
4 June 1920
• Merged into Nógrád-Hont County
1923
• County recreated (First Vienna Award)
1938
• Remerged into Nógrád-Hont County
1945
Today part ofHungary
(2,381 km2)
Slovakia
(1,747 km2)

Geography edit

 
Map of Nógrád, 1891.

In 1910, Nógrád county shared borders with the counties of Hont, Zólyom, Gömör-Kishont, Heves and Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun. It was situated approximately along the line Poltár, Losonc (today Lučenec), Szécsény and Vác. The river Ipoly (Slovak: Ipeľ) flowed through the county. Its area was 4,133 km2 around 1910.

Capitals edit

The capital of the county was Balassagyarmat, except for the 18th century, when the capital was Losonc.

History edit

Nógrád was one of the first counties of the Kingdom of Hungary, founded in the 11th century. Large part of its territory was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1541 to 1595, and from 1605 to 1686, as part of Budin Province and Eğri Province.

In the aftermath of World War I, the part of Nógrád county north of the river Ipeľ/Ipoly became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia (as Novohrad county), as recognized by the concerned states in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon. The southern part stayed in Hungary and was merged with the Hungarian part of Hont county to form Nógrád-Hont County in 1923. Following the provisions of the First Vienna Award, the northern half of the county was redeemed thus and the county had was recreated in 1938. After World War II, the Trianon borders and Nógrád-Hont County were restored. In 1950 the county was again recreated after some of its parts were passed to the newly formed Pest County and the reorganized Heves County.

In 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolved and Novohrad became part of independent Slovakia. Since 1996, it has been part of the Slovak administrative unit Banska Bystrica region.

Demographics edit

 
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 German Other or unknown
1880[1] 191,678 118,188 (64.02%) 59,650 (32.31%) 4,747 (2.57%) 2,025 (1.10%)
1890[2] 214,444 148,357 (69.18%) 59,440 (27.72%) 4,044 (1.89%) 2,603 (1.21%)
1900[3] 239,097 168,614 (70.52%) 64,287 (26.89%) 3,958 (1.66%) 2,238 (0.94%)
1910[4] 261,517 197,670 (75.59%) 58,337 (22.31%) 3,143 (1.20%) 2,367 (0.91%)
Population by religion[b]
Census Total Roman Catholic Lutheran Jewish Calvinist Other or unknown
1880 191,678 131,954 (68.84%) 46,807 (24.42%) 9,011 (4.70%) 3,581 (1.87%) 325 (0.17%)
1890 214,444 151,541 (70.67%) 49,590 (23.12%) 9,439 (4.40%) 3,669 (1.71%) 205 (0.10%)
1900 239,097 172,804 (72.27%) 52,205 (21.83%) 9,541 (3.99%) 4,195 (1.75%) 352 (0.15%)
1910 261,517 193,449 (73.97%) 52,991 (20.26%) 9,641 (3.69%) 4,934 (1.89%) 502 (0.19%)

Subdivisions edit

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

 
Districts (járás)
District Capital
  Balassagyarmat Balassagyarmat
  Gács Gács (now Halič)
  Losonc Losonc (now Lučenec)
  Nógrád Rétság
  Fülek Salgótarján
  Szécsény Szécsény
  Szirák Szirák
Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város)
  Losonc (now Lučenec)

The municipalities of Lučenec, Fiľakovo and Halič are now in Slovakia.

 
County Hall, Balassagyarmat
 
Franciscan Convent Szécsény – Aerial Photo
 
Szirák – Palace from above

Notes edit

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

References edit

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