Trencsén (county)

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Trencsén County
County of the Kingdom of Hungary
9th century – 1920

Coat of arms of Trencsén

Coat of arms

Location of Trencsén
Capital Trencsén
History
 - Established 9th century
 - Treaty of Trianon June 41920
Area
 - 1910 4,456 km² (1,720 sq mi)
Population
 - 1910 est. 310,400 
     Density 69.7 /km²  (180.4 /sq mi)
Today part of Slovakia
Trenčín is the current name of the capital.

Trencsén county (in Latin: comitatus Trentsiniensis/Trenchiniensis, in Hungarian Trencsén (vár) megye, in Slovak Trenčiansky komitát/ Trenčianska stolica/ Trenčianska župa, in German Trentschiner Gespanschaft/Komitat) is the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently in western Slovakia.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Trencsén county shared borders with the Austrian lands Moravia and Galicia and the Hungarian counties Árva (Orava), Turóc (Turiec) and Nyitra (Nitra). The county's territory was a strip in the extreme northwestern edge of present-day Slovakia, i. e. the territory between the Czech border, the town of Nové Mesto nad Váhom, the Turóc county, the Árva county and the Polish border. The river Váh flowed through the county. Its area was 4456 km² around 1910.

[edit] Capitals

The capital of Trencsén county was the Trenčín Castle, and from around 1650 the town of Trenčín.

[edit] History

A predecessor of the Trencsén county existed already in the 9th century, at the time of Great Moravia. Its center was in Ducové. In the 10th and 11th century, the county was probably temporarily part of Bohemia and then temporarily of Poland (castellania Trecen).

The Trencsén county as a Hungarian comitatus arose at the end of the 11th century, when most parts of the territory were conquered by the Kingdom of Hungary.

In the aftermath of World War I, Trencsén county became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia, as recognized by the concerned states in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. The Trenčín county (Trenčianska župa) continued to exist till 1922, but it had completely different powers etc.

When Slovakia became independent temporarily between 1939 and 1945, the Trenčín county was created again in 1940, but its territory was slightly extended. After World War II Trenčín county was in Czechoslovakia again. In 1993, Czechoslovakia was split and Trenčín became part of Slovakia.

[edit] Demographics

Population by language (1910 census):

  • Slovak = 284,770
  • Hungarian = 13,204
  • German = 9,029

[edit] Subdivisions

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Trencsén/Trenčín county were:

Districts (járás)
District Capital
Bán Bán, SK Bánovce nad Bebravou
Csaca Csaca, SK Čadca
Illava Illava, SK Ilava
Kiszucaújhely Kiszucaújhely, SK Kysucké Nové Mesto
Nagybiccse Nagybiccse, SK Bytča
Puhó Puhó, SK Púchov
Trencsén Trencsén, SK Trenčín
Vágbeszterce Vágbeszterce, SK Považská Bystrica
Zsolna Zsolna, SK Žilina
Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város)
Trencsén, SK Trenčín