Békés County (former)

Békés is a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory, which was smaller than that of present Békés county, is presently 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

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)

Subdivisions

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