The following lists show the administrative divisions of the lands belonging to the Hungarian crown (1000 -1918) at selected points of time. The names are given in the main official language used in the Kingdom at the times in question.
For details on the functioning and development of the counties and some other administrative divisions see Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary).
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This article does not show all states of administrative divisions that existed throughout the centuries, only the major ones. Especially for the medieval period, various sources often give slightly different divisions. Also, the lists of the individual points of time stem from different sources so that the first-level categorization is not necessarily compatible over time.
It is also important to bear in mind that it is more correct to translate the Hungarian counties as "comitatuses", because they were completely different from territories of British counts or German Graf.
Around 1074, the whole Kingdom of Hungary consisted of some 45-50 counties. The existence of many of them is disputed for this time period.
The following castles are assumed to have been seats of frontier counties (marchiae, határispánságok), it is probable that other castles were such seats as well (ordered from the north to the south):
In the late 14th and in the 15th century there were around 70 counties, out of which 7(?) under the voivodship of Transylvania (in present-day Romania), 7 under the banate of Slavonia (mainly in present-day Slavonia and Croatia), and the rest forming Hungary proper (mainly present-day Hungary and Slovakia, with 10 counties entirely and 11 partially in present-day Slovakia.
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Their number was changing (the mining towns were largely situated in the Upper Lands)
In the 16th century, the Kingdom was so gravely impacted by Ottoman conquest that its territory was reduced to almost a third of its previous size. By 1541, the remaining part was renamed Royal Hungary and ruled by the Habsburgs.
In 1547, Royal Hungary was divided for military and partly also administrative purposes in two captaincies-general (Hungarian: főkapitányságok, Slovak: hlavné kapitanáty):
Later on, these captaincies were further subdivided.
In 1553 and 1578, southern and southeastern regions were split off into the Military Frontier and were de facto no longer part of the Kingdom.
Also, after 1606 there were the following captaincies-general:
Note that many of the counties ceased to exist during the Turkish occupation (app. 1541 – 1699/1718). For administrative divisions on the Turkish territory see Ottoman Empire.
After the defeat of the Turks (around 1700) there were some 70 counties in the whole Kingdom of Hungary again. After the final defeat of the Turks in 1718, the three southern counties Temesiensis, Torontaliensis and Krassovinsis created the special administrative district Banatus Temesiensis (Hungarian: Temesi Bánság). This district was dissolved again in 1779, but its southermost part remained part of the Military Frontier (Confiniaria militaria) till the late 19th century.
The following list does not show Transylvania. The "districtus" is only a traditional formal division. Note that some of the previous counties, e. g. the Zarandiensis, were part of Transylvania at this time.
(a) Districtus Cis-Danubianus (13):
(b) Districtus Trans-Danubianus (11):
(c) Districtus Cis-Tybiscanus (10):
(d) Districtus Trans-Tibiscanus (12):
(e) Counties between the Drava and Sava (after the defeat of the Turks around 1700, they were considered part of Croatia-Slavonia):
These were privileged territories, which were totally exempt from the county system.
Their number was changing
The Kingdom of Hungary, including Croatia and Slavonia, was divided into 10 military/administrative districts:
Each district consisted of 4 to 7 counties, whose borders were changed in 1786. In 1790, the pre-1785 system was restored.
For details see Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary)
During this period, Kingdom of Croatia, Kingdom of Slavonia, and the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banatus Temesiensis (Szerb vajdaság és Temesi bánság) were separated from the Kingdom of Hungary and directly subordinated to Vienna (Austria). The remaining territory of the Kingdom of Hungary (which did not include Transylvania at that time) was divided into 5 Districts:
These Districts were divided into counties, whose traditional territories however were modified in 1850 and 1853.
In October 1860, the Districts were abolished and the pre-1848 counties were restored.
Since 1867 the administrative and political divisions of the lands belonging to the Hungarian crown (Kingdom of Hungary) have been in great measure remodelled. In 1868 Transylvania was definitely reunited to Hungary proper, and the town and district of Fiume (Rijeka) declared autonomous. In 1873 part of the Military Frontier was united with Hungary proper and part with Croatia-Slavonia. Hungary proper, according to ancient usage, was generally divided into four great divisions or circles, and Transylvania up to 1876 was regarded as the fifth.
In 1876 a general system of counties was introduced. According to this division Hungary proper was divided into seven statistical regions having no administrative functions, of which Transylvania formed one.
The following administrative divisions existed between 1886 and 1918:
In the following, the key in the brackets gives the capital towns around 1910 first (note however that the capitals were usually changing throughout the centuries) and then the abbreviation for the country in which the territory is situated today:
The Kingdom of Hungary was divided into the following 71 counties:
(a) On the left bank of the Danube:
(b) On the right bank of the Danube:
(c) Between the Danube and Tisza:
(d) On the right bank of the Tisza:
(e) On the left bank of the Tisza:
(f) Between the Tisza and the Maros:
(g) Királyhágón túl (i.e. "over the royal pass through the mountains", roughly equal to Transylvania, all in present-day Romania):
Croatia-Slavonia was divided into eight counties (all, except for most of Szerém, in present-day Croatia):
The following 30 Hungarian towns had municipal rights:
Hungary proper had twenty-six urban counties or towns with municipal rights. These were:
In Croatia-Slavonia there were four urban counties or towns with municipal rights namely:
The town and district of Fiume (Rijeka) formed a separate division. It was a subject of dispute between Hungary proper and Croatia-Slavonia and changed hands several times (its desirability as a seaport caused it to change hands even after the Hungarian-Croatian union eventually broke up).