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Hont (-Hungarian and Slovak and German, in Latin: Honthum, in Hungarian also: Honth) is the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary and then shortly of Czechoslovakia. Its territory is presently in southern Slovakia (3/4) and northern Hungary (1/4).
Today, in Slovakia Hont is the informal designation of the corresponding territory.
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Hont county shared borders with the counties Bars (Tekov), Zólyom (Zvolen), Nógrád (Novohrad), Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun and Esztergom. It was situated between Banská Štiavnica and the Danube river, but the territory around the town of Krupina was added only at the end of the 19th century. The rivers Krupinica and Ipeľ were the central rivers that flowed through the county. Its area was 2633 km² around 1910.
The capitals of the county were the Hont Castle together with Ipeľské Predmostie, then from the 16th century onwards there was no permanent capital, and finally since early 19th century, the capital was Šahy (in Hungarian: Ipolyság).
The county arose in the 11th century by separation from the Nógrád county. Around the year 1300, the territory of Malohont (Hungarian: Kishont) was added to the territory of the county, but received a special status. In 1802, Malohont became part of the Gemer-Malohont county.
From 1552 to 1685, most of the county was part of the Ottoman Empire and belonged to the administrative unit called Nógrád sandjak.
Changes to the northern border of the county were performed in 1802 and then in the late 19th century (above all Krupina was added to the territory).
In the aftermath of World War I, most of Hont county became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia, as recognized by the concerned states in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. A small part of the county situated south-east of the river Ipeľ, stayed in Hungary.
In Czechoslovakia, the county continued to exist as the Hont county (Hontianska župa). In 1923, it became part of the Zvolen county. In 1928, it became part of the newly created Slovak Land (Slovenská krajina/zem). Following the provisions of the controversial First Vienna Award, the southern part of Czechoslovak Hont came under Hungarian control in November 1938. The remaining northern part became part of the newly created Hron county (1940–1945) of Slovakia. After World War II, the Trianon borders were restored. In 1949, it became part of the newly created Nitra region and Banská Bystrica region of Czechoslovakia. In 1960, it became part of the newly created Western Slovak region and Central Slovak region. In 1993, Czechoslovakia was split and in 1996 Hont became part of the newly created Nitra region and Banská Bystrica region of Slovakia.
The Hungarian part of Hont merged with the Hungarian part of Nógrád county to form Nógrád-Hont county. Between 1939 and 1945 it was united with the occupied parts of former Bars and Hont counties to form Bars-Hont county (capital Levice). Since 1950 the Hungarian part of Hont is divided between the present Hungarian counties Pest and Nógrád.
Until 1802, the county consisted of 3 processuses (in Slovak slúžnovské okresy; a type of districts led by "iudices nobilium") plus the Malohont district. In 1802, when Malohont was removed, the county was divided in four new processus.
In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Hont county were:
| Districts (járás) | |
|---|---|
| District | Capital |
| Bát | Bát, SK Bátovce |
| Ipolynyék | Ipolynyék, SK Vinica |
| Ipolyság | Ipolyság, SK Šahy |
| Korpona | Korpona, SK Krupina |
| Szob | Szob |
| Vámosmikola | Vámosmikola |
| Urban counties (törvényhatósági jogú város) | |
| Selmec- és Bélabánya, SK Banská Štiavnica and Banská Belá | |
| Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város) | |
| Korpona, SK Krupina | |
The towns of Vámosmikola and Szob are presently in Hungary.
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