Nyitra County

For the region in Slovakia see Nitra region.

Nyitra county (in Slovak: Nitriansky komitát / Nitrianska stolica / Nitrianska župa, in Latin: comitatus Nitriensis, in Hungarian Nyitra (vár)megye, in German Neutraer Gespanschaft/Komitat Neutra) is the name of an historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory lay in what is now western Slovakia.

Geography

Nyitra county shared borders with the Austrian land Moravia and the Hungarian counties Trencsén (Trenčín), Turóc (Turiec), Bars (Tekov), Komárom and Pozsony (current Bratislava). In its final phase, it was a strip of land between the Morava river in the north and the town of Érsekújvár" (Nové Zámky) in the south, plus an outlier around the town of Privigye (Prievidza). The river Váh (Vág) flowed through the county. Its area was 5519 km² around 1910.

Capitals

The capital of the county was the Nitra Castle and since the Late Middle Ages the town of Nyitra (Nitra).

History

A predecessor to Nyitra county existed as early as in the 9th century at the time of Great Moravia. Around 1000, Nyitra county arose as one of the first comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary. The southern part, including the town Nyitra, was ruled as Uyvar Province between 1663-1685 by Ottoman Empire.

After World War I, Nyitra county became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. Nitra county (Nitrianska župa) continued to exist until 1927, but it had completely different powers and somewhat modified borders.

The southern part of the area came under Hungarian control in November 1938 as part of the First Vienna Award. The Trianon borders were restored after World War II. In 1993, Czechoslovakia was split and Nitra became part of Slovakia.

Demographics

Population by language (1910 manipulated^[1][2] census by the ruling Hungarian bureaucracy):

• Slovak = 324,664
• Hungarian = 100,324
• German = 27,937

Subdivisions

The subdivisions of Nyitra county were:

References