Nógrád County

Nógrád County Nógrád megye  (Hungarian) Novohradská župa  (Slovak)
Counties of Hungary
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Hungary
Region	Northern Hungary
County seat	Salgótarján
Government
• President of the General Assembly	Nándor Skuczi (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
• Total	2,545.48 km2 (982.82 sq mi)
Area rank	18th in Hungary
Population (2011 census)
• Total	202,427
• Rank	19th in Hungary
• Density	80/km2 (210/sq mi)
Postal code	2175 – 2179, 2610, 2611, 2616 – 2619, 264x – 269x, 304x – 31xx
Area code(s)	(+36) 32, 35
ISO 3166 code	HU-NO
Website	www.nograd.hu

Nógrád (Slovak: Novohradská) is a county (Hungarian: megye) of Hungary.

Description

Nógrád county lies in northern Hungary. It shares borders with Slovakia and the Hungarian counties Pest, Heves and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén. The capital of Nógrád county is Salgótarján. Its area is 2,544 km².

Nógrád is famous for its historic architecture of ancient Gothic churches and stone castles dated to the 13th century. Other historic landmark includes the baroque buildings constructed in the 18th century and the Vay, Teleki. Much of the northern border of the county is formed by the river Ipoly. The mountain ranges Börzsöny, Cserhát and Mátra lie partly in the county.

Due to the mountains, the county is characterised by small villages nestled in the valleys. The two largest settlements are Balassagyarmat, the former county seat, and Salgótarján, which has become a center of industry in the early 20th century due to coal mines nearby.

History

Nógrád (-Hungarian, in Latin: comitatus Neogradiensis, in German: Neuburg or Neograd, in Slovak: Novohrad) was also the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in southern Slovakia and in northern present-day Hungary. The name Novohrad is still used in Slovakia as an informal designation of the corresponding territory. The name stems from the former Nógrád (Novohrad) castle in present-day Hungary.

Demographics

In 2015, it had a population of 195,923 and the population density was 77/km².

Year	County population[1]	Change
1949	214,757	n/a
1960	235,675	9.74%
1970	234,430	-0.53%
1980	240,251 (record)	2.48%
1990	227,137	-5.46%
2001	220,261	-3.03%
2011	202,427	-8.10%

Ethnicity

Besides the Hungarian majority, the main minorities are the Roma (approx. 15,000), Slovaks (2,500) and Germans (1,000).

Total population (2011 census): 202,427
Ethnic groups (2011 census):^[2] Identified themselves: 192 438 persons:

• Hungarians: 172 946 (89,87%)
• Gypsies: 15 177 (7,89%)
• Slovaks: 2 644 (1,37%)
• Others and indefinable: 1 671 (0,87%)

Approx. 26,000 persons in Nógrád County did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

Religion

Religious adherence in the county according to 2011 census:^[3]

• Catholic – 55.6% (Roman Catholic – 55.4%; Greek Catholic – 0.2%);
• Evangelical – 3.9%;
• Reformed – 2.1%;
• Other religions – 1.8%;
• Non-religious – 12.2%;
• Atheism – 0.9%;
• Undeclared – 22.5%.

Regional structure

District of Nógrád County

Politics

The regional legislature is the General Assembly.

The Nógrád County Council, elected at the 2014 local government elections, is made up of 15 counselors, with the following party composition:^[4]

Presidents of the General Assembly^[5]

Municipalities

City with county rights

• Salgótarján – county seat; 37,262 (as of 2011)

Towns

(ordered by population, as of 2011 census)

Villages

Gallery

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nógrád County.

• Official site in Hungarian
• Nógrád Megyei Hírlap (nhc24.hu) - The county portal
• Photos from Nograd County

Coordinates: 48°00′N 19°34′E / 48.00°N 19.57°E / 48.00; 19.57