Vas County

Vas County Vas megye  (Hungarian) Željezna županija  (Croatian)
Counties of Hungary
Flag Coat of arms
Country	Hungary
Region	Western Transdanubia
County seat	Szombathely
Government
• President of the General Assembly	László Majthényi (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
• Total	3,336.14 km2 (1,288.09 sq mi)
Area rank	17th in Hungary
Population (2011 census)
• Total	256,629
• Rank	17th in Hungary
• Density	77/km2 (200/sq mi)
Postal code	95xx – 99xx
Area code(s)	(+36) 94, 95
ISO 3166 code	HU-VA
Website	www.vasmegye.hu

Vas (German: Eisenburg, Slovene: Železna županija or županija Železna, Croatian: Željezna županija) is the name of an administrative county (comitatus or megye) in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary. The county is a part of the Centrope Project.

Geography

Vas county lies in western Hungary. It shares borders with Austria and Slovenia and the Hungarian counties Győr-Moson-Sopron, Veszprém and Zala. The capital of Vas county is Szombathely. Its area is 3,336 km².

History

Vas is also the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in western Hungary, eastern Austria and eastern Slovenia. The capital of the county was Szombathely.

Vas county arose as one of the first comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary.

In 1920, by the Treaty of Trianon the western part of the county became part of the new Austrian land Burgenland, and a smaller part in the southwest, known as Vendvidék became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed to Yugoslavia). In the Vendvidék in 1919 was founded an unrecognized state the Prekmurje Republic, alike in Burgenland the Lajtabánság. The remainder stayed in Hungary, as the present Hungarian county Vas. A small part of former Sopron county went to Vas county. Some villages north of Zalaegerszeg went to Zala county, and a small region west of Pápa went to Veszprém county.

Since 1991, when Slovenia became independent from Yugoslavia, the Yugoslavian part of former Vas county (around Murska Sobota) is part of Slovenia.

The Vas county is home to a small Slovene minority, which lives in the area between the town of Szentgotthárd and the Slovenian border (see Hungarian Slovenes).

Demographics

In 2015, it had a population of 253,997 and the population density was 76/km².

Year	County population[1]	Change
1949	283,070	n/a
1960	282,728	-0.12%
1970	277,619	-1.81%
1980	285,498	2.84%
1990	275,944	-3.35%
2001	268,123	-2.83%
2011	256,629	-4.29%

Ethnicity

Besides the Hungarian majority, the main minorities are the Croats (approx. 3,000), Roma (2,500), Germans (2,000) and Slovenes (1,500).

Total population (2011 census): 256,629
Ethnic groups (2011 census):^[2] Identified themselves: 225 052 persons:

• Hungarians: 214 512 (95,32%)
• Croats: 3 102 (1,38%)
• Gypsies: 2 559 (1,14%)
• Others and indefinable: 4 879 (2,17%)

Approx. 39,000 persons in Vas County did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

Religion

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

• Catholic – 58.8% (Roman Catholic – 58.7%; Greek Catholic – 0.1%);
• Evangelical – 5.9%;
• Reformed – 2.8%;
• other religions – 0.8%;
• Non-religious – 5.3%;
• Atheism – 0.7%;
• Undeclared – 25.7%.

Politics

The Vas 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

Municipalities

Cities with county rights

• Szombathely – county seat; 78,884 (as of 2011)

Towns

(ordered by population, as of 2011 census)

Villages

Gallery

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vas County.

• Official site in Hungarian and English
• Vas Népe (vaol.hu) - The county portal
• Hungary at GeoHive

Coordinates: 47°10′N 16°45′E / 47.167°N 16.750°E / 47.167; 16.750