Zemplén (county)

Infobox Former Subdivision
native_name =
conventional_long_name = Zemplén County
common_name = Zemplén
subdivision = County
nation = the Kingdom of Hungary
p1 =
s1 =
year_start = 12th century
event_end = Treaty of Trianon
year_end = 1920
date_end = June 4

---

capital = Sátoraljaújhely
stat_area1 = 6282
stat_pop1 = 343200
stat_year1 = 1910
today = Slovakia, Hungary

Zemplén (Hungarian: "Zemplén", Slovak: "Zemplín", German: "Semplin", Latin: "Zemplinum") is the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is presently situated in eastern Slovakia under the name of Zemplín. Most of the county's territory is today in Slovakia except the southern portions of the county, that are in Hungary, in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County.

Geography

Zemplén county shared borders with Poland (during some periods the Austrian crownland Galicia) and the Hungarian counties Sáros (Šariš), Abaúj-Torna (Abov-Turňa), Borsod, Szabolcs and Ung (Uh). It was situated in the easternmost strip of what is now Slovakia (except for the region between Vihorlatské vrchy and the Latorica river), plus a strip along the Bodrog and Tisza rivers in present-day Hungary. The rivers Laborec and Bodrog flowed through the county. Its area was 6,269 km² around 1910.

Capitals

Initially, the capital of the county was the Zemplín Castle, in the 13th century also Sárospatak (in Slovak: Potok, hence the alternative name of the county "comitatus de Potok"). Since the Late Middle Ages the capital was the town of Zemplén, and since 1748 was Sátoraljaújhely (Slovak: Nové Mesto pod Šiatrom).

History

Zemplén was one of the oldest counties of the Kingdom of Hungary. In the aftermath of World War I, the northern part of Zemplén county became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia, as recognized by the concerned states in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. The southern half (including the bigger part of the divided Sátoraljaújhely) stayed in Hungary as the county Zemplén. Following the provisions of the controversial First Vienna Award, an additional part came under Hungarian control in November 1938. The Trianon borders were restored after World War II.

ubdivisions

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Zemplén/Zemplín county were: The towns of Sátoraljaújhely, Sárospatak, Tokaj and Szerencs are presently in Hungary.

See also: Zemplín (region)