Csongrád County

This article is about the county. For the town see Csongrád. For the historical comitatus see Csongrád (former county).

Csongrád County
Coat of arms
Country	Hungary
Region	Southern Great Plain
County seat	Szeged
Area
– Total	4,263 km2 (1,646 sq mi)
Population
– Total	423,826
– Density	99.4/km2 (257.5/sq mi)

Csongrád is the name of an administrative county (comitatus or megye) in southern Hungary, on the both sides of the river Tisza, on the border with Serbia and Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Bács-Kiskun, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and Békés. The administrative centre of Csongrád county is Szeged. The county is also part of the Danube-Kris-Mures-Tisa euroregion.

Geography

The area of Csongrád county is flat. It has a high number of sunshine hours and excellent soil, which makes it the most important agricultural area of Hungary. Its most famous products are paprika from Szeged and onion from Makó, but grain, vegetables and fruits are also significant. Half of the onion, paprika and vegetables produced in Hungary are from Csongrád. The county is also rich in oil and natural gas.

The highest point is Ásotthalom (125 m), the lowest is Gyálarét (78 m; lowest point of Hungary).

History

Population

After the Ottoman occupation, in 1715 the county was nearly uninhabited, the population density was less than 5 people/km2. In the 18th and 19th century it repopulated by ethnic Hungarians from the relatively overpopulated northern and western counties of the Kingdom of Hungary.^[1] Now the county is home for 423,826 people (216,936 people live in urban counties) the population density is 100 people/km2. It's homogeneous with Hungarian majority.^[2]

Regional structure

Aerial photography: Szeged

^[3] As a typical Great Plain county, Csongrád has a relatively small number of municipalities. 72.5% of the population lives in cities/towns, so it's one of the most urbanized county in Hungary.

Urban counties (cities)

• Szeged (county seat)
• Hódmezővásárhely

Towns

• Szentes
• Makó
• Csongrád
• Sándorfalva
• Kistelek
• Mindszent
• Mórahalom
• Csanádpalota

Villages

Algyő Ambrózfalva Apátfalva Árpádhalom Ásotthalom Baks Balástya Bordány Csanádalberti Csánytelek

Csengele Derekegyház Deszk Dóc Domaszék Eperjes Fábiánsebestyén Felgyő Ferencszállás Földeák

Forráskút Királyhegyes Kiszombor Klárafalva Kövegy Kübekháza Magyarcsanád Maroslele Mártély Nagyér

Nagylak Nagymágocs Nagytőke Óföldeák Ópusztaszer Öttömös Pitvaros Pusztamérges Pusztaszer Röszke

Ruzsa Szatymaz Szegvár Székkutas Tiszasziget Tömörkény Üllés Újszentiván Zákányszék Zsombó

References

1. ^ Changing ethnicities in Hungary (map+data+assay) (Károly Kocsis, Zsolt Bottlik, MTA Földrajztudományi Kutatóintézet, Budapest 2009, ISBN 978-963-9545-18-2, ISBN 978-963-9545-19-9)
2. ^ Csongrád county (2001 census), English
3. ^ List of localities in Csongrád county by area, population and status (2001 census), English

Coordinates: 46°25′N 20°15′E / 46.417°N 20.25°E / 46.417; 20.25