Vas County
Vas vármegye
Counties of Hungary
Kőszeg Mountains, near Kőszeg
Landscape in Őrség
Main Square, Szombathely
Descending, from top: Hills near Kőszeg, Landscape in Őrség, and Downtown of Szombathely
Flag of Vas County
Flag
Coat of arms of Vas County
Coat of arms
Vas County within Hungary
Vas County within Hungary
Country Hungary
RegionWestern Transdanubia
County seatSzombathely
Districts
7 districts
Government
 • BodyVas County Assembly
 • President of the General AssemblyLászló Majthényi (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
 • Total3,336.14 km2 (1,288.09 sq mi)
 • Rank17th in Hungary
Population
 (2018)
 • Total253,305[1]
 • Rank17th in Hungary
GDP
[2]
 • TotalHUF 904 billion
€2.905 billion (2016)
Postal code
95xx – 99xx
Area code(s)(+36) 94, 95
ISO 3166 codeHU-VA
Websitewww.vasmegye.hu

Vas (Hungarian: Vas vármegye, pronounced [ˈvɒʃ]; German: Komitat Eisenburg; Slovene: Železna županija or županija Železna; Croatian: Željezna županija) is an administrative county (comitatus or vármegye) of Hungary. It was also one of the counties of the former Kingdom of Hungary. It is part of the Centrope Project.

Geography

Vas county lies in western Hungary. It shares borders with Austria (Burgenland), Slovenia (Mura Statistical Region), 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. After World War II due to Communist reforms, 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

Religion in Vas County (2011 census)

  Catholic Church (58.7%)
  Greek Catholicism (0.1%)
  Lutheranism (5.9%)
  Calvinism (2.8%)
  Other religions (0.8%)
  Non-religious (5.3%)
  Atheists (0.7%)
  Undeclared (25.7%)

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

Year County population[3] Change
1949 283,070 n/a
1960 Decrease 282,728 -0.12%
1970 Decrease 277,619 -1.81%
1980 Increase 285,498 2.84%
1990 Decrease 275,944 -3.35%
2001 Decrease 268,123 -2.83%
2011 Decrease 256,629 -4.29%
2015 Decrease 253,997 -1.03%
2018 Decrease 253,305 -0.27%

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):[4] Identified themselves: 225 052 persons:

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:[5]

Regional structure

District of Vas County
№ English and
Hungarian names		 Area
(km²)		 Population
(2011)		 Density
(pop./km²)		 Seat № of
municipalities
1 Celldömölk District
Celldömölki járás		 474.13 24,630 52 Celldömölk 28
2 Körmend District
Körmendi járás		 614.53 27,177 44 Körmend 46
3 Kőszeg District
Kőszegi járás		 286.45 25,090 88 Kőszeg 21
4 Sárvár District
Sárvári járás		 685.46 38,684 56 Sárvár 42
5 Szentgotthárd District
Szentgotthárdi járás		 255.04 14,961 59 Szentgotthárd 16
6 Szombathely District
Szombathelyi járás		 646.36 112,320 174 Szombathely 40
7 Vasvár District
Vasvári járás		 374.14 13,767 37 Vasvár 23
Vas County 3,336.14 256,629 78 Szombathely 216

Politics

Countyhall of Vas.

The Vas County Council, elected at the 2014 local government elections, is made up of 15 counselors, with the following party composition:[6]

    Party Seats Current County Assembly
  Fidesz-KDNP 10                    
  Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik) 2                    
  Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) 2                    
  Mayors Association for Vas County (PVME) 1                    

Presidents of the General Assembly

List of presidents since 1990[7]
Gyula Pusztai (MSZP)1990–1998
Péter Markó (Fidesz)1998–2006
Ferenc Kovács (Fidesz-KDNP)2006–2014
László Majthényi (Fidesz-KDNP)2014–

Municipalities

Vas County has 1 urban county, 12 towns and 203 villages.

City with county rights

(ordered by population, as of 2011 census)

Towns
Villages

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vas County.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Vas County.

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

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