Békéscsaba (; ; According to the 2011 census, the city has a total area of .
Name
Csaba is a popular Hungarian given name for boys of Turkic origin, while the prefix Békés refers to the county named Békés, which means peaceful in Hungarian. Other names derived from the Hungarian one include , , and .
History
thumb|right|Small and Great [[Lutheran churches]]
thumb|right|[[Mór Jókai Theatre]]
The area has been inhabited since the ancient times. In the Iron Age the area had been conquered by the Scythians, by the Celts, then by the Huns. After the Hungarian Conquest, there were many small villages in the area.
The medieval Hungarian village of Csaba was established in the 13th century, first mentioned in the 1330s. Besides Csaba, eight other villages stood where now the town stands. According to the Hungarian Royal Treasury, Békéscsaba was an ethnic Hungarian settlement in 1495. When the Turks conquered the southern and central parts of Hungary, and these territories became part of the Ottoman Empire, the town survived, but it became extinct
Demographics
{|class="wikitable" style="float:right; font-size:93%;width:310px;height:16px;border:0;text-align:left;line-height:120%;margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px;"
|-
|colspan="14" style="text-align:center; background:#f4f4f4;" height=24px|Historical population of Békéscsaba
|-
! Year
! Population
! Hungarians
! Slovaks
|-
|1880
|32,616
|6,250 (19.2%)
|24,073 (73.8%)
|-
|1890
|34,243
|7,728 (22.6%)
|25,917 (75.7%)
|-
|1900
|37,547
|9,501 (25.3%)
|27,488 (73.2%)
|-
|1910
|42,599
|13,271 (31.2%)
|28,682 (67.3%)
|-
|1920
|46,633
|21,407 (45.9%)
|24,710 (53%)
|-
|1930
|49,374
|30,054 (60.9%)
|18,931 (38.4%)
|-
|1941
|52,404
|35,258 (67.3%)
|16,781 (32%)
|-
|1949
|45,892
|44,328 (96.6%)
|1,254 (2.7%)
|-
|1960
|50,212
|47,840 (95.3%)
|2,170 (4.3%)
|-
|1980
|67,225
|66,388 (98.8%)
|679 (1%)
|-
|2001
|67,968
|63,782 (93.8%)
|4,078 (6%)
|-
|2011
|62,050
|51,842 (83.5%)
|1,881 (3%)
|-
|colspan="14" style="text-align:center; background:#f4f4f4;" height=24px|
- Source:
- Note:
|}
Languages
According to the 2011 census the total population of Békéscsaba were 62,050, of whom 61,912 people (99.8%) speak Hungarian, 10,140 (16.3%) English, 4,821 (7.8%) German and 3,399 (5.5%) speak Slovak.
Ethnic groups
According to the 2011 census there were 51,842 (83.5%) Hungarians, 1,881 (3%) Slovaks, 402 (0.6%) Roma, 293 (0.5%) Romanians and 170 (0.3%) Germans in Békéscsaba. 9,666 people (15.6%) did not declare their ethnicity.
Religion
According to the 1869 census (first modern census in Hungary) Békéscsaba had 30,022 inhabitants, of whom there were 21,988 (73.2%) Lutheran, 5,880 (19.6%) Roman Catholic, 1,043 (3.5%) Jewish, 520 (1.7%) Orthodox and 436 (1.4%) Hungarian Reformed (Calvinist).
The 1949 census showed 45,892 people, 25,661 (56.2%) Lutheran, 14,216 (31.1%) Roman Catholic, 4,750 (10.4%) Hungarian Reformed and 498 (1.1%) Jewish.
In 2011 there were 10,694 (17.2%) Roman Catholic, 8,012 (12.9%) Lutheran and 4,408 (7.1%) Hungarian Reformed in Békéscsaba. 19,650 people (31.7%) were irreligious and 1,027 (1.7%) Atheist, while 16,883 people (27.2%) did not declare their religion.
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#ccc" colspan="2" | Party
! style="background:#ccc" | Seats
! style="background:#ccc" colspan="8" | Current Municipal Assembly
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| style="background-color: #4B0082 |
| Hajrá Békéscsaba
| style="text-align: right" | 8
|style="background-color: #4B0082 |<span style="color:white;">M</span>
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| style="background-color: |
|Fidesz-KDNP
| style="text-align: right" | 7
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| MSZP-LMP
| style="text-align: right" | 2
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| DK-Jobbik-Dialogue
| style="text-align: right" | 1
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List of mayors
List of City Mayors from 1990:
{| class=wikitable
|-
! Member
! colspan=2 | Party
! Term of office
|-
| János Pap
| style="background-color:" |
| SZDSZ
| 1990–2006
|-
| Gyula Vantara
| style="background-color:" |
| Fidesz-KDNP
| 2006–2014
|-
| Péter Szarvas
| style="background-color:#4B0082" |
| Independent <small>(Hajrá Békéscsaba)</small>
| 2014–
|}
Climate
Békéscsaba has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) closely bordering on a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa). Among them, the annual average temperature is , the hottest month in July is , and the coldest month is in January. The annual precipitation is , of which June is the wettest with , while January is the driest with only . The extreme temperature throughout the year ranged from on 25 December 2001 to on 21 August 2000.
Notable people
thumb|right|[[Lajos Kossuth|Kossuth statue]]
thumb|right|Békéscsaba railway station
Born in Békéscsaba
<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->
- András L. Áchim (1871–1911), Hungarian politician
- Beiuș, Romania
- Krompachy, Slovakia
- Martin, Slovakia
- Mikkeli, Finland
- Odorheiu Secuiesc, Romania
- Tarnowskie Góry, Poland
- Trenčín, Slovakia
- Uzhhorod, Ukraine
- Wittenberg, Germany
- Zrenjanin, Serbia
References
External links
- in Hungarian, English and German
- Photos of the town
- Aerial photography: Békéscsaba