thumb|280px|County Hall, Nyíregyháza by [[Ignác Alpár]]

thumb|280px|Váci Mihály Municipal Cultural Centre, Nyíregyháza by [[Ferenc Bán]]

Nyíregyháza (, ) is a city with county rights in northeastern Hungary and the county capital of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. With a population of 118,001, it is the seventh-largest city in Hungary and the second largest in the Northern Great Plain region. Its development has been ongoing since the 18th century, making it the economic and cultural center of the region. Nyíregyháza Zoo, with over 500 species, is recognized throughout Europe.

Geography

Nyíregyháza is located in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County in the northern Plain region, which also comprises Hajdú-Bihar County and Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County. It is located in the center of Nyírség as an agricultural town. The boundaries of the city are often understood as a very broad frame, because generally the near suburbs are included in them. It is located at the intersections of routes 4, 41, 36, and 38, making the city easy to reach, lying at the crossroads to Sub-Carpathia and Transylvania.

Climate

Nyíregyháza's climate is classified as humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb). 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 July is the wettest with , while January is the driest with only . The extreme temperature throughout the year ranged from on 28 December 1996 to on 20 July 2007.

History

The first written mentions of Nyíregyháza date back to 1209, although it was then called simply Nyír ('birch'), after the Nyírség, the greater region in which the city lies. A source from 1326 <!--OR 1236?-->mentions that by then the city already had a church, hence the second part of the name, egyház (meaning 'church'). By the middle of the 15th century, the town had about 400 inhabitants. In the 16th century, during the Turkish occupation of Hungary, Nyíregyháza became deserted; it was resettled only in the 1630s–1640s.

After the War for Independence led by Prince Francis II Rákóczi, the town's population increased. Most new settlers were Slovaks from the area of Békéscsaba. In 1786, Nyíregyháza was granted the right to hold four market days a year; by this time the town was the biggest in the county, with 7,500 inhabitants. In the early 19th century, Nyíregyháza was wealthy enough to secure freedom from its feudal lords, the Dessewffy and Károlyi families. During these prosperous years, the town got a new town hall, a hospital, several schools, and a restaurant by nearby Sóstó lake ("Salty Lake").

The town's inhabitants took an active part in the revolution and war for independence in 1848–49, and after the suppression of the revolution, several were imprisoned, among them the mayor, Márton Hatzel.

In the second half of the 19th century, Nyíregyháza became more and more urbanized, and in 1876, became the seat of Szabolcs County (now part of the larger integrated county Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg). In 1858, the railroad line reached Nyíregyháza; several new buildings were built, including a telegraph office, the main post office, and the theater. In 1881 the population consisted of 24,102 people, of which 13,534 were Hungarians, 8,678 Slovaks, 389 Germans and 1,501 of other ethnicities. In 1911, the tramway network was complete. After the grim years of World War I and the Hungarian–Romanian War, Nyíregyháza remained under Romanian occupation for ten months. Between the two world wars, the city celebrated the 100th anniversary of its independence from feudal landowners.

During World War II, Jews were used as forced laborers by Hungarians. After the German invasion, more than 6,000 of the city's Jewish inhabitants were deported to Auschwitz. After the war, 2,000 Hungarians were sent to Soviet labor camps (colloquially called malenky robot, or "little work"). Several buildings were destroyed, too, including the Status Quo Synagogue, whose front wall was preserved and is now displayed in Nyíregyháza's Jewish Cemetery.

A monument in the memory of the Holocaust victims was constructed in 2004.

{| class="wikitable"

! style="background:#ccc" colspan="2" | Party

! style="background:#ccc" | Seats

! style="background:#ccc" colspan="16" | Current Municipal Assembly

|-

| style="background-color: | &nbsp;

|Fidesz-KDNP

| style="text-align: right" | 13

|style="background-color: |<span style="color:white;">M</span>

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|-

| style="background-color: #2D68C4 | &nbsp;

| Opposition coalition

| style="text-align: right" | 9

|style="background-color: #2D68C4 | &nbsp;

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List of mayors since 1990

{| class=wikitable

|-

! Member

! colspan=2 | Party

! Term of office

|-

| Zoltán Mádi

| style="background-color:" |

| Fidesz

| 1990–1994

|-

| Lászlóné Csabai

| style="background-color:" |

| MSZP

| 1994–2010

|-

| Ferenc Kovács

| style="background-color:" |

| Fidesz

| 2010–

|}

Sport

The city is home to Hübner Nyíregyháza BS, a First division basketball team that plays its home games at the Continental Arena. Football club Nyíregyháza Spartacus play in the country's top tier (in 2024-25) and their stadium is the Városi Stadion.

The Rally Hungary is a rally race headquartered in Nyíregyháza that is part of the European Rally Championship since 2019.

The Volán Sporttelep (Entrance on Czuczor Gergely utca) is an association football venue and former motorcycle speedway track. It has been a significant venue for speedway and has hosted many events, including qualifying rounds of the Speedway World Championship (the first in 1990) and a qualifying round of the Speedway World Team Cup in 1989. The last speedway is believed to have take place in 1997.

Twin towns – sister cities

Nyíregyháza is twinned with:

  • Baia Mare, Romania
  • Bielsko-Biała, Poland
  • Harbin, China
  • Iserlohn, Germany
  • Kajaani, Finland
  • Kiryat Motzkin, Israel
  • Prešov, Slovakia
  • Rzeszów, Poland
  • Satu Mare, Romania
  • St Albans, England, United Kingdom
  • Uzhhorod, Ukraine

Notable residents

<!---♦♦♦ Only add a person to this list if they already have their own article on the English Wikipedia ♦♦♦--->

<!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦--->

  • Gyula Benczúr - painter
  • Márton Fucsovics - professional tennis player
  • Dániel Gazdag - footballer
  • Miklós Kállay
  • Gyula Krúdy
  • Jozef Markuš (1944–2025), Slovak politician; born in Nyíregyháza
  • György Mitró
  • Gábor Nógrádi - author, screenwriter, playwright, essayist, publicist and poet

Broadcasting

Near Nyíregyháza, at , stands the radio mast. Built in 1952, it is a tall guyed mast radiator, used for broadcasting on 1251&nbsp;kHz (AM).

References and notes

;References

;Notes

Further reading

  • Bronze Age settlement and a former Sarmatian burial ground discovered in Nyíregyháza
  • Official site
  • Sóstó Thermal Bath
  • Nyíregyházi Hírportál - hírek - news
  • A portal site
  • Index-Kelet - local news
  • Happy Art Festival site in English
  • Bronze Age settlement and a former Sarmatian burial ground discovered in Nyíregyháza
  • Nyíregyháza at funiq.hu