Szabolcs was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now part of Hungary, except for three villages which are in the Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine. The capital of the county was Nyíregyháza.

Geography

thumb|left|alt=Map of Szabolcs county in the Kingdom of Hungary|Map of Szabolcs, 1891.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Szabolcs county shared borders with the counties of Borsod, Zemplén, Ung, Bereg, Szatmár, Bihar and Hajdú. It was situated mostly south of the river Tisza. Its area was around 1910.

Prior to the Hungarian administrative reforms of 1876 Szabolcs controlled some additional territory to the south-west giving it borders with Heves and Külső-Szolnok and the Nagykunság (part of the Jászkunság from 1745), as well as a small section of border with Békés. This territory largely became part of Hajdú when it was established in 1876. The ('Hajdú district', not to be confused with the later Hajdú county) existed mostly as an enclave of Szabolcs, with some exclaves lying between Szabolcs and Bihar.

In the 1850 reforms which followed the revolutions of 1848 the Hajdú district was attached to Szabolcs. In the reforms of 1854 Szabolcs lost its western territory, including the Hajdúkerület and the later Dada alsó district (the salient along the Tisza) to the newly-established North Bihar county. The traditional counties of Hungary were restored in 1860, reversing these changes.

History

Szabolcs is one of the oldest counties of the Kingdom of Hungary. In the 17th century, the towns of Hajdú separated from the county, creating the Hajdú district. The capital of Szabolcs County was initially Szabolcs (now a village), later Nagykálló took over this role (1747-1867), and since 1867 the capital was moved to Nyíregyháza.

In the 18th and early 19th century Szabolcs was part of the ('circle/district beyond the Tisza'), one of four such districts within the Kingdom of Hungary.

From 1850 to 1860 Szabolcs was part of the Military District of Großwardein. Also, Szabolcs County had a sizeable population of Greek Catholics, who were of Ruthenian and Romanian origin and who became almost entirely Magyarized by the end of the 19th century.

thumb|right|200 px|Ethnic map of the county with data of the 1910 census (see the key in the description).

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Population by mother tongue

! Census !! Total !! Hungarian !! Slovak !! Other or unknown

|-

! 1880

| 214,008 || 186,529 (90.83%) || 13,087 (6.37%) || 5,740 (2.80%)

|-

! 1890

| 244,945 || 234,920 (95.91%) || 6,897 (2.82%) || 3,128 (1.28%)

|-

! 1900

| 288,672 || 285,023 (98.74%) || 2,066 (0.72%) || 1,583 (0.55%)

|-

! 1910

| 319,818 || 316,765 (99.05%) || 1,117 (0.35%) || 1,936 (0.61%)

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Population by religion

! Census !! Total !! Calvinist !! Roman Catholic !! Greek Catholic !! Jewish !! Lutheran !! Other or unknown

|-

! 1880

| 214,008 || 84,674 (39.57%) || 54,920 (25.66%) || 39,829 (18.61%) || 20,119 (9.40%) || 14,055 (6.57%) || 411 (0.19%)

|-

! 1890

| 244,945 || 96,435 (39.37%) || 65,119 (26.59%) || 46,597 (19,02%) || 21,178 (8.65%) || 15,490 (6.32%) || 126 (0.05%)

|-

! 1900

| 288,672 || 110,942 (38.43%) || 80,509 (27.89%) || 56,515 (19.58%) || 23,277 (8.06%) || 17,239 (5.97%) || 190 (0.07%)

|-

! 1910

| 319,818 || 121,396 (37.96%) || 90,560 (28.32%) || 63,353 (19.81%) || 25,316 (7.92%) || 18,924 (5.92%) || 269 (0.08%)

|-

|}

Subdivisions

right|500px

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Szabolcs county were:

{| class="wikitable"

!colspan=2|Districts (járás)

|-

! District!! Capital

|-

|Dada alsó||Tiszalök

|-

|Dada felső||Gáva

|-

|Kisvárda||Kisvárda

|-

|Ligetalja||Nyíracsád

|-

|Nagykálló||Nagykálló

|-

|Nyírbakta||Nyírbakta

|-

|Nyírbátor||Nyírbátor

|-

|Nyírbogdány||Kemecse

|-

|Tisza||Mándok

|-

!colspan=2|Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város)

|-

|colspan=2|Nyíregyháza

|-

|}

Notes

References

  • Szabolcs Vármegye és Á Hajdu Városk Kerülete (Comitatus Szabolcsensis et Districtus Oppidorum Hajdonicalium): a map showing Szabolcs and the Hajdúkerület (at the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection)