List of administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Hungary


The following lists show the administrative divisions of the lands belonging to the Hungarian crown at selected points of time. The names are given in the main official language used in the Kingdom at the times in question.
For details on the functioning and development of the counties and some other administrative divisions see Counties of the Kingdom of Hungary.
around 1880

1038

Around 1074

Around 1074, the whole Kingdom of Hungary consisted of some 45-50 counties. The existence of many of them is disputed for this time period.

Counties

Frontier counties

The following castles are assumed to have been seats of frontier counties, it is probable that other castles were such seats as well :
In the late 14th and in the 15th century there were around 70 counties, out of which 7 under the voivodship of Transylvania, 7 under the banate of Slavonia, and the rest forming Hungary proper (mainly present-day Hungary and Slovakia, with 10 counties entirely and 11 partially in present-day Slovakia.

Counties

Hungary proper

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Transylvania

Croatia-Slavonia

Hungary proper

Their number was changing

16th–18th centuries

In the 16th century, the Kingdom was so gravely impacted by Ottoman conquest that its territory was reduced to almost a third of its previous size. By 1541, the remaining part was renamed Royal Hungary and ruled by the Habsburgs.

Captaincies (1547 – around 1700)

In 1547, Royal Hungary was divided for military and partly also administrative purposes in two captaincies-general :
Later on, these captaincies were further subdivided.
In 1553 and 1578, southern and southeastern regions were split off into the Military Frontier and were de facto no longer part of the Kingdom.
Also, after 1606 there were the following captaincies-general:
Note that many of the counties ceased to exist during the Turkish occupation. For administrative divisions on the Turkish territory see Ottoman Empire.
After the defeat of the Turks there were some 70 counties in the whole Kingdom of Hungary again. After the final defeat of the Turks in 1718, the three southern counties Temesiensis, Torontaliensis and Krassovinsis created the special administrative district Banatus Temesiensis. This district was dissolved again in 1779, but its southernmost part remained part of the Military Frontier till the late 19th century.
The following list does not show Transylvania. The "districtus" is only a traditional formal division. Note that some of the previous counties, e. g. the Zarandiensis, were part of Transylvania at this time.
Districtus Cis-Danubianus :
Districtus Trans-Danubianus :
Districtus Cis-Tybiscanus :
Districtus Trans-Tibiscanus :
Counties between the Drava and Sava :
These were privileged territories, which were totally exempt from the county system.
Their number was changing

Temporary administrative divisions (1785–1790)

The Kingdom of Hungary, including Croatia and Slavonia, was divided into 10 military/administrative districts:
Each district consisted of 4 to 7 counties, whose borders were changed in 1786. In 1790, the pre-1785 system was restored.

After the 1848/1849 Revolution

For details see Comitatus

1849–1860

During this period, Kingdom of Croatia, Kingdom of Slavonia, and the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banatus Temesiensis were separated from the Kingdom of Hungary and directly subordinated to Vienna. The remaining territory of the Kingdom of Hungary was divided into 5 Districts:
These Districts were divided into counties, whose traditional territories however were modified in 1850 and 1853.

1860–1867

In October 1860, the Districts were abolished and the pre-1848 counties were restored.

1867 – 1920

Since 1867 the administrative and political divisions of the lands belonging to the Hungarian crown have been in great measure remodelled. In 1868 Transylvania was definitely reunited to Hungary proper, and the town and district of Fiume declared autonomous. In 1873 part of the Military Frontier was united with Hungary proper and part with Croatia-Slavonia. Hungary proper, according to ancient usage, was generally divided into four great divisions or circles, and Transylvania up to 1876 was regarded as the fifth.
In 1876 a general system of counties was introduced. According to this division Hungary proper was divided into seven statistical regions having no administrative functions, of which Transylvania formed one.
The following administrative divisions existed between 1886 and 1920:

Rural Counties

In the following, the key in the brackets gives the capital towns around 1910 first and then the abbreviation for the country in which the territory is situated today:
  1. HU = present-day Hungary
  2. SK = present-day Slovakia
  3. UA = present-day Ukraine
  4. AT = present-day Austria
  5. RO = present-day Romania
  6. HR = present-day Croatia
  7. SR = present-day Serbia
  8. SI = present-day Slovenia
  9. PL = present-day Poland
The Kingdom of Hungary was divided into the following 71 counties:

Hungary proper

On the left bank of the Danube:
  1. Árva County
  2. Bars County
  3. Esztergom County
  4. Hont County
  5. Liptó County
  6. Nógrád County
  7. Nyitra County
  8. Pozsony County
  9. Trencsén County
  10. Turóc County
  11. Zólyom County
On the right bank of the Danube:
  1. Baranya County
  2. Fejér County
  3. Győr County
  4. Komárom County
  5. Moson County
  6. Somogy County
  7. Sopron County
  8. Tolna County
  9. Vas County
  10. Veszprém County
  11. Zala County
Between the Danube and Tisza:
  1. Bács-Bodrog County
  2. Csongrád County
  3. Heves County
  4. Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County
  5. Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun County
On the right bank of the Tisza:
  1. Abaúj-Torna County Note: formed in 1881 from the counties of Abaúj County and Torna County.
  2. Bereg County
  3. Borsod County
  4. Gömör és Kis-Hont County
  5. Sáros County
  6. Szepes County
  7. Ung County
  8. Zemplén County
On the left bank of the Tisza:
  1. Békés County
  2. Bihar County
  3. Hajdú County
  4. Máramaros County
  5. Szabolcs County
  6. Szatmár County
  7. Szilágy County
  8. Ugocsa County
Between the Tisza and the Maros:
  1. Arad County
  2. Csanád County
  3. Krassó-Szörény County Note: formed in 1880 from the counties of Krassó County and Szörény County.
  4. Temes County
  5. Torontál County
Királyhágón túl :
  1. Alsó-Fehér County
  2. Beszterce-Naszód County
  3. Brassó County
  4. Csík County
  5. Fogaras County
  6. Háromszék County
  7. Hunyad County
  8. Kis-Küküllő County
  9. Kolozs County
  10. Maros-Torda County
  11. Nagy-Küküllő County
  12. Szeben County
  13. Szolnok-Doboka County
  14. Torda-Aranyos County
  15. Udvarhely County

    Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia

Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia was divided into eight counties :
  1. Bjelovar-Križevci
  2. Lika-Krbava
  3. Modruš-Rijeka
  4. Požega
  5. Syrmia
  6. Varaždin
  7. Virovitica
  8. Zagreb

    Towns with municipal rights

The following 30 Hungarian towns had municipal rights:

Hungary proper

Hungary proper had twenty-six urban counties or towns with municipal rights.
These were:
In Croatia-Slavonia there were four urban counties or towns with municipal rights namely:
The town and district of Fiume formed a separate division. It was a subject of dispute between Hungary proper and Croatia-Slavonia and changed hands several times.