Szatmár County


Szatmár County was an administrative county of the Kingdom of Hungary, situated south of the river Tisza. Most of its territory is now divided between Romania and Hungary, while a very small area is part of Ukraine.
The capital of the county was Nagykároly, today called Carei.

Geography

After 1876 Szatmár county shared borders with the former Hungarian counties Szabolcs, Bereg, Ugocsa, Máramaros, Szolnok-Doboka, Szilágy and Bihar. It was situated south of the river Tisza. The river Szamos flowed through the county. Its area was 6257 km² around 1910.

History

In 1920 the Treaty of Trianon assigned most of the territory of the county to Romania, while the village of Nagypalád was passed to Czechoslovakia in 1921 after border adjustment agreement with Romania. According to the agreement also Akli and villages were passed to Czechoslovakia; whereas Bocskó, Ugocsakomlós, Avaspatak, Nagytarna ones and several municipalities in were passed to Romania.
The northwest of the county remained in Hungary, and formed the new county Szatmár-Ugocsa-Bereg in 1923 with parts of the former Bereg and Ugocsa counties. The capital of this county was Mátészalka, which was previously in Szatmár county. By the First Vienna Award, Nagypalád was returned to Hungary and the county was recreated and later expanded with the Romanian part by the Second Vienna Award in 1940. After the end of World War II this part became again part of Romania and Nagypalád were passed to the Soviet Union, while the remaining territory in Hungary was renamed to Szatmár-Bereg county.
In 1950, Szatmár-Bereg County was merged with large parts of Szabolcs county to form Szabolcs-Szatmár county. This county was renamed Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg in the 1990s.
The Romanian part of the county is now part of the Romanian county Satu Mare, except the easternmost part, which is in Maramureş county.

Demographics

In 1900, the county had a population of 367,570 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:
According to the census of 1900, the county was composed of the following religious communities:
In 1910, county had a population of 396,632 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:
According to the census of 1910, the county was composed of the following religious communities:
In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Szatmár county were:
Csenger, Fehérgyarmat and Mátészalka are now in Hungary; the other towns mentioned are now in Romania.