Nógrád County

Nógrád County

Nógrád vármegye
Nógrád County Nógrád vármegye
County
	Descending, from top: hills near Hollókő, Castle of Drégely, view of Hollókő
	Flag Coat of arms
	Nógrád County within Hungary
Country	Hungary
Region	Northern Hungary
County seat	Salgótarján
Districts	6 districts Balassagyarmat District; Bátonyterenye District; Pásztó District; Rétság District; Salgótarján District; Szécsény District;
Government
• President of the General Assembly	Nándor Skuczi (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
• Total	2,545.48 km2 (982.82 sq mi)
• Rank	18th in Hungary
Population (2018)
• Total	190,947
• Rank	19th in Hungary
GDP
• Total	HUF 303 billion; €0.972 billion (2016)
Postal code	2175 – 2179, 2610, 2611, 2616 – 2619, 264x – 269x, 304x – 31xx
Area code(s)	(+36) 32, 35
ISO 3166 code	HU-NO
Website	www.nograd.hu

Nógrád (Hungarian: Nógrád vármegye, pronounced [ˈnoːɡraːd]; Slovak: Novohradská župa) is a county (Hungarian: vármegye) of Hungary. It sits on the northern edge of Hungary and borders Slovakia.

Description

Nógrád county lies in northern Hungary. It shares borders with Slovakia and the Hungarian counties Pest, Heves and Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén. The capital of Nógrád county is Salgótarján. Its area is 2,544 km². It is the smallest county by population and the second smallest by area (after Komárom-Esztergom).

Nógrád is famous for its historic architecture of ancient Gothic churches and stone castles dated to the 13th century. Some historic landmarks includes the Salgó Castle and several baroque buildings constructed in the 18th century and the Vay, Teleki. Much of the northern border of the county is formed by the river Ipoly. The mountain ranges Börzsöny, Cserhát and Mátra lie partly in the county.

Due to the mountains, the county is characterised by small villages nestled in the valleys. The two largest settlements are Balassagyarmat, the former county seat, and Salgótarján, which has become a center of industry in the early 20th century due to coal mines nearby.

History

Nógrád (-Hungarian, in Latin: comitatus Neogradiensis, in German: Neuburg or Neograd, in Slovak: Novohrad) was also the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. The name stems from the former Nógrád castle (Slovak: Novohrad - this name is still used in Slovakia as well as the informal designation of the corresponding territory, now located in southern Slovakia and in northern Hungary). In turn, Novohrad means "new town" in Slovak.

Demographics

Religion in Nógrád County (2022 census – of those who declared their religion (63.6%))

Roman Catholic (66.8%)

Lutheran (5.2%)

Calvinistic (3.0%)

Faith Church (1.4%)

Other Christian denomination (4.1%)

Other religion (0.3%)

Not religious (19.2%)

In 2015, it had a population of 195,923 and the population density was 77/km².

Year	County population^[3]	Change
1949	214,757	n/a
1960	235,675	9.74%
1970	234,430	-0.53%
1980	240,251 (record)	2.48%
1990	227,137	-5.46%
2001	220,261	-3.03%
2011	202,427	-8.10%
2015	195,923	-3.31%
2018	190,947	-2.60%

Ethnicity

Besides the Hungarian majority, the main minorities are the Roma (approx. 15,000), Slovak (2,500) and German (1,000).

Total population (2011 census): 202,427
Ethnic groups (2011 census):^[4] Identified themselves: 192,438 persons:

Hungarians: 172,946 (89.87%)
Gypsies: 15.177 (7.89%)
Slovaks: 2,644 (1.37%)
Others and indefinable: 1,671 (0.87%)

Approx. 26,000 persons in Nógrád County did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

Religion

Religious adherence in the county according to 2011 census:^[5]

Catholic – 112,640 (Roman Catholic – 112,241; Greek Catholic – 389);
Evangelical – 7,858;
Reformed – 4,167;
Other religions – 3,672;
Non-religious – 24,717;
Atheism – 1,740;
Undeclared – 47,633.

Regional structure

№	English and Hungarian names	Area (km²)	Population (2011)	Density (pop./km²)	Seat	№ of municipalities
1	Balassagyarmat District Balassagyarmati járás	532.94	40,326	76	Balassagyarmat	29
2	Bátonyterenye District Bátonyterenyei járás	215.45	21,789	101	Bátonyterenye	8
3	Pásztó District Pásztói járás	551.56	31,729	58	Pásztó	26
4	Rétság District Rétsági járás	435.03	24,395	56	Rétság	25
5	Salgótarján District Salgótarjáni járás	525.23	64,601	123	Salgótarján	29
6	Szécsény District Szécsényi járás	285.26	19,587	69	Szécsény	14
Nógrád County		2,545.48	202,427	80	Salgótarján	131

Politics

The Nógrád County Council, elected at the 2024 local government elections^[6], is made up of 15 counselors,^[7] with the following party composition:

Party		Seats	Current County Assembly
	Fidesz-KDNP	10
	Our Homeland Movement	3
	Democratic Coalition	1
	Momentum Movement	1

Presidents of the General Assembly

List of presidents since 1990^[8]^[9]
Ferenc Korill (SZDSZ)	1990–1994
Sándor Smitnya (SZDSZ)	1994–1998
Zsolt Becsó (Fidesz)	1998–2002
Ottó Dóra (MSZP)	2002–2006
Zsolt Becsó (Fidesz-KDNP)	2006–2014
Nándor Skuczi (Fides-KDNP)	2014–