Bars County

Coordinates: 48°23′N 18°24′E / 48.383°N 18.400°E / 48.383; 18.400
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bars County
Comitatus Barsiensis (Latin)
Bars vármegye (Hungarian)
Komitat Bars (German)
Tekovská župa (Slovak)
County of the Kingdom of Hungary
11th century–1920
Coat of arms of Bars
Coat of arms

CapitalBars;
Léva (1321–1580);
Kis-Tapolcsan (1580–1735)
Aranyosmarót (1735–1920)
Area
 • Coordinates48°23′N 18°24′E / 48.383°N 18.400°E / 48.383; 18.400
 
• 1910
2,724 km2 (1,052 sq mi)
Population 
• 1910
178,500
History 
• Established
11th century
4 June 1920
Today part ofSlovakia
Starý Tekov; Levice; Topoľčianky; Zlaté Moravce are the current name of the capital.

Bars (Latin: comitatus Barsiensis, Hungarian: Bars, Slovak: Tekov, German: Barsch) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in central and southern Slovakia. Today in Slovakia, Tekov is the informal designation of the corresponding territory.

Geography[edit]

Map of Bars county in the Kingdom of Hungary (1891)
Map of Bars, 1891.
Former county of Bars superimposed on map of contemporary Slovakia

Bars County shared borders with the Hungarian counties of Nyitra, Turóc, Zólyom, Hont, Esztergom and Komárom. It was situated along the Garam river between Hont in the east, Körmöcbánya and Felsőbesenyő in the north (which were part of the county), the Zsitva river in the west, and Zsitvabesenyő and Bény in the south (which was not part of the county). The rivers Garam and Zsitva ran through the county. The county was characterised by mining. Around 1910, its area was 2,724 km2 (1,052 sq mi).

Capitals[edit]

The capital of the county was the Bars Castle, then the Léva Castle, then from the late 16th century Kistapolcsány and since the 18th century Aranyosmarót.

History[edit]

The county arose in the 11th century. The southern part of this county was occupied by Ottoman Empire between 1663 and 1685 and managed as Uyvar Eyalet by her. In the aftermath of World War I, the area became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia, as recognized by the concerned states in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon.

Following the provisions of the First Vienna Award, the southern part of the area was returned to Hungary in November 1938. This was merged with the southern part of the former Hont county to form Bars-Hont county, with the capital Léva.

After World War II, the Trianon borders were restored and the area lay again completely in Czechoslovakia. In 1993, Czechoslovakia was split and Tekov became part of Slovakia.

Demographics[edit]

Ethnic map of the county with data of the 1910 census (see the key in the description)
Population by mother tongue[a]
Census Total Slovak Hungarian German Other or unknown
1880[1] 142,691 79,108 (57,05%) 42,118 (30.37%) 16,863 (12.16%) 576 (0.42%)
1890[2] 152,910 87,016 (56.91%) 47,611 (31.14%) 17,561 (11.48%) 722 (0.47%)
1900[3] 165,122 94,879 (57.46%) 52,317 (31.68%) 17,325 (10.49%) 601 (0.36%)
1910[4] 178,500 97,824 (54.80%) 62,022 (34.75%) 17,366 (9.73%) 1,288 (0.72%)
Population by religion[b]
Census Total Roman Catholic Calvinist Jewish Lutheran Other or unknown
1880 142,691 118,284 (82.90%) 16,491 (11.56%) 4,927 (3.45%) 2,738 (1.92%) 251 (0.18%)
1890 152,910 127,761 (83.55%) 16,920 (11.07%) 5,157 (3.37%) 3,030 (1.98%) 42 (0.03%)
1900 165,122 139,729 (84.62%) 17,018 (10.31%) 5,191 (3.14%) 3,115 (1.89%) 69 (0.04%)
1910 178,500 153,286 (85.87%) 16,795 (9.41%) 4,969 (2.78%) 3,253 (1.82%) 197 (0.11%)

Subdivisions[edit]

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

Districts (járás)
District Capital
  Aranyosmarót Aranyosmarót (now Zlaté Moravce)
  Garamszentkereszt Garamszentkereszt (now Žiar nad Hronom)
  Léva Léva (now Levice)
  Oszlány Oszlány (now Oslany)
  Verebély Verebély (now Vráble)
Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város)
  Körmöcbánya (now Kremnica)
  Léva (now Levice)
  Újbánya (now Nová Baňa)

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Only linguistic communities > 1% are displayed.
  2. ^ Only religious communities > 1% are displayed.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Az 1881. év elején végrehajtott népszámlálás főbb eredményei megyék és községek szerint rendezve, II. kötet (1882)". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  2. ^ "A Magyar Korona országainak helységnévtára (1892)". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  3. ^ "A MAGYAR KORONA ORSZÁGAINAK 1900". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  4. ^ "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 29 September 2021.