Békéscsaba

Békéscsaba
Békéscsaba
	Aerial view
; Coat of arms	; City limit sign (rovas script)
	Békéscsaba Location of Békéscsaba
	Coordinates: 46°40′44″N 21°05′28″E / 46.679°N 21.091°ECoordinates: 46°40′44″N 21°05′28″E / 46.679°N 21.091°E
Country	Hungary
County	Békés
	Area
• Total	193.94 km2 (74.88 sq mi)
	Population (2012)
• Total	63,752
• Rank	14th
• Density	342/km2 (890/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	5600
Area code(s)	66

Békéscsaba (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbeːkeːʃˌtʃɒbɒ]; German: Tschabe, Romanian: Bichişciaba, Slovak: Békešská Čaba) is a city in Southeast Hungary, the capital of the county Békés.

Geography [edit]

Evangelical churches, the symbols of the city

Theatre

Gyula Andrássy High School

Catholic church

According to the 2001 census, the city has a total area of 193.94 km² (75 sq mi).

Name [edit]

The name of the city comes from the word "Békés", which means "peaceful" in Hungarian, and "Csaba", a popular Hungarian male given name of Turkish origin.

History [edit]

Trianon memorial, Békéscsaba

The area has been inhabited since the ancient times. In the Iron Age the area had been conquered by the Scythians, by the Celts, then by the Huns. After the Hungarian Conquest, there were many small villages in the area.

The village of Csaba was first mentioned in the 1330s. Besides Csaba, eight other villages stood where now the town stands. When the Turks conquered the southern and central parts of Hungary, and these territories became part of the Ottoman Empire, the town survived, but it became extinct during the fights against the Turks in the 17th century.

In 1715, Csaba is mentioned as a deserted place, but only one year later its name can be found in a document mentioning the tax-paying towns. It is likely that the new Csaba was founded by János György Harruckern, who earned distinction in the freedom fight against the Turks and bought the area of Békés county. By 1847, the town was among the twenty largest towns of Hungary, with a population of 22,000. Nevertheless, Csaba was still like a large village, with muddy streets and crowded houses.

By 1858, the railway line reached the town. This brought development; new houses and factories were built, the town began to prosper. Still, by the end of the 19th century the unemployment caused great tension, and in 1891 a revolt was oppressed by the help of Romanian soldiers. One of the most important person in the politics of the town was András L. Áchim, who founded a peasants' party and succeeded in having Békéscsaba elevated to the rank of "city with council".

World War I brought suffering to the town. Between 1919 and 1920, Békéscsaba was under Romanian occupation. After the Treaty of Trianon, Hungary lost its most important Southern cities, Arad and Oradea, and Békéscsaba had to take over their roles, becoming the most important town of the area.

Between the two world wars the recession caused poverty and unemployment, and a flood in 1925 did not help either.

Battles were not fought in the area during World War II. However, several events occurred in the town in 1944: between 24 and 26 June 1944, over 3,000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz.

On 21 September 1944, the British and American Air Force bombed the railway station and its surroundings, killing more than 100 people. On 6 October 1944, the Soviet army occupied Békéscsaba.

During the Socialist times, Békéscsaba became the county seat of Békés (1950) and began to develop into one of the most important centres of food industry of Hungary. After the change of regime in 1990, the industry nearly collapsed and many people lost their jobs. However, today the crisis seems to be over and Békéscsaba is prospering again.^{[citation needed]}

Population [edit]

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1870	27,624	—
1880	29,490	+6.8%
1890	30,979	+5.0%
1900	32,653	+5.4%
1910	37,153	+13.8%
1920	40,915	+10.1%
1930	45,711	+11.7%
1941	48,272	+5.6%
1949	42,118	−12.7%
1960	50,212	+19.2%
1970	58,158	+15.8%
1980	67,225	+15.6%
1990	67,157	−0.1%
2001	67,968	+1.2%
2011	64,074	−5.7%