Kecel

Kecel
Aerial view
Coat of arms
Kecel Location of Kecel
Coordinates: 46.533°N 19.25°E / 46.533; 19.25
Country	Hungary
County	Bács-Kiskun
Area
• Total	114.48 km2 (44.20 sq mi)
Population (2008)
• Total	8,892
• Density	78.42/km2 (203.1/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	6237
Area code(s)	78

Kecel is a town in Bács-Kiskun county, in southern Hungary.

Croats in Hungary call this town Kecelj.

History

The first documents mentioning Kecel date back to 1198. Like many other Hungarian towns, Kecel has lost its population during the Turkish Conquest. On April 22, 1734 Gábor Patachich, the bishop of Kalocsa issued papers reestablishing the town of Kecel. At the time, most people made their living by keeping domesticated animals. However, the rising population made this extremely hard, so people committed themselves to farming which still remains the main industry in Kecel. In 1802 a number of new buildings were built including: the Roman Catholic church, the Town Hall, the first school, post office, and the police and fire stations. The railroad also reached Kecel.

Demographics

As of the census of 2001, there were 9,259 people and 3,600 households.