Baranya County

Template:Infobox Hungarian county Baranya (Croatian: Baranja, Serbian: Барања, Baranja, German: Branau) is the name of an administrative county (comitatus or megye) in present Hungary, in the Baranya region, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary (see: Baranya (former county)).

Baranya county lies in southern Hungary, on the border with Croatia. The river Drava forms part of its southern border, and the river Danube its eastern border. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Somogy, Tolna and Bács-Kiskun. The capital of Baranya county is Pécs.

Geography

The northern part of the county is a mountain area with large forests (Mecsek Mountains). The central areas are shared between Baranya Hills and Villány Mountains. The very eastern and southern parts are flat.

The highest point in the county is the peak named "Zengő" in Mecsek Mountains, at 682 metres. This is also the highest point of the mountain range in question.

The climate is Mediterranean, with a high number of sunshine hours. Baranya has the highest amount of rainfall in the country. Baranya is rich in mineral and thermal water, and also in other resources, 98% of Hungary's coal resources can be found here.

History

The area has been inhabited since ancient times. Before the Hungarian tribes conquered the area, it was inhabited by Slav people. Stephen I founded an episcopal seat here.

In 1526 the county was occupied by Ottomans, and was freed in 1689. Its medieval borders remained unchanged until 1919. According to the peace treaty of Trianon the southern part of the county (1163 km²) was lost. The re-organizing of the counties (1950) brought only minor changes.

Baranya has the largest number of minorities in Hungary (more than twice the country average), providing home to 34% of the German minority and 32% of the Southern Slav minorities in Hungary.

Demographics

In 2001, the population of Baranya county numbered 407,448 inhabitants, including: [1]

Hungarians = 375,611 (92.19%)
Germans = 22,720 (5.58%)
Roma = 10,623 (2.61%)
Croats = 7,294 (1.79%)
others.

Regional structure

Like Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Baranya is a county of extremes when it comes to regional structure. The county seat is one of the five largest cities (and three largest agglomerations) of Hungary, but more than 2/3 of the municipalities are small hamlets with a population under 500. Half of the county's population lives in the county seat or in its immediate vicinity, while 22% of the population lives in villages that have less than 1000 inhabitants.