County coat of arms
'Bács-Kiskun' is a county (''megye'' in
Hungarian; ) located in southern
Hungary. It was created as a result of
World War II, merging the pre war
Bács-Bodrog and
Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun counties. With an area of 8,445
km², Bács-Kiskun is the largest
county in the
country. The terrain is mostly flat with slight emergences around
Baja. The
county seat and largest city of Bács-Kiskun is
Kecskemét.
The county is also part of the
Danube-Kris-Mures-Tisa euroregion.
Geography
Main articles: Geography of Bács-Kiskun
The county is known across
Europe for its natural beauty.
Kiskunság National Park is located in the area.
Location
Bács-Kiskun borders
Baranya,
Tolna, and
Fejér on the west (across the
Danube River);
Pest to the north,
Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and
Csongrád on the east, across the
Tisza River. To the south Bács-Kiskun shares the international border with
Serbia.
Bács-Kiskun lies on the
Great Hungarian Plain. The difference between its highest and lowest elevations is only 80 m.
Rivers
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Danube
★
Tisza
Lakes
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Lake Szelid
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Lake Vadkert
History
Main articles: History of Bács-Kiskun
Bács-Kiskun county was created after
World War II from the pre-1938 counties
Bács-Bodrog and
Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun (southern half).
Demographics
Although the population is decreasing, the
birth rate in the county is positive, unlike in any other regions in Hungary.
Ethnicity
The population of the county is almost , with a
Hungarian majority. Some
Croatian and
German people live around
Hajós and
Baja.
Religion
The people of Bács-Kiskun are predominantly
Christians, belonging to several different
denominations.
=Economy=
Main articles: Economy of Bács-Kiskun
Bács-Kiskun county accounted for 3.7% of the Gross Value Added of
Hungary in 2001. With almost EUR 1.9 billion, the GVA in Bács-Kiskun had increased by 50% compared to 1995.
Sector
The
primary sector accounted for 12.3% of the Gross Value Added of the county in 2001, and this was the highest share of any county. However, this share is declining over the years: it was 15.6% in 1995.
The share of the secondary sector is relatively constant over the years, with 30.9% of the Gross Value Added in 2001 (compared to 29.5% in 1995). The tertiary sector's GVA has increased most, although it still had a low share (56.8%) compared to the country as a whole (64.4%).
Economic diversity
Service and trade
Service and
trade are the dominant sectors of Bács-Kiskun's economy, where privatisation occurred first.
80% of the
industrial output is represented by the
food,
machine,
wood, and printing industries. The more substantial companies in the region attracted more
investment. In the course of privatisation the
Kecskemét cannery was purchased by
Heinz, the Kiskunhalas textile mill partially by
Levi's. During the
privatisation, the Danube Knitting Mill in
Baja was acquired by an American financial investment group
Among the industrial companies operating in the area of Baja are UNILEVER Rt. producing deep
frozen products, the
Bread factory of Bácska Sütoipari Rt., the
abattoir of DÉLHÚS and the 'Pannonia Brewery'. The local government of
Baja are encouraging the expansion of foreign capital by reducing local taxes.
There are approximately 39 600 firms in the county, representing 4.6% of the national total. The majority of companies employ only several people; indeed, 95% have 10 or fewer employees. Two per cent of companies belong in the medium category, employing between 21 and 50 people, while the number and proportion of those employing 300 or more is very small.
Agriculture
Fruit,
vegetable,
corn and
wheat production are the most successful branches of the region's
agriculture. Compared to the other Hungarian counties, Bács-Kiskun has the second largest number of
pigs (10% of the Hungarian pig stock) and 7% of
cattle stock. The stock of
sheep made up 194,000 at the end of
2002, 17.6% of Hungary's total stock and the largest in
Hungary.
=Transport=
Road
On account of its central location, a great deal of the nation's traffic necessarily crosses the county. The total length of main
roads in the county was 2 213 kilometres in 2002 so for every 100 square kilometres of land area, there are 26 kilometres of main road. Despite the fact that a great deal of labour has gone into improving the quality of the roads in the last decade, there has been a deterioration in their condition on account of their intensive use. Fifty-six kilometres of motorways crossed the county in 2002, making the road link with
Serbia and the
Balkans.
Highway M5 and Road 5 go through Bács-Kiskun. There are many second-class roads throughout the county, that way easy excess is available to every village. The international railroad
Budapest-
Subotica-
Belgrade and the national rainroad
Budapest-
Cegléd-
Szeged pass through Bács-Kiskun as well.
Rail
The length of railways was of 641
kilometres in
2001 (32% electrified) and the most important lines in the county are between
Budapest and
Szeged and the route of the international express trains crossing Hungary in northwestern-southeastern direction leading to
Belgrade. In addition to the main and secondary lines, there are a number of narrow gauge tracks for 'nostalgia trains' which operate as
tourist attractions.
Baja is the most important traffic junction of the southern part of the country. Its
rail and
public road junction is especially important due to the presence of the
Danube bridge which provides a link between the
Southern Great Plain and the
Transdanubian region. The city has the best-equipped port in the country, where further development possibilities await the investors. At present a 120 places ro-ro port terminal is under construction.
Air
The only
airport in the county, in
Kecskemét, is a
military one, chiefly used for the delivery of goods and occasionally for receiving civil aircraft. However, the county can be reached from
Ferihegy Airport from
Budapest.
Law and Government
Main articles: Government of Bács-Kiskun
The county is governed by the
County board of supervisors, which is located in the
county seat.
Important cities and towns
Two-thirds of the population lives in the twenty cities/towns, among which the largest is the county seat, Kecskemét, where one-sixth of the total population resides. The town with the largest population density is
Kalocsa (353/km²), the lowest population density is in the village of
Újsolt (6/km²). City/towns have an average population density of 126, while villages have an average of 36/km².
Even though Bács-Kiskun is the fifth largest county of Hungary by population, the population density is less than half of the country's average. The villages are typically large. 13% of the population lives on farms and homesteads.
City with county rights
Aerial photography: Kecskemét - Hungary
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Kecskemét (
county seat)
Cities and towns
(ordered by population, according to the
2001 census)
| Baja (38,143) | | Kunszentmiklós (9,078) |
| Kiskunfélegyháza (32,081) | | Soltvadkert (7,782) |
| Kiskunhalas (29,688) | | Bácsalmás (7,694) |
| Kalocsa (18,449) | | Solt (7,063) |
| Kiskőrös (15,263) | | Szabadszállás (6,680) |
| Kiskunmajsa (21,091) | | Izsák (6,187) |
| Tiszakécske (11,878) | | Kerekegyháza (6,051) |
| Lajosmizse (11,159) | | Tompa (4,899) |
| Jánoshalma (9,866) | | Dunavecse (4,249) |
| Kecel (9,259) | | |
Villages
Education
Colleges and universities
Professional sport teams
Miscellaneous topics
List of famous residents
Main articles: List of people from Bács-Kiskun
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József Bayer, member of
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
★
Jenő Ernst, doctor,
biologist, member of
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
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András Gáspár, Hungarian
General
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János Hornyik, historian
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Dénes Jánossy, mailing member of
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
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András Jelky, a man who travelled around the world in a strange way (1730-1783)
★
József Katona,
author
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László Kelemen, president of the first Hungarian
Theater
★
Zoltán Kodály,
composer, ethnomusicologist, educator,
linguist and philosopher
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Kálmán Latabár,
actor,
comedian
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Béla Magyari,
cosmonaut
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Lázár Mészáros, Hungary's first
Minister of War
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Dezső Miskolczy, explorer of
mental disease, member of
Hungarian Academy of Sciences
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Ferenc Móra,
novelist
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Sándor Petőfi, Hungarian national
poet
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Emma Sándor,
composer, wife of
Zoltán Kodály
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Ede Telcs,
sculptor
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Kálmán Tóth, famous
poet
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István Türr,
Garibaldi's general
See also
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List of Bács-Kiskun-related topics
★
List of people from Bács-Kiskun
★
Administrative divisions of the Kingdom of Hungary
References
External links
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Official site in English, Hungarian, German, and French
★
Information in English, Hungarian, and German
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