Somogy County

Somogy County

Somogy vármegye
Somogy County Somogy vármegye
Counties of Hungary
	Descending, from top: Sunset in Lake Balaton, Somogyvár Abbey, and Downtown of Kaposvár
	Flag Coat of arms
	Somogy County within Hungary
	Coordinates: 46°25′N 17°35′E / 46.417°N 17.583°E
Country	Hungary
Region	Southern Transdanubia
County seat	Kaposvár
Districts	8 districts Barcs District; Csurgó District; Fonyód District; Kaposvár District; Marcali District; Nagyatád District; Siófok District; Tab District;
Government
• Body	Somogy County Council
• President of the General Assembly	Norbert Bíró (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
• Total	6,065.07 km2 (2,341.74 sq mi)
• Rank	5th in Hungary
Population (2018)
• Total	303,802
• Rank	13th in Hungary
GDP
• Total	HUF 683 billion; €2.195 billion (2016)
Postal code	7253 – 729x, 74xx – 75xx, 7918, 7977 – 7979, 86xx – 873x, 884x – 885x
Area code(s)	(+36) 82, 84, 85
ISO 3166 code	HU-SO
Website	www.som-onkorm.hu

Somogy (Hungarian: Somogy vármegye, pronounced [ˈʃomoɟ]; Croatian: Šomođska županija; Slovene: Šomodska županija, German: Komitat Schomodei) is an administrative county (comitatus or vármegye) in present Hungary, and also in the former Kingdom of Hungary.

Somogy County lies in south-western Hungary, on the border with Croatia's Koprivnica-Križevci and Virovitica-Podravina counties. It stretches between the river Dráva and the southern shore of Lake Balaton. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties of Zala, Veszprém, Fejér, Tolna, and Baranya. Somogy is the most sparsely populated county in Hungary. The county capital is Kaposvár. Its area is 6,036 km².

History

Somogy was also the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory, which was slightly larger than that of present Somogy County, is now in south-western Hungary. The capital of that county was also Kaposvár.

Aerial photograph of Kaposvár.

Demographics

Religion in Somogy County (2022 census – of those who declared their religion (62.0%))

Roman Catholic (63.5%)

Calvinistic (9.5%)

Lutheran (2.6%)

Other Christian denomination (3.8%)

Other religion (0.5%)

Not religious (20.1%)

In 2015, it had a population of 312,084 and the population density was 52/km².

Year	County population^[3]	Change
1949	361,213	n/a
1960	368,183 (record)	1.93%
1970	357,009	-3.03%
1980	360,270	0.91%
1990	344,708	-4.32%
2001	335,237	-2.75%
2011	316,137	-5.70%
2015	312,084	-1.29%
2018	303,802	-2.72%

Ethnicity

Besides the Hungarian majority, the main minorities are the Roma (approx. 16,000), Germans (3,000) and Croats (1,500).

Total population (2011 census): 316,137
Ethnic groups (2011 census):^[4] Identified themselves: 287,692 persons:

Hungarians: 265,464 (92,27%)
Romani: 16,167 (5,62%)
Germans: 3,039 (1,06%)
Others and indefinable: 3,022 (1,05%)

Approx. 46,000 persons in Somogy County did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

Religion

Religious adherence in the county according to 2011 census:^[5]

Catholic – 168,307 (Roman Catholic – 167,719; Greek Catholic – 546);
Reformed – 21,176;
Evangelical – 5,807;
other religions – 3,829;
Non-religious – 35,503;
Atheism – 3,056;
Undeclared – 78,459.

Regional structure

Districts of Somogy County

No.	English and Hungarian names	Area (km²)	Population (2011)	Density (pop./km²)	Seat	No. of municipalities
1	Barcs District Barcsi járás	696.47	23,793	34	Barcs	26
2	Csurgó District Csurgói járás	496.19	16,862	34	Csurgó	18
3	Fonyód District Fonyódi járás	645.44	33,785	52	Fonyód	21
4	Kaposvár District Kaposvári járás	1,591.36	118,496	74	Kaposvár	78
5	Marcali District Marcali járás	904.24	34,472	38	Marcali	37
6	Nagyatád District Nagyatádi járás	647.07	26,003	40	Nagyatád	18
7	Siófok District Siófoki járás	657.05	51,099	78	Siófok	24
8	Tab District Tabi járás	427.24	12,797	30	Tab	24
Somogy County		6,065.07	312,084	52	Kaposvár	245

Politics

Somogy County Hall

The Somogy County Council, elected at the 2019 local government elections, is made up of 15 counselors, with the following party composition:^[6]

	Party	Seats	Current County Assembly
	Fidesz-KDNP	9
	Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik)	3
	Association for Somogy (Somogyért)	2
	Momentum Movement (MM)	1
	Democratic Coalition (DK)	1

Presidents of the General Assembly

List of presidents since 1990^[7]
István Gyenesei (Independent)	1990–1994
István Kolber (MSZP)	1994–1998
István Gyenesei (Somogyért)	1998–2006
Attila Gelencsér (Fidesz-KDNP)	2006–2014
Norbert Bíró (Fidesz-KDNP)	2014–

Municipalities

Somogy County has 1 urban county, 15 towns, 2 large villages and 227 villages.

City with county rights

(ordered by population, as of 2011 census)

Kaposvár (66,245) – county seat

Towns

Siófok (25,045)
Marcali (11,736)
Barcs (11,420)
Nagyatád (11,032)
Balatonboglár (5,736)
Balatonlelle (5,217)
Csurgó (5,214)
Fonyód (4,793)
Tab (4,533)
Nagybajom (3,330)
Lengyeltóti (3,050)
Kadarkút (2,653)
Zamárdi (2,386)
Balatonföldvár (2,207)
Igal (1,270)

Villages

municipalities are large villages.

Gallery

Kaposvár, the capital of the county
Siófok, the Capital of Balaton
Lake Balaton near Balatonföldvár
Kőröshegy Viaduct in Kőröshegy
House of József Rippl-Rónai
Traditional Hungarian house in Istvándi
Pusztatemplom of the Árpád era near Somogyvámos
Lake Balaton at Balatonvilágos

International relations

Somogy County has a partnership relationship with:

Gansu Municipality, China^[8]

References

^ nepesseg.com, population data of Hungarian settlements
^ Regions and Cities > Regional Statistics > Regional Economy > Regional GDP per Capita, OECD.Stats. Accessed on 16 November 2018.
^ népesség.com, "Somogy megye népessége 1870-2015"
^ 1.1.6. A népesség anyanyelv, nemzetiség és nemek szerint – Frissítve: 2013.04.17.; Hungarian Central Statistical Office (in Hungarian)
^ 2011. ÉVI NÉPSZÁMLÁLÁS, 3. Területi adatok, 3.15 Somogy megye, (in Hungarian) [1]
^ Közgyűlés, (in Hungarian) [2]
^ Önkormányzati választások eredményei (in Hungarian)
^ kaposvarmost.hu - TOVÁBBI LEHETŐSÉGEKET KERES SOMOGY ÉS GANSU - July 2, 2016

External links

Official site in Hungarian
Somogyi Hírlap (sonline.hu) - The county portal
Hungary at GeoHive

[1] sseg.com, population data of Hungarian settlements

[:0-2] Regions and Cities > Regional Statistics > Regional Economy > Regional GDP per Capita, OECD.Stats. Accessed on 16 November 2018.

[3] épesség.com, "Somogy megye népessége 1870-2015"

[4] 1.1.6. A népesség anyanyelv, nemzetiség és nemek szerint – Frissítve: 2013.04.17.; Hungarian Central Statistical Office (in Hungarian)

[5] 2011. ÉVI NÉPSZÁMLÁLÁS, 3. Területi adatok, 3.15 Somogy megye, (in Hungarian) [1]

[6] Közgyűlés, (in Hungarian) [2]

[7] Önkormányzati választások eredményei (in Hungarian)

[8] svarmost.hu - TOVÁBBI LEHETŐSÉGEKET KERES SOMOGY ÉS GANSU - July 2, 2016

[1]