Somogy County

Somogy county

Somogy county lies in south-western Hungary, on the border with Croatia. It stretches between the river Dráva and the southern shore of Lake Balaton. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Zala, Veszprém, Fejér, Tolna, and Baranya. It is the most sparsely populated county in Hungary. The capital of Somogy county 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 the county was Kaposvár.

Demographics

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

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):

Identified themselves: 287,692 persons:

Hungarians: 265,464 (92,27%)

Romani Gypsies: 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:

Catholic 53.2%

Latin Catholic 53.1%, served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kaposvár

Greek Catholic – 0.2%;

Protestant 6.5%

Reformed – 6.7%;

Evangelical – 1.8%;

Other religions – 1.1%;

Non-religious – 11.2%;

Atheism – 1.0%;

Undeclared – 24.8%.

Politics

The Somogy County Council, elected at the 2014 local government elections, is made up of 16 counselors, with the following party composition:

Cities with county rights

Kaposvár – county seat; 66,245 (as of 2011)

Towns

(ordered by population, as of 2011 census)

Villages

municipalities are large villages.