Pest County

Pest County

Pest vármegye
Pest County Pest vármegye
County
	Clockwise, from top: the Börzsöny Mountain in Nagybörzsöny village, landscape of Kemence, and landscape of Vác
	Flag Coat of arms
	Pest County within Hungary
Country	Hungary
Region	Central Hungary
County seat	Budapest
Districts	18 districts Aszód District; Budakeszi District; Cegléd District; Dabas District; Dunakeszi District; Érd District; Gödöllő District; Gyál District; Monor District; Nagykáta District; Nagykőrös District; Pilisvörösvár District; Ráckeve District; Szentendre District; Szigetszentmiklós District; Szob District; Vác District; Vecsés District;
Government
• President of the General Assembly	István Szabó (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
• Total	6,393.14 km2 (2,468.41 sq mi)
• Rank	3rd in Hungary
Population (2023)
• Total	1,339,000
• Rank	1st in Hungary
• Density	191.8/km2 (497/sq mi)
GDP
• Total	HUF 3,607 billion; €11.586 billion (2016)
Postal code	20xx – 23xx, 2440, 2461, 260x – 263x,; 2680 – 2683, 27xx
Area code(s)	(+36) 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 53
ISO 3166 code	HU-PE
Website	www.pestmegye.hu

Pest (Hungarian: Pest vármegye, pronounced [ˈpɛʃt]; German: Komitat Pest) is a county (vármegye) in central Hungary. It covers an area of 6,393.14 square kilometres (2,468.41 sq mi), and has a population of 1,339,090 (2023). It surrounds the national capital Budapest and the majority of the county's population (65.2%/790,995 in 2009) live in the suburbs of Budapest. It shares borders with Slovakia and the Hungarian counties Nógrád, Heves, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Bács-Kiskun, Fejér, and Komárom-Esztergom. The River Danube flows through the county. The capital of Pest County is Budapest, although Budapest is not part of Pest County. Starting 2018, they also constitute different NUTS:HU level 2 regions, as previously Pest County has lost catch-up aids from the European Union because of the high development of Budapest.

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History

The present county Pest was formed after World War II, when the former county Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun was split in two parts (the other part is within present-day Bács-Kiskun). Pest County also existed in the early days of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary (11th century). Its territory comprised approximately the north-eastern part of present Pest County. It was combined with adjacent Pilis county before the 15th century. More information can be found at the entry of former Pest-Pilis-Solt-Kiskun county.

Demographics

Religion in Pest County (2022 census – of those who declared their religion (58.6%))

Roman Catholic (45.5%)

Calvinistic (16.3%)

Lutheran (3.8%)

Greek Catholic (1.6%)

Baptist (0.6%)

Other Christian denomination (4.1%)

Other religion (0.6%)

Not religious (27.5%)

In 2015, it had a population of 1,226,115 and the population density was 192/km².

More information Year, Pop. ...

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1870	330,089	—
1880	353,851	+7.2%
1890	395,142	+11.7%
1900	450,136	+13.9%
1910	524,320	+16.5%
1920	571,753	+9.0%
1930	633,257	+10.8%
1941	682,696	+7.8%
1949	686,953	+0.6%
1960	781,505	+13.8%
1970	878,644	+12.4%
1980	973,830	+10.8%
1990	949,842	−2.5%
2001	1,083,877	+14.1%
2011	1,217,476	+12.3%
2021	1,333,533	+9.5%
Source: ^[2]^[3]

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Ethnicity

Besides the Hungarian majority, the main minorities are the Germans (approx. 25,000), Roma (20,000), Slovaks (6,000), Romanians (4,000) and Serbs (1,500).

Total population (2011 census): 1,217,476
Ethnic groups (2011 census):^[4] Identified themselves: 1,090,882 persons:

Hungarians: 1,024,768 (93.94%)
Germans: 24,994 (2.29%)
Romani: 20,065 (1.84%)
Others and indefinable: 21,055 (1.93%)

Approx. 178,000 persons in Pest County did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

Religion

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

Catholic – 445,106 (Roman Catholic – 435,717; Greek Catholic – 9,235);
Reformed – 134,848;
Evangelical – 32,564;
Orthodox – 1,796;
Judaism – 947;
Other religions – 26,485;
Non-religious – 200,430;
Atheism – 19,869;
Undeclared – 355,431.

Economy

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the county was 13.8 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 10.3% of Hungary's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 17,000 euros or 56% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 69% of the EU average.^[6]

Regional structure

№	English and Hungarian names	Area (km²)	Population (2011)	Density (pop./km²)	Seat	№ of municipalities
1	Aszód District Aszódi járás	298.37	37,472	126	Aszód	11
2	Budakeszi District Budakeszi járás	288.95	83,670	290	Budakeszi	12
3	Cegléd District Ceglédi járás	886.30	88,952	100	Cegléd	12
4	Dabas District Dabasi járás	614.23	48,289	79	Dabas	11
5	Dunakeszi District Dunakeszi járás	103.08	78,634	763	Dunakeszi	4
6	Érd District Érdi járás	184.29	116,510	632	Érd	7
7	Gödöllő District Gödöllői járás	449.66	139,826	311	Gödöllő	15
8	Gyál District Gyáli járás	170.99	40,853	239	Gyál	4
9	Monor District Monori járás	329.81	64,016	194	Monor	12
10	Nagykáta District Nagykátai járás	710.12	73,959	104	Nagykáta	15
11	Nagykőrös District Nagykőrösi járás	349.25	27,977	80	Nagykőrös	3
12	Pilisvörösvár District Pilisvörösvári járás	130.81	53,201	407	Pilisvörösvár	9
13	Ráckeve District Ráckevei járás	417.05	35,732	86	Ráckeve	11
14	Szentendre District Szentendrei járás	326.58	77,802	238	Szentendre	13
15	Szigetszentmiklós District Szigetszentmiklósi járás	211.28	110,448	523	Szigetszentmiklós	9
16	Szob District Szobi járás	438.32	24,875	57	Szob	17
17	Vác District Váci járás	362.19	68,234	188	Vác	18
18	Vecsés District Vecsési járás	119.74	47,026	393	Vecsés	4
Pest County		6,393.14	1,217,476	192	Budapest	187

Politics

The Pest County Council, elected at the 2024 local government elections,^[7] is made up of 44 counselors,^[8] with the following party composition:

More information Party, Seats ...

Party		Seats	Current County Assembly
	Fidesz-KDNP	21
	Momentum Movement	10
	Our Homeland Movement	8
	Democratic Coalition	7

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Presidents of the General Assembly

More information List of presidents since 1990 ...

List of presidents since 1990^[9]
István Szabó (Fidesz-KDNP)	2014–

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Municipalities

Pest County has 1 urban county, 47 towns, 17 large villages and 122 villages.

City with county rights

(ordered by population, as of 2011 census)

Érd (63,631)

Towns

Dunakeszi (40,545)
Cegléd (36,645)
Szigetszentmiklós (34,708)
Vác (33,831)
Gödöllő (32,522)
Budaörs (26,757)
Szentendre (25,310)
Nagykőrös (24,134)
Gyál (23,338)
Dunaharaszti (20,473)
Vecsés (20,088)
Fót (19,068)
Százhalombatta (17,952)
Monor (17,626)
Göd (17,476)
Szigethalom (16,886)
Pomáz (16,622)
Dabas (16,386)
Gyömrő (16,250)
Veresegyház (15,998)
Pécel (15,168)
Abony (14,916)
Pilisvörösvár (13,667)
Budakeszi (13,502)
Törökbálint (12,841)
Biatorbágy (12,484)
Nagykáta (12,467)
Albertirsa (12,016)
Kistarcsa (11,953)
Maglód (11,738)
Pilis (11,568)
Üllő (11,425)
Isaszeg (11,152)
Tököl (10,851)
Budakalász (10,619)
Kerepes (10,068)
Ráckeve (9,755)
Halásztelek (9,200)
Diósd (9,056)
Ócsa (8,985)
Piliscsaba (8,472)
Sülysáp (8,195)
Tura (7,774)
Dunavarsány (7,363)
Őrbottyán (7,102)
Aszód (6,258)
Tápiószele (5,914)
Zsámbék (5,174)
Örkény (4,730)
Nagymaros (4,679)
Szob (2,794)
Újhartyán (2,685)
Visegrád (1,718)

Villages

municipalities are large villages.

Gallery

View of Szentendre
Grassalkovich Palace in Gödöllő
Citadel of Visegrád
Cathedral in Vác
Zsámbék Premontre monastery church
Károlyi Mansion, Fót
Mailáth Mansion in Törökbálint
Choral Castle, Pomáz

International relations

Pest County has a partnership relationship with:^[10]

Chongqing Municipality, China Harghita County, Romania Hebei Province, China Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany	Masovian Voivodeship, Poland Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia