Árva County

"Árva" redirects here. For other uses, see Arva.

Árva County (Hungarian: Árva vármegye, Latin: Comitatus Arvensis, Slovak: Oravská stolica/župa,^[1] German: Komitat Arwa, Polish: Komitat Orawa) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary since the 14th century until 1920. Its territory is now in northern Slovakia and southern Poland. Today, the Slovak name is only used as an informal designation of the corresponding territory (see Orava region).

Árva County Comitatus Arvensis (Latin) Árva vármegye (Hungarian) Komitat Arwa (German) Oravská župa (Slovak)
County of the Kingdom of Hungary (14th century-1854, 1860-1920)
Coat of arms
Capital	Árvavárallya; Alsókubin (1683-1854, 1860-1920)
Area
• Coordinates	49°13′N 19°18′E
• 1910	2,019 km2 (780 sq mi)
Population
• 1910	78,700
History
• Established	14th century
• Merged to Árva-Turóc County	13 September 1850
• County recreated	20 October 1860
• Treaty of Trianon	4 June 1920
Today part of	Slovakia Poland
Oravský Podzámok; Dolný Kubín are the current name of the capital.

Geography

Map of Árva, 1891.

Between 1804-1854 and 1860-1920, Árva County shared borders with Austrian Galicia and the Hungarian counties of Trencsén, Turóc and Liptó County. The county's territory was situated along the Árva (Orava) river between Zázriva (Zázrivá) and the Tatra mountains. Its area was 2,019 km² (780 sq mi) around 1910. Now the territory is divided between Poland and Slovakia. The main Polish town of Orava is Jabłonka.

Capitals

The county seat was at the Orava Castle (Hungarian: Árva vára). After the destruction of the town by the Lithuanian troops in 1683, the seat was moved to Alsókubin (also Kolbin, Kublen, Kubin, Also Helben, Clbin, Culbyn, Cublyn, present-day Dolný Kubín).^[2]

History

Emerging from the Zólyom royal land (Hungarian: zólyomi erdőispánság), the first written mention about Árva County is from 1349.^[3] However, the territory had been still referenced as a district in 1351-1368 and it finally became a county with its own self-administration in 1370.^[3]

On 13 September 1850, following the Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire, Árva and Turóc counties were merged to form Árva-Turóc county,^[a] becoming part of the Military District of Preßburg;^[4] this merger was re-affirmed in 1853^[5] and 1854.^[6]: III In 1860 Hungary's pre-1850 counties, including Árva, were restored.

In the aftermath of World War I, the territory of the whole county became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia. After a border dispute (treated in detail under Polish–Czechoslovak border conflicts) several villages in the north-east territory were exchanged between Poland and Czechoslovakia. The former county's Czechoslovak part was abolished with effective date 1 January 1923^[7] and its territory became a part of Váh County.

Demographics

The original seat of the county was Orava Castle

Population by mother tongue^[b]

Census	Total	Slovak	Hungarian	German	Other or unknown
1880[8]	81,643	75,901 (96.26%)	355 (0.45%)	2,213 (2.81%)	378 (0.48%)
1890[9]	84,820	81,600 (96.20%)	773 (0.91%)	1,918 (2.26%)	529 (0.62%)
1900[10]	85,009	80,487 (94.68%)	1,494 (1.76%)	2,127 (2.50%)	901 (1.06%)
1910[11]	78,745	59,096 (75.05%)	2,000 (2.54%)	1,518 (1.93%)	16,131 (20.49%)[c]

Ethnic map of the county with data of the 1910 census (see the key in the description)

Population by religion^[d]

Census	Total	Roman Catholic	Lutheran	Jewish	Other or unknown
1880	81,643	71,407 (87.46%)	7,272 (8.91%)	2,934 (3.59%)	30 (0.04%)
1890	84,820	74,892 (88.30%)	7,153 (8.43%)	2,742 (3.23%)	33 (0.04%)
1900	85,009	75,337 (88.62%)	6,936 (8.16%)	2,648 (3.11%)	88 (0.10%)
1910	78,745	69,788 (88.63%)	6,674 (8.48%)	2,205 (2.80%)	78 (0.10%)

Districts

In the early 20th century, the districts and their capitals were:

Districts (járás)
District	Capital
Alsókubin	Alsókubin (now Dolný Kubín)
Námesztó	Námesztó (now Námestovo)
Trsztena	Trsztena (now Trstená)
Vár	Turdossin (now Tvrdošín)

Notes

1. referred to as the Arva-Thurozer Gespanschaft in the 1850 legislation, and as Arva-Thuróczer Comitat in the 1854 legislation
2. Only linguistic communities > 1% are displayed.
3. most of them Polish
4. Only religious communities > 1% are displayed.

References

1. Viliam, Volko; Kiš, Miloslav (2007). Stručný vývoj územného a administratívneho členenia Slovenska [A Brief History of the Territorial and Administrative Division of Slovakia]. Bratislava: Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. pp. 21, 23.
2. Maslíková, Ľudmila (2010). "Hospodárske pomery vo Veličnej na základe urbárov z 17. a prvej polovice 18. storočia". Historia nova (in Slovak) (1). Bratislava: Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Komenského: 46. ISBN 978-80-8127-160-1.
3. Maslíková 2010, p. 41.
4. "Verordnung des Ministeriums des Inneren vom 13. September 1850 wodurch in Gemäßheit der Allerhöchsten Entschließung vom 8. September 1850 nachstehende Bestimmungen über die Einrichtung der politischen Verwaltungsbehörden im Königreiche Ungarn erlassen und zur allgemeinen Kenntniß gebracht werden". ÖNB-ALEX - Historische Rechts- und Gesetztexte Online (in German). 1850-09-13. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
5. "Verordnung des Minister des Inneren, der Justiz and der Finanzen vom 19. Jänner 1853, womit die Allerhöchsten Entschließung über die Einrichtung ung Amtswirksamkeit der Statthalterei, der Comitatsbehörden und Stuhlrichterämter, dann über die Einrichtung der Gerichtsbehörden und das Schema der systemisirten Gehalte und Diätenclassen für das Königreich Ungarn, sowie über die Durchführung dieser Organisirung kundgemacht werden". ÖNB-ALEX - Historische Rechts- und Gesetztexte Online (in German). 1853-01-19. Retrieved 2024-10-08. Seine k. k. Apostolische Majestät haben zu befehlen geruht, daß das Arváer Comitat mit dem Thuroczer und das Békeser mit dem Csanader Comitate vereinigt, übrigens aber bezüglich des Umfanges der Comitate die jetzt bestehende Eintheilung vorbehaltlich jener Abhänderung zur Grundlage zu dienen habe, welche etwa bei der Durchführung der Organisirung für zweckmäßigerkannt werden.
6. "Verordnung der Ministerien des Inneren, der Justiz und der Finanzen vom 6. April 1854 betreffend die politische und gerichtliche Oraganisierung des Königreichs Ungarn". ÖNB-ALEX - Historische Rechts- und Gesetztexte Online (in German). 1854-04-06. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
7. Volko-Kiš 2007, p. 38.
8. "Az 1881. év elején végrehajtott népszámlálás főbb eredményei megyék és községek szerint rendezve, II. kötet (1882)". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
9. "A Magyar Korona országainak helységnévtára (1892)". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
10. "A MAGYAR KORONA ORSZÁGAINAK 1900". library.hungaricana.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
11. "KlimoTheca :: Könyvtár". Kt.lib.pte.hu. Retrieved 2021-09-29.

External links

• (in Slovak) http://www.orava.sk
• (in Polish) http://skansen.nowotarski.pl Orawa Ethnographic Park
• http://www.oravafoto.com
• (in Slovak) http://www.namestovo-orava.webnode.sk