Somogy County


Somogy is an administrative county 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 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.

Demographics

In 2015, it had a population of 312,084 and the population density was 52/km2.
YearCounty populationChange
1949361,213n/a
1960 368,183 1.93%
1970 357,009-3.03%
1980 360,2700.91%
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, Germans and Croats.
Total population : 316,137

Ethnic groups :
Identified themselves: 287,692 persons:
  • Hungarians: 265,464
  • Romani: 16,167
  • Germans: 3,039
  • Others and indefinable: 3,022

    Religion

Religious adherence in the county according to 2011 census:
  • Catholic – 168,307 ;
  • Reformed – 21,176;
  • Evangelical – 5,807;
  • other religions – 3,829;
  • Non-religious – 35,503;
  • Atheism – 3,056;
  • Undeclared – 78,459.

    Regional structure

Politics

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

Presidents of the General Assembly

Municipalities

Somogy County has 1 urban county, 15 towns, 2 large villages and 227 villages.
;City with county rights
;Towns
  • Siófok
  • Marcali
  • Barcs
  • Nagyatád
  • Balatonboglár
  • Balatonlelle
  • Csurgó
  • Fonyód
  • Tab
  • Nagybajom
  • Lengyeltóti
  • Kadarkút
  • Zamárdi
  • Balatonföldvár
  • Igal
;Villages
municipalities are large villages.

International relations

Somogy County has a partnership relationship with: