Békés is the name of:

1. an administrative county (comitatus or megye) in present Hungary,
2. an administrative county in the former Kingdom of Hungary,
3. a town in Hungary.

Békés county

Békés is the name of an administrative county (comitatus or megye) in south-eastern Hungary, on the border with Romania. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Csongrád, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok and Hajdú-Bihar. The river Körös/Criş runs through the county. The capital of Békés county is Békéscsaba. Its area is 5631 km².

Békés (former county)

Békés is also the name of a historic administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory, which was smaller than that of present Békés county, is presently in south-eastern Hungary. The capital of the county was Gyula.

Geography

Békés county shared borders with the Hungarian counties Csongrád, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Hajdú, Bihar, Arad and Csanád. The river Körös/Criş flowed through the county. Its area was 3671 km² around 1910.

History

Békés county arose as one of the first comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary, in the 11th century. After World War II, the territory of Békés county was expanded with:

• the north-eastern part of former Csanád-Arad-Torontál county (the Hungarian part of pre-1918 Arad county and the north-eastern part of pre-1918 Csanád county)
• a part of former Bihar county (the area around Sarkad and Okány )
• a part of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county (the area around Dévaványa )

Districts

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

• Gyula
• Békéscsaba
• Békés
• Szeghalom
• Gyoma
• Szarvas
• Orosháza

Urban district:

• Gyula

Békés (town)

Békés is also a town in Békés county, Hungary. It lies about 10 km north of Békéscsaba and 190 km east of Budapest. It has 21500 inhabitants (2004).