Zala County

Template:Short description {{#invoke:other uses|otheruses}} Template:Infobox settlement

Zala (Template:Langx, Template:IPA; Template:Langx; Template:Lang) is an administrative county (comitatus or vármegye) in south-western Hungary. It is named after the Zala River. It shares borders with Croatia (Koprivnica–Križevci and Međimurje Counties) and Slovenia (Lendava and Moravske Toplice) and the Hungarian counties Vas, Veszprém and Somogy. The seat of Zala County is Zalaegerszeg. Its area is Template:Convert. Lake Balaton lies partly in the county.

History

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File:Zala county map.jpg

Zala County on an old map

In the tenth century, the Hungarian Nyék tribe occupied the region around Lake Balaton. Their occupation was mainly in the areas known today as Zala and Somogy counties.<ref>Béla Kálmán, The world of names: a study in Hungarian onomatology, Akadémiai Kiadó, 1978, p. 134</ref>

Parts of the western territory of the former county of Zala are now part of Slovenia (South-Prekmurje) and Croatia (Međimurje). In 1919 it was part of the unrecognized state of the Republic of Prekmurje, which existed for just six days.

Demographics

Template:Pie chart Template:See also In 2015, it had a population of 277,290 and the population density was Template:Convert.

Year	County population<ref>népesség.com, "Győr-Moson-Sopron megye népessége 1870-2015"</ref>	Change
1949	305,433	n/a
1960	Template:Increase 317,145	3.83%
1970	Template:Decrease 304,127	-4.10%
1980	Template:Increase 317,298 (record)	4.33%
1990	Template:Decrease 306,398	-3.44%
2001	Template:Decrease 297,404	-2.94%
2011	Template:Decrease 282,179	-5.12%
2015	Template:Decrease 277,290	-1.76%
2018	Template:Decrease 270,634	-2.45%

Ethnicity

Besides the Hungarian majority, the main minorities are the Roma (approx. 7,000), Croats (3,500) and Germans (2,000).

Total population (2011 census): 282,179
Ethnic groups (2011 census):<ref>1.1.6. A népesség anyanyelv, nemzetiség és nemek szerint – Frissítve: 2013.04.17.; Hungarian Central Statistical Office Template:In lang</ref> Identified themselves: 255 069 persons:

Hungarians: 241 408 (94,64%)
Romani: 6 981 (2,74%)
Croats: 3 248 (1,27%)
Others and indefinable: 3 432 (1,35%)

Approx. 38,000 persons in Zala County did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

Religion

Template:See also Religious adherence in the county according to 2011 census:<ref>2011. ÉVI NÉPSZÁMLÁLÁS, 3. Területi adatok, 3.20 Zala megye, Template:In lang [1]</ref>

Catholic – 177,072 (Roman Catholic – 176,721; Greek Catholic – 313);
Reformed – 7,000;
Evangelical – 3,928;
other religions – 2,463;
Non-religious – 23,119;
Atheism – 2,272;
Undeclared – 66,325.

Regional structure

File:Zala districts.png

District of Zala County

No.	English and Hungarian names	Area (km²)	Population (2011)	Density (pop./km²)	Seat	No. of municipalities
1	Keszthely District Keszthelyi járás	535.93	49,421	92	Keszthely	30
2	Lenti District Lenti járás	624.12	19,789	32	Lenti	48
3	Letenye District Letenyei járás	388.69	16,410	42	Letenye	27
4	Nagykanizsa District Nagykanizsai járás	907.91	78,252	86	Nagykanizsa	49
5	Zalaegerszeg District Zalaegerszegi járás	1,044.70	102,798	98	Zalaegerszeg	84
6	Zalaszentgrót District Zalaszentgróti járás	282.56	15,509	55	Zalaszentgrót	20
Zala County		3,784.11	287,043	77	Zalaegerszeg	258

Politics

The Zala County Council, elected at the 2014 local government elections, is made up of 15 counselors, with the following party composition:<ref>Zala Megyei Közgyűlés, Template:In lang [2] Template:Webarchive</ref>