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Zala County

Zala vármegye
Zala County Zala vármegye
County
	Descending, from top: Hills near Söjtör, Lake Hévíz, and Downtown of Zalaegerszeg
	Flag Coat of arms
	Zala County within Hungary
Country	Hungary
Region	Western Transdanubia
County seat	Zalaegerszeg
Districts	6 districts Keszthely District; Lenti District; Letenye District; Nagykanizsa District; Zalaegerszeg District; Zalaszentgrót District;
Government
• President of the General Assembly	Dr. Attila Pál (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
• Total	3,783.89 km2 (1,460.97 sq mi)
• Rank	14th in Hungary
Population (2018)
• Total	270,634
• Rank	16th in Hungary
GDP
• Total	HUF 747 billion; €2.398 billion (2016)
Postal code	8353 – 839x, 874x – 879x, 880x – 883x, 8855, 8856, 886x – 889x, 89xx
Area code(s)	(+36) 83, 92, 93
ISO 3166 code	HU-ZA
Website	www.zala.hu

Zala (Hungarian: Zala vármegye, pronounced [ˈzɒlɒ]; Croatian: Zalska županija; županija Zala) 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 3,784 square kilometres (1,461 sq mi). Lake Balaton lies partly in the county.

History

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.^[3]

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

Religion in Zala County (2022 census – of those who declared their religion (62.5%))

Roman Catholic (75.8%)

Calvinistic (3.9%)

Lutheran (2.1%)

Other Christian denomination (4.4%)

Other religion (0.3%)

Not religious (13.5%)

In 2015, it had a population of 277,290 and the population density was 73 inhabitants per square kilometre (190/sq mi).

Year	County population^[4]	Change
1949	305,433	n/a
1960	317,145	3.83%
1970	304,127	-4.10%
1980	317,298 (record)	4.33%
1990	306,398	-3.44%
2001	297,404	-2.94%
2011	282,179	-5.12%
2015	277,290	-1.76%
2018	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):^[5] Identified themselves: 255 069 persons:

Hungarians: 241 408 (94,64%)
Gypsies: 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

Religious adherence in the county according to 2011 census:^[6]

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

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