Counties of Hungary

Counties of Hungary Magyarország vármegyéi (Hungarian)
Category	Unitary state
Location	Hungary
Created	1950 (current form, 19 + Budapest)
Number	19 (as of 1950)
Additional status	Electoral constituency
Populations	189,304 (Nógrád) – 1,278,874 (Pest)
Areas	2,265 km2 (875 sq mi) (Komárom-Esztergom) – 8,445 km2 (3,261 sq mi) (Bács-Kiskun)
Government	County Government, National Government
Subdivisions	District Municipality/town/commune/sector

Hungary is subdivided administratively into 19 counties (vármegyék, singular: vármegye) and the capital city (főváros) Budapest. The counties are further subdivided into 174 districts (járások, singular: járás). The capital Budapest is subdivided into 23 districts (kerületek, singular: kerület).^[1]

There are 25 cities with county rights (megyei jogú városok, singular: megyei jogú város), sometimes called urban counties. The local authorities of these towns have extended powers but they are not independent territorial units.

The current system of counties has evolved from medieval fiefdoms of the Kingdom of Hungary; each fiefdom was ruled from a castle (Hungarian: vár). Between 1950 and 2022, the counties of Hungary were officially called megyék (singular: megye). On 1 January 2023, the original historical name vármegye was officially restored.