Szilágy (Romanian: Sălaj) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in north-western Romania. The capital of the county was Zilah (present-day Zalău in Romania).
Geography
Map of Szilagy, 1891.
Szilágy county shared borders with the Hungarian counties of Bihar, Szatmár, Szolnok-Doboka and Kolozs. The rivers Someş and Crasna flowed through the county. Its territory was largely the same as that of the present Romanian county Sălaj. Its area was 3,815 km2 around 1910.
History
The area has been inhabited by Hungarians since the land-taking, with the Romanian population arriving in the late 16th century and the Germans in the 18th century.[1]
Szilágy county was formed in 1876, when the counties of Kraszna (its center was Kraszna/Crasna at first, then Valkóváralja/Sub Cetate, later Szilágysomlyó/Șimleu Silvaniei), Közép-Szolnok (its center was Zilah/Zalău) and the Egregy/Agrij district of Doboka County were united.
The county consisted of two regions, Szilágy and Kővár-vidék. Kővár-vidék was a special administrative region in the Medieval and Early Modern Era Hungary administered by a Captain general.[2]
In 1920, by the Treaty of Trianon, the county became part of Romania. It was returned to Hungary by the Second Vienna Award in 1940, with a slightly modified territory. After World War II, it became again part of Romania. Most of it is now part of the Romanian county Sălaj, except for some areas in the north-west (now in Satu Mare county) and north-east (now in Maramureş county).
Demographics
Ethnic map of the county with data of the 1910 census (see the key in the description)
