Zemplén county shared borders with Poland (during some periods the with the Austrian crownland Galicia) and the Hungarian counties Sáros, Abaúj-Torna, Borsod, Szabolcs and Ung. It was situated in the easternmost strip of what is now Slovakia (except for the region between Vihorlatské vrchy and the Latorica river), plus a strip along the Bodrog and Tisza rivers in present-day Hungary. The rivers Laborc and Bodrog flowed through the county. Its area was 6,269 km2 around 1910.
Capitals
Initially, the capital of the county was the Zemplín Castle (Hungarian: Zempléni vár, Slovak: Zemplínsky hrad), in the 13th century also Sárospatak (in Slovak: Potok, hence the alternative name of the county comitatus de Potok). Since the Late Middle Ages the capital was the town of Zemplén, and since 1748 was Sátoraljaújhely (which is now divided between Slovakia and Hungary by the Ronyva/Roňava stream; the Hungarian part is known in Slovak as Nové Mesto pod Šiatrom and the Slovak part is now a separate village called Slovenské Nové Mesto).
Borsod-Gömör, Abaúj, and Zemplén counties after World War II. In 1950, the three counties were merged to form the modern Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County. (1) Nógrád-Hont County (2) territories assigned from Szabolcs County to Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County. (3) territories assigned from Borsod-Gömör County to Heves County. (5) the city of Debrecen (urban county).
History
Zemplén was one of the oldest counties of the Kingdom of Hungary. In the aftermath of World War I, in 1920 by the Treaty of Trianon the northern part of Zemplén county became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia. The southern half (including the bigger part of the divided Sátoraljaújhely) stayed in Hungary as the county of Zemplén. Following the provisions of the First Vienna Award, an additional part became part of Hungary again in November 1938. The Trianon borders were restored after World War II, and the Hungarian county Zemplén merged with Abaúj, the most of Borsod-Gömör and a little part of Szabolcs counties to form the present Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County.
Demographics
Ethnic map of the county with data of the 1910 census (see the key in the description).