Rajka (, , ) is a village in Győr-Moson-Sopron County,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. The village has large Slovak and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

minorities.

Etymology

The name comes from the

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

personal name ''Rajko'', ''Rajka'' (derived from rajь: paradise). 1297 ''Royka''.

Geography

Rajka is located in the

Little Hungarian Plain The Little Hungarian Plain or Little Alföld ( Hungarian: ''Kisalföld'' , Slovak: ''Malá dunajská kotlina'', German: ''Kleine Ungarische Tiefebene'') is a plain (tectonic basin) of approximately 8,000 km² in northwestern Hungary, sout ...

north-west of

Mosonmagyaróvár Mosonmagyaróvár (; ; also known by other alternative names) is a town in Győr-Moson-Sopron County in northwestern Hungary. It lies close to both the Austrian and Slovak borders and has a population of 32,752 (). Mosonmagyaróvár used ...

, near the point where the borders of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

join. M15 motorway ( E65/ E75), Highway 150, and the

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

–

Hegyeshalom Hegyeshalom (; ) is a village of roughly 3750 inhabitants in Győr-Moson-Sopron County, Hungary, on the border with Austria and less than 15 km from the border with Slovakia. Etymology The name of Hegyeshalom originates from the two Hungar ...

–Rajka railway line all cross the village. The Hungarian-Slovak

border crossing Border control comprises measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it als ...

between Rajka and

Čunovo Čunovo (, , ) is a small part of Bratislava, Slovakia, in the southern area near the Hungary, Hungarian border. It is located close to the Gabčíkovo - Nagymaros Dams. History Čunovo was first mentioned as a village in 1232 under the name ''C ...

was lifted on 21 December 2007, when Hungary and Slovakia acceded to the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) encompasses European countries that have officially abolished border controls at their common borders. As an element within the wider area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) policy of the European Union (EU), it ...

History

Rajka was established before the 13th century.Hídfőállás, Magyar Nemzet, 10-03-2012, Tóth Szabolcs Töhötöm, Budapest, pp. 21-26, According to the Hungarian Royal Treasury (''Magyar Királyi Kincstár'') it was an ethnic

settlement in Hungary, called ''Rackendorf'' in 1495. In the 18th century it was a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

(''mezőváros'') in

Moson County Moson (German language, German: Wieselburg, Slovak language, Slovak: Mošon) was an administrative county (Comitatus (Kingdom of Hungary), comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary, situated mostly on the right (south) side of the Danube river. Its t ...

. The Jewish community was forcibly deported in 1944. After the

Soviet occupation of Hungary During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...

in 1946, 859 German civilians were expelled from Rajka. They were replaced by ethnic

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

expelled from Czechoslovakia.

Population

Mayor Vince Kiss spoke in 2012 of 1,000 Slovak citizens living in Rajka and making up one-third of the population. Most of these are ethnic Slovaks, but a significant proportion are ethnic Hungarian citizens of Slovakia or conversant with the Hungarian language. These Slovak citizens form a fragmented, dormitory community of people working or studying in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, the Slovak capital, and commuting there every day. According to the 2011 census, however, the population of Rajka was 2,758, of whom 1,938 (70.3%) declared themselves

, 535 (19.4%)

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

and 284 (10.3%)

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

by ethnicity. According to the 2022 census, Slovaks made up a plurality, and of the population of Rajka was 5,224, with 1,943 (32.7%)

, 3,302 (63.2%)

and 157 (3%)

by ethnicity. Note: The percentages may exceed 100% as individuals in Hungary are allowed to declare multiple nationalities in the census.

Gallery

File:Rajka - Ragendorf. Hungarian - german table.JPG,

City limit City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate li ...

signage in Hungarian and

File:Hungary Rajka border crossing.jpg, Rajka border checkpoint, no longer operational. File:Hungary rajka exit.JPG, Pre-Schengen passport exit stamp from Rajka border crossing. File:Hungary rajka 2.jpg, An earlier passport stamp from the same border crossing.

References

External links

Street map
{{authority control Populated places in Győr-Moson-Sopron County Hungary–Slovakia border crossings Hungarian German communities