Árva County ( hu, Árva vármegye, la, Comitatus Arvensis, sk, Oravská stolica/župa, german: Komitat Arwa, pl, Komitat Orawa) was an administrative county (

comitatus ''Comitatus'' was in ancient times the Latin term for an armed escort or retinue. The term is used especially in the context of Germanic warrior culture for a warband tied to a leader by an oath of fealty and describes the relations between a lo ...

) of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

since the 14th century until 1920. Its territory is now in northern

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), 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 s ...

and southern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. Today, the Slovak name is only used as an informal designation of the corresponding territory (see Orava region).

Geography

Between 1804-1854 and 1860-1920, Árva County shared borders with

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

Galicia and the Hungarian counties of Trencsén, Turóc and

Liptó County Liptó County (, la, Comitatus Liptoviensis, , , ) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in northern Slovakia. Geography Liptó county shared borders with the Austrian land Galicia and the H ...

. The county's territory was situated along the Árva (Orava) river between Zázriva (Zázrivá) and the

Tatra mountains The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra (''Tatry'' either in Slovak () or in Polish () - '' plurale tantum''), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the hi ...

. Its area was 2,019 km² around 1910. Now the territory is divided between Poland and Slovakia. The main Polish town of Orava is Jabłonka.

Capitals

The county seat was at the

Orava Castle Orava or Orawa may refer to: *Orava (region), a region in Slovakia and Poland *Orava (river) in Slovakia * Orava Castle, a castle in Slovakia *Orava (reservoir), a reservoir in Slovakia * Orava County, a historic administrative county of the Kingdo ...

(Hungarian: Árva vára). After the destruction of the town by the Lithuanian troops in 1683, the seat was moved to Alsókubin (also Kolbin, Kublen, Kubin, Also Helben, Clbin, Culbyn, Cublyn, present-day

Dolný Kubín Dolný Kubín (; also known by other names) is a town in northern Slovakia in the Žilina Region. It is the historical capital and the largest settlement of the Orava region. Names The name is derived from the archaic Slovak word meaning a "gl ...

History

Emerging from the Zólyom royal land ( hu, zólyomi erdőispánság), the first written mention about Árva County is from 1349.Maslíková 2010, p. 41. However, the territory had been still referenced as a district in 1351-1368 and it finally became a county with its own self-administration in 1370. In the aftermath of World War I, the territory of the whole county became part of newly formed

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. After a border dispute (treated in detail under

Polish–Czechoslovak border conflicts Border conflicts between Poland and Czechoslovakia began in 1918 between the Second Polish Republic and First Czechoslovak Republic, both freshly created states. The conflicts centered on the disputed areas of Cieszyn Silesia, Orava Territor ...

) several villages in the north-east territory were exchanged between Poland and Czechoslovakia. The former county's Czechoslovak part was abolished with effective date 1 January 1923Volko-Kiš 2007, p. 38. and its territory became a part of Váh County.

Demographics

Districts

In the early 20th century, the districts and their capitals were:

Notes

References

External links

* http://www.orava.sk * http://skansen.nowotarski.pl Orawa Ethnographic Park * http://www.oravafoto.com * http://www.namestovo-orava.webnode.sk {{DEFAULTSORT:Arva County States and territories established in 1860 States and territories disestablished in 1854 States and territories disestablished in 1920 Counties in the Kingdom of Hungary Divided regions