Šaľa (; hu, Vágsellye, german: Schelle) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

in south-western

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 ...

Geography

The town is located on the

Danubian Lowland ::''The Serbian lowland is treated under Danube Plain (Serbia)'' The Danubian Lowland or Danube Lowland () is the name of the part of Little Alföld (Slovak: ''Malá dunajská kotlina'') situated in Slovakia, located between the Danube, the Lit ...

, on both banks of the

Váh The Váh (; german: Waag, ; hu, Vág; pl, WagWag
w Słowniku geograficznym Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów ...

River, around 65 km from

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

and 30 km from Nové Zámky. Except the town itself, it has also the borough of Veča on the left bank of the river and settlements of Hetméň and Kilič. The town lies in the warm climatic zone.

History

The town was first mentioned in 1002 in a document of Pannonhalma abbey. It was promoted in 1536 into a market town. It was also ruled by

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

between 1663 and 1686 as part of Uyvar Eyalet. The railway, built in 1850 between

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...

speeded development. After 1918, the town became part of

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

, however belonging for a short time between 1938 and 1945 again to Hungary before being returned to Czechoslovakia.

Demographics

According to the 2011

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

, the town had 23.554 inhabitants. 69% of inhabitants were

Slovaks The Slovaks ( sk, Slováci, singular: ''Slovák'', feminine: ''Slovenka'', plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history and speak Slovak. In Slovakia, 4.4 mi ...

, 12%

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the ...

, and 19% other nationality. According to the 2001

, the town had 24,564 inhabitants. 79.72% of inhabitants were

, 17.88%

, 0.48%

Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...

and 0.40%

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. The religious make-up was 66.63%

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, 23.62% people with no religious affiliation and 4.00%

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

Economy

The economy of the town is primarily based on the chemical industry, by the company Duslo, a.s. Šaľa, bit east of the town. Other sectors include textile and construction industry.

Twin towns — sister cities

Šaľa is twinned with: *

Końskie Końskie ( yi, Kinsk, קינצק / קינסק) is a town in south-central Poland with 20,328 inhabitants (2008), situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Historically, Końskie belongs to the province of Lesser Poland, and since its found ...

, Poland * Kuhmo, Finland *

Oroszlány Oroszlány (german: Ohreslahn) is a city in Hungary, Komárom-Esztergom county, Central Transdanubia region, located on the North-West flanks of the Vértes Mountains. It has a population of 20.487. The main tourist attraction of the town is the ...

, Hungary * Telč, Czech Republic * Mohyliv-Podilskyi, Ukraine

References

External links

Official website

Map of Sala
Cities and towns in Slovakia Villages and municipalities in Šaľa District {{Nitra-geo-stub