Zala County Zala vármegye
County
Descending, from top: Hills near Söjtör, Lake Hévíz, and Downtown of Zalaegerszeg
Flag Coat of arms
Zala County within Hungary
Country	Hungary
Region	Western Transdanubia
County seat	Zalaegerszeg
Districts	6 districts Keszthely District Lenti District Letenye District Nagykanizsa District Zalaegerszeg District Zalaszentgrót District
Government
• President of the General Assembly	Dr. Attila Pál (Fidesz-KDNP)
Area
• Total	3,783.89 km2 (1,460.97 sq mi)
• Rank	14th in Hungary
Population  (2018)
• Total	270,634[1]
• Rank	16th in Hungary
GDP [2]
• Total	HUF 747 billion €2.398 billion (2016)
Postal code	8353 – 839x, 874x – 879x, 880x – 883x, 8855, 8856, 886x – 889x, 89xx
Area code(s)	(+36) 83, 92, 93
ISO 3166 code	HU-ZA
Website	www.zala.hu

Zala (Hungarian: Zala vármegye, pronounced [ˈzɒlɒ]; Croatian: Zalska županija; županija Zala) is an administrative county (comitatus or vármegye) in south-western Hungary. It is named after the Zala River. It shares borders with Croatia (Koprivnica–Križevci and Međimurje Counties) and Slovenia (Lendava and Moravske Toplice) and the Hungarian counties Vas, Veszprém and Somogy. The seat of Zala County is Zalaegerszeg Its area is 3,784 square kilometres (1,461 sq mi). Lake Balaton lies partly in the county.

History

In the tenth century, the Hungarian Nyék tribe occupied the region around Lake Balaton. Their occupation was mainly in the areas known today as Zala and Somogy counties.^[3]

Parts of the western territory of the former county of Zala are now part of Slovenia (South-Prekmurje) and Croatia (Međimurje). In 1919 it was part of the unrecognized state of the Republic of Prekmurje, which existed for just six days.

Demographics

In 2015, it had a population of 277,290 and the population density was 73 inhabitants per square kilometre (190/sq mi).

Year	County population[4]	Change
1949	305,433	n/a
1960	317,145	3.83%
1970	304,127	-4.10%
1980	317,298 (record)	4.33%
1990	306,398	-3.44%
2001	297,404	-2.94%
2011	282,179	-5.12%
2015	277,290	-1.76%
2018	270,634	-2.45%

Ethnicity

Besides the Hungarian majority, the main minorities are the Roma (approx. 7,000), Croats (3,500) and Germans (2,000).

Total population (2011 census): 282,179
Ethnic groups (2011 census):^[5] Identified themselves: 255 069 persons:

• Hungarians: 241 408 (94,64%)
• Gypsies: 6 981 (2,74%)
• Croats: 3 248 (1,27%)
• Others and indefinable: 3 432 (1,35%)

Approx. 38,000 persons in Zala County did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.

Religion

Religious adherence in the county according to 2011 census:^[6]

• Catholic – 177,072 (Roman Catholic – 176,721; Greek Catholic – 313);
• Reformed – 7,000;
• Evangelical – 3,928;
• other religions – 2,463;
• Non-religious – 23,119;
• Atheism – 2,272;
• Undeclared – 66,325.

Regional structure

Politics

The Zala County Council, elected at the 2014 local government elections, is made up of 15 counselors, with the following party composition:^[7]

Presidents of the General Assembly

Municipalities

Zala County has two urban counties, eight towns, two large villages and 246 villages.

City with county rights

(ordered by population, as of 2011 census)

• Zalaegerszeg (59,499)
• Nagykanizsa (49,026)

Towns

Villages

municipalities are large villages.

Gallery

• 
  Zalaegerszeg, the capital of the county
• 
  River Drava near Drávaszabolcs
• 
  Festetics Palace in Keszthely
• 
  Hévíz, the largest thermal lake in Europe
• 
  Batthyány Palace in Zalaszentgrót
• 
  Castle of Egervár
• 
  Traditional Hungarian house in Zalalövő
• 
  Kis-Balaton