Zemplín is the name of an informal

traditional region Historical regions (or historical areas) are geographical regions which at some point in time had a cultural, ethnic, linguistic or political basis, regardless of latterday borders. They are used as delimitations for studying and analysing social ...

located in eastern

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 ...

. It includes the Slovak part of the former

Zemplén county Zemplén ( hu, Zemplén, sk, Zemplín, german: Semplin, Semmlin, la, Zemplinum) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. The northern part of its territory is now situated in eastern Slovakia ( Zemplín region), while ...

, often including the Slovak part of the Ung county (Slovak: ''Užská župa''/''Užský komitát'').

Geography

Zemplín region stretches from the Carpathian Mountains in the north to the lowest point in Slovakia at AMSL. The region is situated in the easternmost part of Slovakia (except for the region between

Vihorlatské vrchy Vihorlat Mountains ( sk, Vihorlatské vrchy; ua, Вигорлат, ''Vyhorliat'') or colloquially Vihorlat is a volcanic mountain range in eastern Slovakia and western Ukraine. A part of the range is listed as a World Heritage Site. Etymolog ...

and the

Latorica Latorica ( hu, Latorca; sk, Latorica, pronounced: ''Latoritsa''; uk, Латориця, translit.: ''Latorytsia'') is a river in the watershed of the Danube. Its source is in the Ukrainian Carpathians (Eastern Carpathian Mountains), near the vil ...

river, if the former territory of Ung county isn't included). Rivers in the region include:

Bodrog The Bodrog is a river in eastern Slovakia and north-eastern Hungary. It is a tributary to the river Tisza. The Bodrog is formed by the confluence of the rivers Ondava and Latorica near Zemplín in eastern Slovakia. It crosses the Slovak–H ...

, Laborec, Latorica, Uzh,

Ondava The Ondava is a river in eastern Slovakia, the northern source river of the Bodrog. Its source is in the Low Beskids (Eastern Carpathian Mountains), near the village Nižná Polianka, close to the border with Poland. The Ondava flows south throu ...

and a small part of the

Tisza The Tisza, Tysa or Tisa, is one of the major rivers of Central and Eastern Europe. Once, it was called "the most Hungarian river" because it flowed entirely within the Kingdom of Hungary. Today, it crosses several national borders. The Tisza be ...

river. Zemplín is no longer an administrative region, but is divided between two of the 21 official tourism regions, Lower Zemplín and Upper Zemplín. Administratively, the region is divided between

Košice Region The Košice Region ( sk, Košický kraj, , hu, Kassai kerület; uk, Кошицький край) is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. The region was first established in 1923 and its present borders were established in 1996. It c ...

, which includes

Trebišov Trebišov ( hu, Tőketerebes; german: Trebischau; russian: Требишев) is a small industrial town in the easternmost part of Slovakia, with a population of around 25,000. The town is an administrative, economic and cultural center with machi ...

and the western part of

Michalovce District Michalovce District (''okres Michalovce'') is a district in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Euro ...

(if Ung county is included, eastern part of Michalovce and whole

Sobrance District Sobrance District ( sk, okres Sobrance) is a district in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia. It is the easternmost district of the Košice Region. Sobrance district borders Michalovce District, Prešov Region and Ukraine. It lies mainly on a ...

also belong to Zemplín), and Prešov Region, fully including

Humenné Humenné (; hu, Homonna; ukr, Гуменне) is a town in the Prešov Region ("kraj") in eastern Slovakia and the second largest town of the historic Zemplín region. It lies at the volcanic Vihorlat mountains and at the confluence of the ...

, Snina and Medzilaborce districts and from bigger part including

Vranov nad Topľou Vranov nad Topľou ( Slovak before 1927 and from 1944–1969: ''Vranov''; german: Frö(h)nel / ''Vronau an der Töpl'' (rare); hu, Varannó; rue, Воронів над Топлёв) is a city of approximately 22,500 inhabitants in eastern Sl ...

and Stropkov districts. Major towns include

Michalovce Michalovce (; hu, Nagymihály, german: Großmichel, Romani: ''Mihalya'', Yiddish: ''Mikhaylovets'' or ''Mykhaylovyts''; uk, Михайлівці) is a town on the Laborec river in eastern Slovakia. Originally named after the Archangel St Micha ...

and

History

The region of Zemplín, administered from Zemplín Castle was already an administrative unit of

Great Moravia Great Moravia ( la, Regnum Marahensium; el, Μεγάλη Μοραβία, ''Meghálī Moravía''; cz, Velká Morava ; sk, Veľká Morava ; pl, Wielkie Morawy), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to ...

in the 9th century CE. After its integration into 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 ...

, it became known as the Zemplén county. Between 1879 and 1901 over 32,000 persons emigrated from the Slovak districts of Semplin to the USA.Stolarik, Marian Mark. ''Immigration and Urbanization: The Slovak Experience, 1870-1918'' (New York: AMS Press, 1989) p. 23 In 1918 the Slovak part of Zemplín became part of newly formed

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

. The southern half (including the bigger part of the divided

Sátoraljaújhely Sátoraljaújhely (; archaic german: Neustadt am Zeltberg ; sk, Nové Mesto pod Šiatrom; yi, איהעל, Ihel, or ) is a town located in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county in northern Hungary along the Slovak border. It is east from the county ...

) stayed in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning 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 ...

as the county Zemplén. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, when

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

was split temporarily, some of the Czechoslovak part of Zemplen county was occupied by Hungary under the

First Vienna Award The First Vienna Award was a treaty signed on 2 November 1938 pursuant to the Vienna Arbitration, which took place at Vienna's Belvedere Palace. The arbitration and award were direct consequences of the previous month's Munich Agreement, which ...

, and added to the counties Zemplén and Ung. After World War II, the pre-war border was restored, and the Hungarian county Zemplén merged with the county Borsod and the Hungarian part of Abov-Turňa to form the present Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county. Since the separation of Czechoslovakia into

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in 1993, the northern part of Zemplín is part of

, divided between eastern parts of Košice Region and Prešov Region.

External links

Region of Lower Zemplín
an
Region of Upper Zemplín
a
Slovakia.travel

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zemplin (Region) Traditional regions of Slovakia