Štefanec () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Međimurje County Međimurje County (; ; ) is a triangle-shaped Counties of Croatia, county in the northernmost part of Croatia, roughly corresponding to the historical and geographical region of Međimurje (region), Međimurje. It is the smallest Croatian count ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. The village is administratively part of the wider area of

Čakovec Čakovec (; ; ; ) is a city in Northern Croatia, located around north of Zagreb, the Croatian capital, and close to the borders with Slovenia and Hungary. Čakovec is both the county seat and the largest city of Međimurje County, the northernmo ...

, the county seat and largest city of Međimurje County. It is located around 5 kilometres from the centre of the city. Situated between Čakovec and Štefanec is Ivanovec. The population of Štefanec in the 2011 census was 716. The D3 state road goes through the village. The western terminus of the D20 state road is also located nearby, and the D20 can be accessed by leaving the D3 just before entering Štefanec from the direction of Čakovec.

History

The village was first mentioned in 1366 as ''Stephanouch''. In 1478, ''Steffanecz'' was mentioned as one of the villages belonging to the Čakovec area. In the 1857 census, the villages of ''Štefanec Mali'' and ''Štefanec Veliki'' ( Hungarian: ''Kis Stefanecz'' and ''Nagy Stefanecz'') were mentioned. Together, they had a population of 280. The two villages became a single village until the next census, which took place in 1869. The population grew to over 400 by the end of the 19th century. In the 1910 census, the village had a population of 532. At the time, it was already predominantly populated by

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

. It belonged to the Prelog district () of

Zala County Zala (, ; ; ) is an administrative county (Counties of Hungary, comitatus or ''vármegye'') in south-western Hungary. It is named after the Zala River. It shares borders with Croatia (Koprivnica–Križevci County, Koprivnica–Križevci and Me� ...

in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, before becoming part of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

in 1920, after the

Treaty of Trianon The Treaty of Trianon (; ; ; ), often referred to in Hungary as the Peace Dictate of Trianon or Dictate of Trianon, was prepared at the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace Conference. It was signed on the one side by Hungary ...

was signed. In the 1921 census, the population of the village was 602. Between 1941 and 1945, it belonged to

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 ...

again, as the entire Međimurje region was annexed by the Hungarians at the time. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it became part of

within the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. In the censuses between 1948 and 2001, the lowest population was recorded in 2001 (753), and the highest in 1991 (807).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanec Populated places in Međimurje County