Balkány () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the

Northern Great Plain The Northern Great Plain ( ) is a statistical ( NUTS 2) region of Hungary. It is part of the Great Plain and North (NUTS 1) region. The Northern Great Plain includes the counties of Hajdú-Bihar, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Be ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of eastern

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 ...

Geography

It covers an

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

of and has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 6,852 people (2002). It lies approximately southeast from

Nyíregyháza Nyíregyháza (, ) is a city with county rights in northeastern Hungary and the county capital of Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. With a population of 118,001, it is the seventh-largest city in Hungary and the second largest in the Northern Great ...

and 40 km northeast to

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

. There are many small towns surrounding Balkány, including Biri,

Geszteréd Geszteréd is a village in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. It covers an area of and has a population of 1718 people (2015). Geography The settlement is located on the edge of Nyírség a ...

Bököny Bököny is a village in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary. Geography It covers an area of and has a population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or are ...

, Szakoly, and

Nyírmihálydi Nyírmihálydi is a village in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, Hungary. As of the 2011 Hungarian census the village had a population of 1,995, an increase of 155 from 2001.

Climate

Balkány has nearly 2,000 hours of annual sunshine, which is the second highest after the

Alföld The Great Hungarian Plain (also known as Alföld or Great Alföld, or ) is a plain occupying the majority of the modern territory of Hungary. It is the largest part of the wider Pannonian Plain (however, the Great Hungarian Plain was not part ...

region. Average annual precipitation is about 560–590 mm, and the annual average temperature is between .

History

Balkány was first mentioned in 1214. The meaning of the name has most likely to do with

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

or wetland. The first landlords of the region were the Gut-Keled noble family who were given Balkány as a gift by the king in 1289. Balkány was then divided up by the family, the western part went to Paul (Pál) and Thomas (Tamás), the eastern part was taken by Paul's son, Lawrence (Lőrinc). As a result of attacks by the Ottoman Turks and other nomadic tribes, Balkány became a ghost town until the late 16th century. In the early 18th century, the town's population rose again, governance was shared among the most prosperous families such as Bezdédy, Désy, Finta, Gencsy, Gődény, Guth, and Koczogh. In 1839, it was the largest city in the county with a population of 3,006.

Today

Balkány is home to 6,852 people (2005) most of whom live in the country. Unemployment is a serious problem: there are more jobs being lost than created. Like in the past, the biggest sector of employment is agriculture. However, the lack of investment and decreasing prices of locally produced goods have created an unfriendly business environment. There are a number of kindergartens and two elementary as well as middle schools educating the town's 1,300 children.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Balkány is twinned with: * Lázári,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Słopnice Słopnice (; pronunciation: ) is a village in Limanowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Słopnice. It lies approximately west of Limanowa and south-east o ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

References

External links

Official Website
in Hungarian
Tourist info

Aerial Pictures of Balkány
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balkany Populated places in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County