Baranya County

This is Hungary's southernmost county. It is bordered on three sides by the counties of Somogy, Tolna and Bács-Kiskun, and in the south by the River Dráva and the national border.

The county has been inhabited since Neolithic times. In the 10th century King St Stephen gifted the county to the diocese of Pécs which he had established. The area was under Turkish authority between 1526 and 1689.

Following an early 18th-century rearrangement, the county's borders remained untouched until 1919. After World War I, the southeast territories (covering 1,163 square kilometres) were annexed to the Serbian-Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom according to terms of the Trianon Treaty.

Baranya County's territory covers 4487 square kilometres today and the number of inhabitants is in excess of 408,000. It is typically a region of small villages and hamlets with approximately 67 percent of the settlements numbering less than 500 inhabitants. The county seat is Pécs. Other towns are: Bóly, Harkány, Komló, Mohács, Pécsvárad, Sásd, Sellye, Siklós, Szentlőrinc, Szigetvár and Villány.

The proximity of the Mediterranean Sea is clearly detectable in the climate. There is no great fluctuation of temperature and the winters are mild. The typically abundant sunshine here has contributed greatly to the formation of the historic wine regions of Mecsekalja and Villány-Siklós.

This pleasant climate encouraged the ecesis of plants otherwise rare in Hungary. Thus, among others, the fragrant hellebore (Helleborus odorus) and the most attractive Hungarian wild flower, the common peony (Paeonia officinalis banatica), have both become indigenous in the Mecsek Hills. The hillside above Zengővárkony is covered by sweet chestnuts (Castanea sativa) of impressive size.

The higher mountains and hills of Baranya are covered by uninterrupted forests and, in certain small regions such as the Mecsek, Zselic, Geresdi Hills and the Völgység, over 45 per cent of the land is forested. Extended forests run along the Danube and the Dráva providing a lush habitat almost all of which stands under protection as nature conservation areas.

The forests of the county are rich in game. Not only hunters but tourists as well will find it a memorable experience to spot a big game or a wild boar. Relics of nature's abundance of old are present to this day in the richness of bird life along the waters' edges.

There are no natural still waters in Baranya but there are quite a few artificial lakes. The county is also rich in thermal and mineral water sources. Of those already exploited the thermal waters of Harkány, Szigetvár and Sikonda are especially noteworthy.