VAS COUNTY (Hungary)

Vas County is situaded in western Hungary, in the Western-Transdanubian region. Its history is more than thousand years old, the archaeological researches prove that area was already inhabited in the Stone Age. Being the center of Western-Pannonia in the Roman times was the first golden age of the area, the capital of the province was Savaria the present county-town which was founded AD 43. The Small village settlement system of the county which is still significant was evolved at the 9th century after the Hungarian conquest. Vasvár, the medieval centre of Vas county was developed from a former Roman castrum in the early Middle Ages. The period between the 14th and the 16th century was the second golden age of the area when it got close to the center of that time Europe - the Mediterranean. The third key-period of the history of the county was the decades between the Austro-Hungarian compromise in 1867 and the Trianon Peace Treaty in 1920. The basis of the development were the development of the modern industrial economy and the developing infrastructure started with the building of the railway system. After the peace treaty anding the 1st Word War but mainly finishing the 2nd World War the county became to be periphery due to political reasons. The collapse of the Iron Curtain and the political transition brought change. Today the county is becoming one of the most developing part of the Western-Transdanubian region. The motto of its spatial development concept is: "Vas County is the open gate" - the people living here have opened gate for centuries for the Western-European culture and modernizing economy, and they also want to keep the gate open today.

The geographical borders of Vas county are: the Alps in the west, the Köszeg-hills in the northern-west and the "Örség" in the south. The county is bordered by two countries: the EU menber Austria is the western border and the developing Slovenia is the southern-western border. Other Hungarian counties border Vas county from other directions - Györ-Moson-Sopron from the north, Veszprém from the east and Zala from the south. Due to the collapse of the Iron Curtain Vas county can benefit again the advantages of its situation today.

The area of Vas county is 3337 Km² which is the 3,6% of the country. It has very diverse surface, the forces of the nature created hills, plains, volcanic-cones. The "Tóköz" (883 m) which is the second highest peak of Hungary is situated on the Hungarian-Austrian border in the Köszeg-hills. The climate is continental, but it is more equalized rhan other parts of the country. The county is very rainy, it is suitable for live-stock-farming and for cultivation. Bigger part of the agricultural areas are plough-lands, one-third of the area is forest, it is one of most forested county in Hungary, 13% of the area is under protection, there are 4 landscape-protection areas and 6 nature conservation areas. The exploited mineral resources of the county are the natural gas, the carbon-dioxide, the river pebbles, the sand and the talcum, the production of the lignite hasn't started yet.

The settlement system of the county is very dense, there are 216 settlement in the county. There are 8 towns which are spread evenly in the county. One of the towns is Köszeg which was a free toyal town already in the 14th century, some others towns were market-towns. The public administration system is based on the local governments. Vas county has 267000 in habitants, it is 2,7% of the population of the country. 2,5% of the county population is not Hungarian national, Croatians, Slovenes, Germans and Romas have lived here for centuries.

The transport infrastructure of the county is medium developed, however it is more developed than the country average. The county town - Szombathely is easy to reach, it is the railway-center of the Western-Transdanubian region and it has direct international railway connections. Its role is getting stronger due to the electrification of the railway-system and the opening of the railway going to Slovenia. The international road connection is proved by A2-E59 motorway in Austria which is 30 Km from Szombathely. The road connection to the A2 motorway is being buitt now. Two main European roads, the E65 and the E66 meet in the county and 6 main country roads go through the county. The bicycle-road on the western border has to be mentioned, it will reach the Adriatic sea when it will be ready. The airport of Vienna is 120 Km far from the county-town. The airport of Szombathely is only used by sporting flying, there are plans to develop it ti the public airport of the Western-Transdanubian region.

The county has much turistical attractions and it is rich in historic monuments. The old city in Köszeg and the Nádasdy-castle in Sárvár are the part of the national heritage. The towns and vilages being close to the border are famous places for shopping. The small villages in the "Köszeg" have excellent conditions for rural tourism. The county is rich in thermal and medicinal waters, there are famous spas in Bük, Sárvár and Szombathely. The spa in Bük is visited by 900 000 people every year.

The education has old and considerablr traditions in Vas County. One of the oldest and biggest college in Transdanubia is in Szombathely. The college have departments of teacher-training, of economy and of international-relations. There is an important adult-education and vocational-training centre in Szombathely, where 100 people are trained every year. There are old famous grammar schools and secondary schools in the county and there are some research centers and the county hospital works as university training centre.

The unemployment rate in Vas county is very low (5%) due to the investments after 1990. The value of the industrial production was more than 1.9 billion EURO in 1990. The dynamic increasing of the industrial production is based on the foreign investments. After 1990 such a strong huge multinacional companies investes in the county like the Opel, the L.U.K., the Flextronics, the Philips or the Delphi Packard. Some commercial firms build department stores in the county like Tesco, the Interspar and the Metro. To create more attractive conditions for the investments industrial parks were established in Szentgotthárd, Sárvár and in Szombathely. The investments haven't stopped yet, the microsoft and a sub-contractor of Peugeot will establish a factory soon. Due to the developing industry the GDP of the county is in the 4th rank in the country.

The county town - Szombathely is an important cultural centre. The Ruin-garden and the "Iseum" cheristh the memory of the Roman times. There is no permanent theatre company, but guest companies used to play. There are a famous puppet theatre and a Symphonic Orchestra with a European reputation. There are famous traditional cultural events like the Szombathely Spring Festival, the Savaria carnival, the Pannon Autumn, the International Sárvár Fok Festival, the Savaria International Dance Competition and the Savaria International Summer School.

Vas County has wide international relations. It is member of the Alps-Adriatic Working Community since 1988 and participates in the work of the Assembly of European Regions. Is was the founder of the Euregio West / Nyugat-Pannonia and it have twin-partners from Germany - Neckar-Odenwald and from Romania - Hunedoara.