Trencsén county (in Latin: comitatus Trentsiniensis/Trenchiniensis, in Hungarian Trencsén (vár) megye, in Slovak Trenčiansky komitát/ Trenčianska stolica/ Trenčianska župa, German: Trentschiner Gespanschaft/Komitat) was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in western Slovakia. Trencsén county shared borders with the Austrian lands Moravia and Galicia and the Hungarian counties Árva (Orava), Turóc (Turiec) and Nyitra (Nitra). The county's territory was a strip in the extreme northwestern edge of present-day Slovakia, i.e. the territory between the Czech border, the town of Nové Mesto nad Váhom, the Turóc county, the Árva county and the Polish border. The river Váh flowed through the county. Its area was 4456 km² around 1910.

The capital of Trencsén county was the Trenčín Castle, and from around 1650 the town of Trenčín. History

A predecessor of the Trencsén county existed already in the 9th century, at the time of Great Moravia. Its center was in Ducové. In the 10th and 11th century, the county was probably temporarily part of Bohemia and then temporarily of Poland (castellania Trecen).

The Trencsén county as a Hungarian comitatus arose at the end of the 11th century, when most parts of the territory were conquered by the Kingdom of Hungary. Traditionally, the office of hereditary lord lieutenant of Trencsén county was held by the Csák, Cseszneky and Illésházy families.

In the aftermath of World War I, Trencsén county became part of newly formed Czechoslovakia, as recognized by the concerned states in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon. The Trenčín county (Trenčianska župa) continued to exist until 1922, but it had completely different powers, etc.

When Slovakia became independent temporarily between 1939 and 1945, the Trenčín county was created again in 1940, but its territory was slightly extended. After World War II Trenčín county was in Czechoslovakia again. In 1993, Czechoslovakia was split and Trenčín became part of Slovakia.

In 1900, the county had a population of 287,665 people and was composed of the following linguistic communities:[1]

   Slovak: 266,763 (92.7%)

   German: 10,213 (3.6%)

   Hungarian: 8,210 (2.9%)

   Romanian: 105 (0.0%)

   Croatian: 64 (0.0%)

   Serbian: 60 (0.0%)

   Ruthenian: 16 (0.0%)

   Other or unknown: 2,234 (0.8%)

According to the census of 1900, the county was composed of the following religious communities:[1]

   Roman Catholic: 250,628 (87.1%)

   Lutheran: 24,890 (8.7%)

   Jewish: 11,397 (4,0)

   Calvinist: 447 (0.2%)

   Greek Orthodox: 147 (0.0%)

   Greek Catholic: 141 (0.0%)

   Unitarian: 3 (0.0%)

   Other or unknown: 12 (0.0%)

In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Trencsén/Trenčín county were:

• Districts (járás) Capital

1. Bán Bán, SK Bánovce nad Bebravou
2. Csaca Csaca, SK Čadca
3. Illava Illava, SK Ilava
4. Kiszucaújhely Kiszucaújhely, SK Kysucké Nové Mesto
5. Nagybiccse Nagybiccse, SK Bytča
6. Puhó Puhó, SK Púchov
7. Trencsén Trencsén, SK Trenčín
8. Vágbeszterce Vágbeszterce, SK Považská Bystrica
9. Zsolna Zsolna, SK Žilina

• Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város) Trencsén, SK Trenčín

H

Trencsén vármegye fekvése a mai Szlovákián belül

A vármegye kilenc járásra volt felosztva:

   Báni járás, székhelye Bán

   Csacai járás, székhelye Csaca

   Illavai járás, székhelye Illava

   Kiszucaújhelyi járás, székhelye Kiszucaújhely

   Nagybiccsei járás, székhelye Nagybiccse

   Puhói járás, székhelye Puhó

   Trencséni járás, székhelye Trencsén (rendezett tanácsú város)

   Vágbesztercei járás, székhelye Vágbeszterce

   Zsolnai járás, székhelye Zsolna