In the period between 1948 and 1990 only one administrative map of Hungary was published, as the official view during this time was that administrative activities were the province of bourgeois societies, while under socialism these were the duty of the state. Between 1952 and 1956, 12 thinly-populated districts were abolished to simplify state administration, and decision no. 12 of the Presidential Council in 1954 gave county status to four towns (Miskolc, Debrecen, Pécs and Szeged) while several smaller towns (Komló, Kecskemét, Békéscsaba, Kazincbarcika, Ózd, the then Sztálinváros, Tatabánya, Salgótarján) were given district status.