About Veszprém county

by Dr. Gábor Zongor
President of the General Assembly of Veszprém County

Veszprém county is a part of Hungary, known by many people from personal experience, because it is a popular holiday resort near the northern shore of Lake Balaton. However, the county's beauty and importance are provided not only by Lake Balaton. Its varied countryside, mineral resources and its many monuments remind us of the region's historical past and create a unique impression. The Badacsony Hills, the historical wine-districts, the complex of monuments in Veszprém castle and Tihany Abbey each might well be a symbol of the county in their own right.
Veszprém county is one of the medium-size counties of Hungary with an area of 4689 km2 and population of 382000. It comprises 9 towns and 211 villages, the largest of them being Veszprém, the county centre, with 70000 inhabitants.
The county is divided into four typical regions. The shore of Lake Balaton and the Balaton Highlands - along with Budapest and Danube Bend - are the most important tourist centres and holiday resorts of the country, and it is an excellent wine-district. With the help of the map one can easily follow the Tapolca-Ajka-Veszprém-Várpalota "industrial" axis that is an important base area of coal, bauxite and manganese mining, aluminium metallurgy, machine and chemical industries.
Among the ranges of the Bakony mountains there are a number of small villages of tourist importance, though they are economically undeveloped. The flat northern part of the county, surrounding the town Pápa with an area of 1000 km2, is a continuation of the Kisalföld plains. It is a typical agricultural region with wheat, corn, vegetable and animal farming.
The beautiful landscape tempted man to settle down here even 35000 years ago. According to evidence from the numerous archeological findings, the region was populated in the ice, stone and bronze ages, similarly to the time when it was part of the Roman Empire. After the conquest of the Carpathian basin by the Hungarians, the land was owned by Prince Árpád. The county centre, Veszprém, became an episcopal see and "the town of queens" after the foundation of the state. Our county abounds in historical monuments and tourists' sights. Besides the historical buildings of Veszprém there is the old town centre in Pápa, the castles in Sümeg and Nagyvázsony, the abbey in Zirc, Tihany, and the china museum in Herend. Also the mountains Somló and Szentgyörgyhegy are worth visiting.
The central position of our region with its spas, the traditional cultural and educational centres have always scientists and artists from Hungary and abroad. On the average, about 350000 holidaymakers visit our county each year, spending here 15% of all registered guestnights in the whole country. The majority of our 120000 tourist accommodations can be found near Lake Balaton.
The transition to a market economy, which plays a major part in both the county's economy and tourist industry, offers a large scope to market-oriented, environmentfriendly investments and developments. Besides the pleasures of Lake Balaton in the summer, the magnificent silence of the Bakony forests, the atmosphere of the small villages, the magic of the old streets and the undisturbed peace of the snow in winter all welcome visitors to our county.

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