Bratislava

Bratislava (/ˌbrætᵻˈslɑːvə/ or /ˌbrɑː-/;Slovak pronunciation: [ˈbracislaʋa] (German: Pressburg or Preßburg; Hungarian: Pozsony) is the capital of Slovakia, and with a population of about 500,000, the country's largest city. The greater metropolitan area is home to more than 650,000 people. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia, occupying both banks of the River Danube and the left bank of the River Morava. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.

Bratislava is the political, cultural and economic centre of Slovakia. It is the seat of the Slovak president, the parliament and the Slovak Executive. It is home to several universities, museums, theatres, galleries and other important cultural and educational institutions. Many of Slovakia's large businesses and financial institutions also have headquarters there.

The history of the city has been strongly influenced by people of different nations and religions, namely by Austrians, Croats, Czechs, Germans, Hungarians, Jews, Serbs and Slovaks (in alphabetical order). The city was the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary, a part of the larger Habsburg Monarchy territories, from 1536 to 1783 and has been home to many Slovak, Hungarian and German historical figures.

Pozsony County

Pozsony county was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory lies in present-day western Slovakia.

Its name changed along with that of the city of Pozsony, today's Bratislava. Its names around 1900 were Pozsony vármegye in Hungarian, Prešpurská župa in Slovak and Preßburger Gespanschaft in German.

Geography

The county shared borders with the Austrian land of Lower Austria and the Hungarian counties Nyitra (Nitra), Komárom (Komárno), Győr and Moson. It was situated between the river Morava in the west, the river Danube in the south, and the river Váh in the east. The southern part of the Little Carpathians divided the county into two. It also covered most of the island known today as Žitný ostrov (Hungarian: Csallóköz) between the Danube and the Little Danube. Its area was 4,370 km² around 1910.

Seats

The seats of Pozsony county were the Pozsony Castle (Bratislava Castle) and Somorja Šamorín, and from the 18th century onwards the town of Pozsony.