Komárom-Esztergom

Komárom-Esztergom: Tata castle

Komárom-Esztergom, megye (county), northwestern Hungary. It is bordered by Slovakia to the north and by the counties of Pest to the east, Fejér to the south and southeast, Veszprém to the southwest, and Győr-Moson-Sopron to the west. It is the smallest of Hungary’s counties, excluding the county of Budapest. Tatabánya is the county seat.

Extending southward from the Danube River and the Slovakian frontier, Komárom-Esztergom has a mixed agricultural-industrial economic base. Sugar beets and peaches are important crops. The area surrounding Neszmély is a developing wine region. Tatabánya, formerly the locus of lignite mining in Hungary, became a centre for service and supply industries following the termination of mining there in the 1990s. Once significant, coal mining has also dropped off considerably at Dorog and Oroszlány. Industrial activity is concentrated along the Danube River. The town of Komárom is a rail centre and Danube port. At Lábatlan, cement, paper, and prefabricated building components are manufactured. Szőny has an oil refinery linked by pipeline with the Zala field. Almásfüzitő also refines oil. Nyergesújfalu specializes in plastics. Limestone is quarried at Dunaalmás and red marble at Süttő. Esztergom is a centre of the motor vehicle industry.

Around Tata are woodlands and nature reserves, with a national sports centre, training camp, and athletic school nearby. The city of Esztergom has long been the residence of the Roman Catholic primate in Hungary and served as the royal residence of Hungarian kings from the 10th to the mid-13th century. Area 875 square miles (2,265 square km). Pop. (2011) 304,568; (2017 est.) 297,381.