| Conventional Long Name: | Békés County |
| Common Name: | Békés |
| Subdivision: | County |
| Nation: | the Kingdom of Hungary (11th century-1541) County of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom (1541-1566) County of the Kingdom of Hungary (1699-1786, 1790-1853, 1860-1946) |
| Year Start: | 11th century |
| Event1: | Ottoman conquest |
| Date Event1: | 1566 |
| Event2: | County recreated |
| Date Event2: | 1699 |
| Event3: | Merged into Békés-Csanád-Csongrád County |
| Date Event3: | 1 June 1786 |
| Event4: | County recreated |
| Date Event4: | 26 April 1790 |
| Event5: | Merged into Békés-Csanád County |
| Date Event5: | 10 January 1853 |
| Event6: | County recreated |
| Date Event6: | 20 October 1860 |
| Event7: | Monarchy abolished |
| Date Event7: | 1 February 1946 |
| Capital: | Békés
|
| Stat Area1: | 3670 |
| Stat Pop1: | 298,710 |
| Stat Year1: | 1910 |
| Today: | Hungary |
Békés was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory, which was smaller than that of present Békés county, is now in southeastern Hungary. The capital of the county was Gyula.
Békés county shared borders with the Hungarian counties Csongrád, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Hajdú, Bihar, Arad and Csanád. The river Körös flowed through the county. Its area was 3,670 km2 around 1910.
Békés county arose as one of the first comitatus of the Kingdom of Hungary, in the 11th century. In 1950, the territory of Békés county was expanded with:
| 1880[1] | 229,757 | 152,877 (69.84%) | 53,517 (24.45%) | 5,347 (2.44%) | 6,611 (3.02%) | 530 (0.24%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890[2] | 258,386 | 188,781 (73.06%) | 56,876 (22.01%) | 6,019 (2.33%) | 6,110 (2.36%) | 600 (0.23%) |
| 1900[3] | 278,731 | 201,619 (72.33%) | 64,467 (23.13%) | 6,069 (2.18%) | 6,191 (2.22%) | 385 (0.14%) |
| 1910[4] | 298,710 | 219,261 (73.40%) | 66,770 (22.35%) | 6,125 (2.05%) | 6,048 (2.02%) | 506 (0.17%) |
| 1880 | 229,757 | 82,780 (36.03%) | 82,129 (35.75%) | 50,838 (22.13%) | 7,149 (3.11%) | 6,255 (2.72%) | 606 (0.26%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890 | 258,386 | 92,327 (35.73%) | 91,339 (35.35%) | 58,867 (22.78%) | 7,477 (2.89%) | 7,189 (2.78%) | 1,187 (0.46%) |
| 1900 | 278,731 | 98,882 (35.48%) | 95,548 (34.28%) | 66,857 (23.99%) | 7,870 (2.82%) | 7,358 (2.64%) | 2,216 (0.80%) |
| 1910 | 298,710 | 105,724 (35.39%) | 98,596 (33.01%) | 75,738 (25.36%) | 8,374 (2.80%) | 7,444 (2.49%) | 2,834 (0.95%) |
In the early 20th century, the subdivisions of Békés county were:
| Districts (járás) | |
|---|---|
| District | Capital |
| Békés | Békés |
| Békéscsaba | Békéscsaba |
| Gyoma | Gyoma |
| Gyula | |
| Orosháza | Orosháza |
| Szarvas | Szarvas |
| Szeghalom | Szeghalom |
| Urban districts (rendezett tanácsú város) | |
| Gyula | |