Szolnok

Szolnok
City with county rights
Szolnok Megyei Jogú Város
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s):  Capital of Tisza, Gate of Transtisza, City of Waters
Szolnok Szolnok Szolnok
Coordinates: 47.17467°N 20.19649°E / 47.17467; 20.19649
Country	Hungary
County	Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok
District	Szolnok
Government
• Mayor	Ferenc Szalay (Fidesz)
Area
• Total	187.24 km2 (72.29 sq mi)
Elevation	68 m (223 ft)
Population  (2019)
• Total	71,285
• Rank	11th in Hungary
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	5000 to 5008
Area code	(+36) 56
Website	info.szolnok.hu

Szolnok (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈsolnok]) is the county seat of Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county in central Hungary. It is a city with county rights. It is on the banks of the Tisza river, in the heart of the Great Hungarian Plain. This has made it an important cultural and economic crossroads for centuries. Szolnok also has one of Hungary’s best waterpolo teams.

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1850	10,617	—
1870	15,847	+49.3%
1879	16,120	+1.7%
1900	24,160	+49.9%
1910	24,417	+1.1%
1920	31,065	+27.2%
1930	37,317	+20.1%
1941	39,897	+6.9%
1949	34,003	−14.8%
1960	45,640	+34.2%
1970	63,467	+39.1%
1980	75,362	+18.7%
1990	78,328	+3.9%
2001	77,654	−0.9%
2011	72,953	−6.1%
2020	70,554	−3.3%

In 2001, the population of Szolnok consisted of 98% Hungarian, 1% Gypsy, and 1% people of other nationalities (mainly German).

Szolnok's population reached its highest level in 1989 with almost 82,000 people. Since then it has been slowly going down.

Notable people

Born in Szolnok

• Ferenc Anisits (born 1938) engineer, founder of BMW Diesel Development Center
• Rev Peter Bedekovics (born 1989) Reformed minister, national chair of the Hungarian Scout Association
• Csaba Horváth (1930–2004) chemical engineer and inventor of HPLC
• Zoltán Jeney (1943–2019) composer
• Gina Kanizsa (born 1988), jazz singer
• Hedvig Karakas (born 1990) Olympic Judoka
• Katalin Karikó (born 1955) biochemist, senior vice president at BioNTech
• Ferenc Molnár (born 1982), Hungarian singer
• Arpád Račko (1930–2015) Slovak sculptor
• Gábor Szabó, architect
• Gizella Tary (1884–1960) Olympic fencer

Lived in Szolnok

• Bertalan Farkas (born 1949), cosmonaut
• Martin Nedić (1810–1895) Croatian poet
• Viktor Orbán (born 1963), prime minister
• Gábor Szegő (1895–1985), mathematician

International relations

Riihimäki

Reutlingen

Baia Mare

Bielsko-Biała

Forlì

Shoham

Eastwood

Rakvere

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Twin towns of Szolnok in Europe

A public transport stop in the Estonian city of Tallinn is named for Szolnok.

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Hungary

Szolnok is twinned with:

• Baia Mare, Romania (1990)
• Bengbu, China
• Bielsko-Biała, Poland (1995)
• Eastwood, England, UK (2006)
• Forlì, Italy (1998)
• Jinzhong, China
• Rakvere, Estonia (2008)
• Reutlingen, Germany (1990)
• Riihimäki, Finland (1969)
• Sanmenxia, China (2008)
• Shoham, Israel (2001)
• Yuza, Japan (2004)

Other websites

• Official site Archived 2022-08-02 at the Wayback Machine in Hungarian, English and German
• Aerial photography of Szolnok
• Museum of Hungarian Aviation
• Transmitter station Szolnok (in English and German)