Irodalom.indd


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L I T E R A T U R E

Hungarian Geographical Bulletin 2009. Vol. 58. No 2. pp. 137–140.

Károly Kocsis–Zsolt Bott lik: Ethnic map of the present territory of Hungary, 1941. 
Ethnic map of Hungary, 2001. Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Geographical Research 
Institute. Budapest, 2009.

The geographical workshop of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (GRI HAS) 
launched a series of maps in the mid-1990s, which show the present ethnic structure of 
the regions in the Carpathian Basin with sizeable Hungarian population and the change 
of this patt ern during the past fi ve hundred years. This publication series is a milestone 
in the history of Hungarian ethnic geographical research and now the latest (eighth and 
ninth) pieces of this series are available for those interested in the ethnic situation within 
the Carpathian Basin.

Author of the series is Károly Kocsis who has a quarter century long academic 
experience, and who revived the ethnic geographical studies having fl ourished between the 
world wars but vanished aft erwards. Reports on the lot of ethnic minorities in the region 
and on changes in their socio-economic position and demography patt ern were held back 
during the years of communism but today they are back in the focus of the general interest 
again. Representatives of social sciences and geography, together with the politicians and 
the public are equally concerned about the issue. Károly Kocsis has analysed the ethnic 
situation of the Carpatho-Balkan region in several of his previous works. These writings 
laid the foundations of a reviving discipline at the turn of the millennium. His present 
co-author Zsolt Bottlik (Eötvös Loránd University, Department of Geography) also is an 
expert in the spatial patt ern of the ethnicities in the region. 

The layout of the previous map sheets which showed the area of the Carpathian 
Basin beyond the Hungarian state borders were similar to that of the actual work repre-
senting the ethnic situation of our country. The series deploys a multitemporal approach: 
it successfully presents the dynamics in changes of ethnic structure during the last fi ve 
hundred years despite the constraints imposed by cartographic representation.

The recent publication is diff erent from the previous ones in a way that it consists 
of two sheets of double pages. This innovation accounts for the shape of the country and 
claims to prepare maps at a scale which are suitable to depict the ethnic patt ern by sett le-
ments. On the front pages there are maps of Hungary (1:500 000) showing the composi-
tion of the sett lements’ population at the moment of the censuses held in 1941 (by mother 
tongue) and 2001 (by ethnicity). 

The supplementary maps on the reverse show the changing spatial ethnic structure 
since the late 15th century. The cartographic representation is complemented with a table 
and a detailed explanation in Hungarian and English. The sources of data which comprise 
the basis of these maps are the offi  cial censuses from 1880 only, as the reconstruction of 
ethnic structures for the previous periods is rather ambiguous. The emerging distortions 
are reduced by the application of varied sources for the estimations (mainly historical 
monographs and gazett eers).



138

The maps on the front pages are adjusted to recent administrative divisions while 
the supplementary maps on the back side show the ethnicities ever lived within the contem-
porary administrative area of the sett lements. The sett lement names indicated on the front 
page cover the territory of the country completely therefore inscriptions of all sett lements 
fi gure in the maps those having been offi  cial at the two time slices.. In case the number 
of inhabitants qualifi es for it, the names can be read in the language of ethnic minorities 
as well. Because of size limits, only the name of major sett lements appear in maps of the 
reverse side. For these supplementary maps, the reference periods are indicated.

In the maps on the front, due to the detailed data of censuses, the ethnic composi-
tion by sett lements was represented with pie charts. The size of diagrams of sett lements are 
proportional to the numbers of inhabitants having importance, especially in case of the 2001 
census where the map provides information in an almost entirely homogeneous space. 

The maps of Hungary showing the spatial patt ern of ethnic minorities during the 
previous centuries are made through areal representation. Owing to the uncertain sources 
of data and smaller scale, however, in this case only the (absolute or relative) ethnic major-
ity of sett lements were indicated with patches of diff erent colours. These supplementary 
maps are aimed to introduce the macro-level changes which are feasible to be shown by 
this method of mapping. The distortion caused by the areal representation is partly coun-
terbalanced by the delineation of uninhabited territories.

The table is also a clear introduction into the dynamics of multitemporal changes 
as the comparison of national data sets makes possible research aimed at the analysis of 
the changes in the number of people that belong to ethnic groups and their proportions 
compared to the entire population.

The explanatory notes furnishing the map user with comments to the fi gures 
explore the social processes behind the changes in ethnic structure in detail, supported 
by a rich bibliography. The periods described are not derived from periods defi ned by the 
represented dates; they are confi ned to the distinct eras of Hungarian history instead. Thus 
the interpretation of processes is made much more easier. The maps support the message of 
this summary which is based on the crucial turning points of the history of ethnic groups 
in the Carpathian Basin, hence the changing ethnic aspect is also introduced and it is not 
only the maps which get an in-depth analysis.

The publication is a correct piece of work in mapping performed by the cartogra-
phers of the Geographical Research Institute. This is the reason why the graphical repre-
sentation is so att ractive: the colours, symbols and methods make aesthetic experience and 
illustrate correctly the ethnic structure of our country and the changes that have occurred 
in it.

The ethnic maps of Hungary stands its ground alone without the other maps of 
the series. The presentation of the spatial aspects of processes of historical scale is the real 
value of this long awaited publication. It is one of the essential bases for a research of social 
processes in the fi eld of various social sciences. It can be used as an auxiliary material in 
public education and in higher education equally, and also may serve as a source of infor-
mation for the interested layman.

Margit Kőszegi