Szolnok

**Szolnok** () 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

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.

### 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

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

### Twin towns – sister cities

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)

## References

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## Other websites

- Official site  in Hungarian, English and German
- Aerial photography of Szolnok
- Museum of Hungarian Aviation
- Transmitter station Szolnok

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Szolnok
- **settlement type**: Town with county rights, City with county rights
- **image flag**: Szolnokzászlaja.svg
- **image shield**: HUN Szolnok Címer.svg
- **nickname**: _Capital of Tisza_, _Gate of Transtisza_, _City of Waters_
- **pushpin map**: Hungary Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok#Hungary#Europe
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision type1**: Counties of Hungary, County
- **subdivision name1**: Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok
- **subdivision type2**: Districts of Hungary, District
- **subdivision name2**: Szolnok District, Szolnok
- **leader party**: Fidesz
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **leader name**: Ferenc Szalay
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 187.24
- **elevation m**: 68
- **population total**: 71285
- **population as of**: 2019
- **population rank**: List of cities and towns of Hungary, 11th in Hungary
- **population density km2**: auto
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **postal code type**: Postal codes in Hungary, Postal code
- **postal code**: 5000 to 5008
- **area code type**: Telephone numbers in Hungary, Area code
- **area code**: (+36) 56