City (pop., 2001: 211,034), eastern Hungary.
An important city in eastern Hungary, it has long been a market centre and a religious, political, and cultural arena. Chartered in the 14th century, it became prominent during and after the Turkish occupation. Hungary's short-lived independence from the Habsburg s was proclaimed there in 1849; the city later reverted to Austrian control. During World War II it was briefly the seat of the interim Hungarian government. The Great Reformed Church and Lajos Kossuth University (1912) are located there.