In this respect, however, matters are improving, the death-rate sinking from 33.1 per thousand in 1881-1885 to 28.1 per thousand in 1896-1900. The improvement, which is mainly due to better sanitation and the draining of the pestilential marshes, is most conspicuous in the case of Hungary proper, which shows the following figures: 33.3 per thousand in 1881-1885, and 27.8 per thousand in 1896-1900.

At the census of 1900 fifteen towns had more than 40,000 inhabitants, namely: Budapest, 732,322; Szeged, 100,270; Szabadka (Maria-Theresiopel), 81,464; Debreczen, 72,351; Pozsony (Pressburg), 61,537; Hódmezö-Vásárhely, 60,824; Zágráb (Agram), 61,002; Kecskemét, 56,786; Arad, 53,903; Temesvár, 53,033; Nagyvárad (Grosswardein), 47,018; Kolozsvár (Klausenburg), 46,670; Pécs (Fünfkirchen), 42,252; Miskolcz, 40,833; Kassa, 35,856.

The number and aggregate population of all towns and boroughs in Hungary proper having in 1890 more than 10,000 inhabitants was at the censuses of 1880, 1890 and 1900:—

Census.Towns.Inhabitants.Percentage of
Total Population.
1880 932,191,87815.94
18901062,700,85217.81
19001223,525,37721.58

Thus the relative increase of the population living in urban districts of more than 10,000 inhabitants amounted in 1900 to nearly 4% of the total population. In Croatia-Slavonia only 5.62% of the population was concentrated in such towns in 1900.

Races.—One of the prominent features of Hungary being the great complexity of the races residing in it (see map, “Distribution of Races,” in the article [Austria]), the census returns of 1880, 1890 and 1900, exhibiting the numerical strength of the different nationalities, are of great interest. Classifying the population according to the mother-tongue of each individual, there were, in the civil population of Hungary proper, including Fiume:—

Census.
 Hungarians
(Magyars).		 Germans
(Német).		 Slovaks
(Tót).		 Rumanians
(Oláh).		 Ruthenians
(Ruthén).		 Croatians
(Horvát).		 Servians
(Szerb).		 Others.
1880 6,404,070 1,870,772 1,855,451 2,403,041 353,229 639,986 223,054
1890 7,357,936 1,990,084 1,896,665 2,589,079 379,786 194,412 495,133 259,893
1900 8,588,834 1,980,423 1,991,402 2,784,726 423,159 188,552 434,641 329,837
i.e. in percentages of the total population:
1880 46.58 13.61 13.49 17.48 2.57 4.65 1.62
1890 48.53 13.12 12.51 17.08 2.50 1.28 3.27 1.71
1900 51.38 11.88 11.88 16.62 2.52 1.17 2.60 1.95

The censuses show a decided tendency of change in favour of the dominating nationality, the Magyar, which reached an absolute majority in the decade 1890-1900. This is also shown by the data relating to the percentage of members of other Hungarian races speaking this language. Thus in 1900 out of a total civil population of 8,132,740, whose mother-tongue is not Magyar, 1,365,764 could speak Magyar. This represents a percentage of 16.8, while in 1890 the percentage was only 13.8. In Croatia-Slavonia the language of instruction and administration being exclusively Croat, the other races tend to be absorbed in this nationality. The Magyars formed but 3.8%, the Germans 5.6% of the population according to the census of 1900.

The various races of Hungary are distributed either in compact ethnographical groups, in larger or smaller colonies surrounded by other nationalities, or—e.g. in the Banat—so intermingled as to defy exact definition.[3] The Magyars occupy almost exclusively the great central plain intersected by the Danube and the Theiss, being in an overwhelming majority in 19 counties (99.7% in Hajdu, east of the Theiss). With these may be grouped the kindred population of the three Szekel counties of Transylvania. In 14 other counties, on the linguistic frontier, they are either in a small majority or a considerable minority (61.6% in Szatmár, 18.9% in Torontál). The Germans differ from the other Hungarian races in that, save in the counties on the borders of Lower Austria and Styria, where they form a compact population in touch with their kin across the frontier, they are scattered in racial islets throughout the country. Excluding the above counties these settlements form three groups: (1) central and northern Hungary, where they form considerable minorities in seven counties (25% in Szepes, 7% in Komárom); (2) the Swabians of southern Hungary, also fairly numerous in seven counties (35.5% in Baranya, 32.9% in Temes, 10.5% in Arad); (3) the Saxons of Transylvania, in a considerable minority in five counties (42.7% in Nagy Küküllö, 17.6% in Kis Küküllö). The Germans are most numerous in the towns, and tend to become absorbed in the Magyar population. The Slavs, the most numerous race after the Magyars, are divided into several groups: the Slovaks, mainly massed in the mountainous districts of northern Hungary; the Ruthenians, established mainly on the slopes of the Carpathians between Poprád and Máramaros Sziget; the Serbs, settled in the south of Hungary from the bend of the Danube eastwards across the Theiss into the Banat; the Croats, overwhelmingly preponderant in Croatia-Slavonia, with outlying settlements in the counties of Zala, Vas and Sopron along the Croatian and Styrian frontier. Of these the Slovaks are the most important, having an overwhelming majority in seven counties (94.7% in Árva, 66.1% in Sâros), a bare majority in three (Szepes, Bars and Poszody) and a considerable minority in five (40.6% in Gömör, 22.9% in Abauj-Torna). The Ruthenians are not in a majority in any county, but in four they form a minority of from 36 to 46% (Máramaros, Bereg, Ugocsa, Ung) and in three others (Sâros, Zemplén, Szepes) a minority of from 8.2 to 19.7%. The Serbs form considerable minorities in the counties of Torontál (31.2%), Bács-Bodrog (19.0%) and Temes (21.4%). Next to the Slav races in importance are the Rumanians (Vlachs), who are in an immense majority in ten of the eastern and south-eastern counties (90.2% in Fogaras), in eight others form from 30 to 60% of the population, and in two (Máramaros and Torontál) a respectable minority.[4]

The Jews in 1900 numbered 851,378, not counting the very great number who have become Christians, who are reckoned as Magyars. Their importance is out of all proportion to their number, since they monopolize a large portion of the trade, are with the Germans the chief employers of labour, and control not only the finances but to a great extent the government and press of the country. Owing to the improvidence of the Hungarian landowners and the poverty of the peasants the soil of the country is also gradually passing into their hands.[5]