Pest , megye (county), central Hungary . It borders Slovakia to the north and the counties of Nógrád and Heves to the northeast, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok to the east, Bács-Kiskun to the south, and Komárom-Esztergom and Fejér to the west. Pest is by far the most-populous and most-industrialized county in Hungary. Budapest , the national capital, is the county seat despite being administratively independent. The majority of county-level institutions are located in Budapest, and only a few operate outside the city boundaries: notably, the cultural centre and the museum directorate in Szentendre, the county hospital in Kistarcsa, and the social security directorate in Cegléd. The population of Pest county, due to its 18th-century resettlement, is of diverse origins. Besides a Hungarian majority, there are significant ethnic German, Slovakian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian, and Roma (Gypsy) communities.Pest county lies at the junction of the Great Alfold (Great Hungarian Plain, or Nagy Magyar Alföld) and the Transdanubian Mountains. Hills and mountains cover the northern part of the county. In the region known as the Danube Bend, the Börzsöny and Pilis hills force the Danube River to turn south and flow past Szentendre and Csepel islands. The southern part of the county gives way to the Great Alfold, including the sandy plains that lie between the Tisza River and the Danube.