In 1900, Hungary was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A much smaller, independent Hungary, almost equivalent to the present-day country, emerged from the peace negotiations at the end of World War I. Hungary reconquered some of its old ground as World War II began, but its defeat cancelled all its gains.At different times, Hungary has had varying numbers of urban counties. These are administrative divisions that appear geographically to be cities, but that are treated administratively as counties. Budapest has been of this type for the whole of the twentieth century. Others have come and gone. In 1921, there were thirty-five ordinary counties and twelve urban counties. In 1950, a territorial reform eliminated all of the urban counties. In 1954, four of them were created; in 1971, they were all abolished again. There were five of them in 1991. An additional 15 were created by 1993, and two more (making 22 in all) by 1996. In reference works, the urban counties are sometimes ignored, or treated as if they were part of the surrounding ordinary county.
