Berehove

Berehove (Берегове; Beregszász) is a city in Zakarpattia Oblast, western Ukraine. It is situated near the border with Hungary.

It is the cultural centre of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine, and Hungarians constitute roughly half (a plurality) of its population.

The city serves as the administrative center of Berehove Raion. It has a population of

Name
The city has many different variations of spelling its name: Bereg, Берегово (translit. Berehovo), Берегово (translit. Beregovo), Берагава (Łacinka Bierahava), Czech and Slovak: Berehovo, בערעגסאז, Beregsaz, Bergsaß, Bereg Saski.

Residents of Berehove voted on October 31, 2010, in a referendum on renaming the town to Beregszász, its Hungarian-language name. Voter turnout was less than 52%, with 4,688 voting for renaming, 4,358 against, and 1,016 invalid ballots.

Administrative division
Part of the city is also a near adjacent village of Zatyshne of 504 people that has its representation in the city's council.

Hungarian was made a regional language in Berehove in September 2012; meaning it would be used in the town's administrative office work and documents. This was made possible after new legislation on languages in Ukraine was passed in the summer of 2012.

As of December 2020, all decisions of Zakarpattia's local councils on the functioning of regional languages, including Hungarian in Berehove, were cancelled.

Climate
Berehove has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb).

History
In 1824, Berehove received the right to hold fairs 12 times a year. With the abolition of serfdom, the industrial development of the city began. Enterprises appeared, banks, savings banks, and credit institutions were opened.

In 1910, out of 12,933 inhabitants 12,432 were Hungarians (96.1%), 221 Ukrainians (Ruthenians) and 140 Germans. On April 27, 1919, the city was occupied by Czechoslovak and Romanian troops. At the end of 1919, according to the Saint-Germain Peace Treaty, it became part of Czechoslovakia.

It was the capital of the Kingdom of Hungary's Bereg County until 1920 and between 1940 and 1945.

From 1920 until 1938 it was part of Czechoslovakia. Prior to World War II, the city had a significant Jewish population, estimated at 8,000 persons. Only four returned following the war.

A local newspaper has been published here since December 1945.

In January 1989 the population was 30,157 people.

In 2001, ethnic groups included:
 * 48.1% Hungarians 12.8 thousand
 * 38.9% Ukrainians 10.3 thousand
 * 6.4% Romani 1.7 thousand
 * 5.4% Russians 1.5 thousand

The first Hungarian-language college in Ukraine is in Berehove, the II. Rákoczi Ferenc College.

Notable people

 * Rabbi Hugo Gryn (1930–1996) was born here on June 25, 1930, and became well known as a broadcaster in Britain.
 * The parents of Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman lived there before emigrating to the United States.
 * Julius Rebek (born April 11, 1944), American chemist and expert on molecular self-assembly was born here.
 * Csaba Czébely (born December 3, 1975), the drummer of Hungarian heavy metal band Pokolgép.
 * Géza Kalocsay (born May 30, 1913, died September 26, 2008), former Hungarian and Czechoslovak footballer, football manager e.g. Standard Liège, FK Partizan, Górnik Zabrze.
 * Aranka Siegal (born June 10, 1930) is a writer, Holocaust survivor, and recipient of the Newbery Honor and Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, both awarded to her in 1982.
 * Andrea Bocskor (born August 11, 1978 ), politician who in the 2014 European Parliament election in Hungary was elected into the European Parliament. Hence, Bocskor became the first elected Ukrainian citizen in the European Parliament.
 * Sári Fedák (1879–1955), Hungarian actress and singer was born here.
 * Nandor Fodor (1895–1964), parapsychologist, psychoanalyst, author and journalist.
 * Alen Panov (1978), Ukrainian diplomat, lawyer and professor of Uzhhorod National University

Twin towns — Sister cities
Berehove is twinned with:


 * 🇵🇱 Przeworsk, Poland
 * 🇷🇴 Satu Mare, Romania
 * 🇭🇺 Gödöllő, Hungary
 * 🇳🇱 Maassluis, Netherlands