Tornaľa

Tornaľa (formerly Šafárikovo, Tornalja) is a town and municipality in Revúca District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia, with a population of approximately 7,000.

History
The first written record of the settlement dates back from 1245. The town was located in the Kingdom of Hungary until the second half of the 19th century. During the periods 1554 - 1593 and 1596 - 1686, Tornaľa was ruled by the Ottoman Empire as part of Filek sanjak with its centre in Rimaszombat). Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Tornaľa was part of Gömör and Kishont County within the Kingdom of Hungary. From 1938 to 1944, it was again part of Hungary as a result of the First Vienna Award. On 19 December 1944, Soviet troops of the 2nd Ukrainian Front entered Tornaľa. It became part of Czechoslovakia once again.

Geography
Tornaľa lies at an altitude of 183 m above sea level and covers an area of 57.768 km2. It is located in the historical Gemer region and lies on the Slaná river.

Demographics
According to the 2001 census, the town had 8,169 inhabitants. 62.14% of inhabitants were Hungarians, 29.77% Slovaks, 6.70% Roma and 0.50% Czech. Religioun is made up of 49.37% Roman Catholics, 17.03% people with no religious affiliation and 7.33% Lutherans.

Notable people

 * Barna Basilides (1903–1967), Hungarian painter

Twin towns — sister cities
Tornaľa is twinned with:
 * 🇭🇺 Heves, Hungary
 * 🇭🇺 Putnok, Hungary
 * 🇵🇱 Tarnów, Poland
 * 🇷🇴 Valea lui Mihai, Romania