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Little Hungarian Plain
The castle of the Eszterházy family. Such buildings are typical in the area
Location	Western Hungary
Territory	8,000 km²
Highest point	?
Lowest point	Danube river
Terrain	plain

The Little Alföld or Little Hungarian Plain (Hungarian: Kisalföld, Slovak: Malá dunajská kotlina, German: Kleine Ungarische Tiefebene) is a plain (tectonic basin) of appr. 8,000 km in northwestern Hungary, southwestern Slovakia (Podunajská nížina – Danubian Lowland) and eastern Austria. It is a part of the Pannonian plain which covers most parts of Hungary.

Geography

Its borders are the Carpathians on the north, the Bakony-Vértes Hills (at the Balaton) in the south, and the Vienna Basin and the Alps in the west. In Hungary, it includes most of Győr-Moson-Sopron and Vas counties, and the western part of Komárom-Esztergom and Veszprém.

The plain is roughly cut in half by the river Danube which is splitting up into many arms between Bratislava and Komárno forming great islands. Its main tributaries are the Váh (Hun: Vág), Rába, Rábca and Marcal rivers.

Smaller microregions of the Little Alföld are Hanság (German: Waasen), Seewinkel (Hun: Fertőzug), Neusiedl Basin, Rábaköz, Szigetköz, Marcali Basin, Moson Plain, Komárom-Esztergom Plain and Žitný ostrov (Hun: Csallóköz).

The neighbouring regions of Kemeneshát, Sopron-Vas Plain and Steirisches Hügelland are sometimes classified as belonging to the Little Alföld, but Hungarian geographists use the term in a more narrow meaning.

History

The plain has been an important area of agriculture since the Neolithic Age. The southern part of it belonged to the Roman province of Pannonia between the 1st and 5th centuries and later was inhabited by German and Slavic peoples and since 900 also by Magyars. After 900 the whole region became part of the Hungarian principality, since 1000 Kingdom of Hungary. After World War I the Little Alföld was divided between Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Austria. In the 1990's Slovakia built a large dam and power plant at Gabčikovo (Hun. Bős) that caused international controversy with Hungary.

Population

Country borders don't follow closely the linguistic boundaries, especially in the case of the northern part of the plain where Hungarians are a majority in the 2 southernmost districts and a minority in the remaining districts. There are also smaller groups of Croats in the tri-state border region. Important cities in the region are Győr, Komárom, Komárno, Dunajská Streda, Nové Zámky, and Mosonmagyaróvár.

See also

• Great Alföld, sedimentary basin, Lowlands

v t e Geographical regions of Hungary
West-Hungarian Borderland	Alpokalja Kőszeg Mountains Sopron Mountains Vas Hills Balfi Hills
Little Hungarian Plain	Hanság Fertőzug Neusiedl Basin Rábaköz Szigetköz Marcal Basin Moson Plain Komárom-Esztergom Plain
Transdanubia	Baranya Zala Hills Inner Somogy Outer Somogy Zselic Völgység Szekszárd Hills Baranya Hills Villány Mountains
Transdanubian Mountains	Keszthely Mountains Tapolca Basin Balaton Uplands Bakony Bakonyalja Sokoró Vértesalja Velence Hills Gerecse Mountains Buda Hills Pilis Mountains Visegrád Mountains Vértes Mountains
Transdanubian Hills	Mecsek Outer Somogy Inner Somogy Tolna-Baranya Hills Balaton Basin
North Hungarian Mountains	Börzsöny Cserhát Mátra Mátralába Bükk Zemplén Mountains
Great Hungarian Plain	Bácska Bánát Mezőföld Sárrét Sárköz Drávamellék Kunság (Kiskunság, Nagykunság) Jászság Pest Plain Heves Plain Borsodi-Mezőség Bodrogköz Tiszahát Szatmár Plain Maros-Körös köze Körös-vidék Hortobágy Hajdúság Nyírség Tiszántúl Tiszazug

• Geography of Hungary
• Geography of Slovakia
• Geography of Austria
• Plains