Heves

Heves 

a megye (county) in northern Hungary. Area, 3,600 sq km. Population, 342,000 (1975). The administrative center is the city of Eger. The northern part of Heves is covered by the volcanic Mátra massif, and the western part by the Bükk Mountains; the southern part is a plain, the northern edge of the Great Central Danubian Plain (Alföld).

Heves is an industrial and agricultural region. Brown coal is mined at Egercsehi, and lignite is extracted at Rózsaszentmárton and at Mount Gyöngyös (the settlement of Visonta). Complex ores are mined at Recsk and Gyöngyöroszi in the Mátra Mountains. Railroad equipment is manufactured at Gyöngyös, and flour, sugar, tobacco, and canned fruits and vegetables are produced in various cities.

Approximately 50 percent of the land is cultivated, and more than 25 percent is covered with forests, chiefly oak and beech. Crops include wheat, maize, barley, oats, and potatoes. The most important commercial crops are sugar beets and tobacco. The vineyards on the southern slopes of the Mátra and Bükk mountains are known for their Eger and Gyöngyös wines. Cattle are bred, and sheep are raised in the mountains.

Balneological health resorts are found in the mountains.