Elek
# Elek

Elek (German: Renndorf, Romanian: Aletea) is a town in Békés County, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary. Jews lived in the city as early as the 19th century and in 1944 many of them were murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust.

## Geography

The town covers an area of 54.94 $km^2$ (21.21 sq mi) and had a population of 5,567 in 2002.

## History

* 1232 : First mentioned
* 1566-1696 : Ottoman rule (Ottoman wars in Europe)
* 1724 : settling of German colonists (predominantly from Franconia)
* 1739 : Bubonic plague
* 1894 : Artesian aquifer
* 1920 : Elek becomes border town (Treaty of Trianon)
* 1946 : Expulsion of German inhabitants, about half the population
* 1996 : Elek given town status

| Year | Population |
| - | - |
| 1802 | 1,200 |
| 1835 | 2,500 |
| 1890 | 5,700 |
| 1930 | 8,400 |
| 1940 | 9,300 |
| 2000 | 5,500 |
| 2010 | 4,985 |
| 2019 | 4,816 |

### Twin towns

Elek is twinned with:

* Gerolzhofen, Germany (1990)
* Alerheim, Germany (1992)
* Leimen, Germany (1992)
* Sebiș (Borossebes), Romania (1992)
* Gerlingen, Germany
* Laudenbach, Germany (1994)
* Veľké Kapušany (Nagykapocs), Slovakia (1996)
* Grăniceri (Ottlaka), Romania (1997)
* Dumbrava (Igazfalva), Romania (2019)
