The city is located in the valley between theGerecse andVértes Mountains, some 55 km (34 mi) from thecapital. By virtue of its location, the city is a railway and road junction. TheM1 (alsoEuropean routesE60,E75) motorway fromVienna toBudapest passes through the outer city limits, and the Vienna-Budapest railway line also passes through the city.
Archaeological findings prove that humans have been living here since theStone Age. The three historic predecessor settlements of Tatabánya are Alsógalla, Felsőgalla, andBánhida. Bánhida is the earliest settlement, it was first mentioned in 1288.[citation needed]
According to the 1787census, Alsógalla had 580 and Felsőgalla had 842 inhabitants. Thecoal resources of the area were discovered around this time. The population began to grow, and a new mining colony was formed, later developing into the village of Tatabánya.[citation needed]
During the industrialization wave that took over the country after World War II, several Hungarian towns developed into large industrial cities.[citation needed] The four villages were united on October 1, 1947, under the name Tatabánya and it was elevated to town status.[citation needed] In 1950, it became the county capital of Komárom-Esztergom county (then called Komárom county.)[citation needed] By the 1980s, it had more than 80,000 inhabitants.[citation needed]
The industrial character of the city was significant until the fall of the Socialist government and the following political changes of 1989.[2] After that, the importance ofheavy industry andmining decreased and the economic structure of the city has changed remarkably.[2]
In April 2025, researchers from theHungarian National Museum identified a previously unknownAvar-era cemetery estimated to contain up to 1,000 graves throughaerial photographs revealing rectangular discolorations in a grain field. Subsequent excavations confirmed the presence of two logcoffin tombs characteristic of Avar burial traditions dating from the 6th to 9th centuries AD.[3][4]
Communist housing developments in TatabányaCredo Econell at Tatabánya bus station
According to the 2001 census, Tatabánya had 28,912[5] households and 92% of them had central heating and telephone access. Almost all households have access to the cable TV network. 98% of the city roads are paved, mass transport is well organized.T-Busz provides local bus services and KNYKK provides the regional bus services.[6]
Until the mid-20th century, educational standards in the city were average, but in the second half of the century they deteriorated to below average, mostly because the local mines did not require their employees to have a high level of education. By the end of the 20th century, this trend had reversed again. The city currently has two colleges, ten secondary schools, 16 primary schools,[7] 18 kindergartens, and five crèches.
One of Tatabánya's most prominent residents isJózsef Kiprich, formally known as "the Wizard from Tatabánya". He became the top goalscorer in theHungarian League in 1985, scoring 18 goals in 26 matches. In total, he played nine seasons at Tatabánya before making the move to the Netherlands. He had just played his first match in his 10th season at Tatabánya whenFeyenoord ofRotterdam got interested in signing him. Kiprich didn't hesitate and signed a contract and left Tatabánya for Rotterdam.[8] He is also one of Hungary's top goal scorers. In eleven seasons of football with the Hungarian national team, "the Wizard" managed to score 28 goals in 70 appearances.[citation needed]
The local Municipal Assembly, elected at the2019 local government elections, is made up of 18 members (1 Mayor, 12 Individual constituencies MEPs and 5 Compensation List MEPs) divided into this political parties and alliances:[9]
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