Veličná

Veličná (Hungarian: Nagyfalu) is a village and municipality in Dolný Kubín District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.

Veličná was first mentioned under the Latin name Magna Villa in a decree of Ladislaus IV of Hungary from 1272. In the middle ages, the town was known also under the name Welkeg Wsy (Veľké Vsy, The Big Village) and the Hungarized forms Nag Flaw and Naghffalva.

The settlement grew in a relatively sparsely populated borderland area on an important trade route to Poland. By 1454, Veličná was already a smaller town. The town acquired several royal privileges (especially the privilege to trade with Polish salt) that positively influenced its economic development. By 1520, the town had become influential enough to become the seat of Orava County. In the 16th century, the region suffered several uprisings, which led George Thurzo to grant its citizens additional privileges to improve the economic situation.

In 1683, the town was sacked by Lithuanian troops led by Jan Kazimierz Sapieha the Younger en route to the Battle of Vienna.^[4] The casualties from this sacking included Veličná's town and county archive. The seat of the county was moved to Dolný Kubín; Veličná was burned again (twice) in 1686 and never fully recovered. The population decreased again during plague outbreaks in 1732, 1739, and 1742. In 1871, the town lost its status and became a village.

Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Veličná was part of Árva County within the Kingdom of Hungary. From 1939 to 1945, it was part of the Slovak Republic.

The municipality lies at an altitude of 484 metres (1,588 ft)^[3] and covers an area of 29.30 km² (11.31 sq mi) (2024).^[5] The biggest part of the village is called Revišné.

It has a population of 1616 people (31 December 2024).^[7]

In year 2021 was 1431 people by ethnicity 1396 as Slovak, 28 as Not found out, 9 as Czech, 5 as Other, 4 as Polish, 3 as Russian, 1 as Italian, 1 as Serbian, 1 as Silesian, 1 as Rusyn and 1 as German.

Note on population

The difference between the population numbers above and in the census (here and below) is that the population numbers above are mostly made up of permanent residents, etc.; and the census should indicate the place where people actually mainly live. For example, a student is a citizen of a village because he has permanent residence there (he lived there as a child and has parents), but most of the time he studies at a university in the city.

In year 2021 was 1431 people by religion 736 from Roman Catholic Church, 420 from Evangelical Church, 227 from None, 28 from Not found out, 4 from Greek Catholic Church, 4 from Ad hoc movements, 3 from Calvinist Church, 2 from Eastern Orthodox Church, 2 from Other, 2 from Buddhism, 1 from Paganism and natural spirituality, 1 from Other and not ascertained christian church and 1 from Apostolic Church.