 In 16 northern counties, the Hungarian population rose by 427,238, while the majority Slovak population rose only by 95,603.The number of "Hungarians who can speak Slovak" unusually increased in a time when Hungarians really had no motivation to learn it – by 103,445 in southern Slovakia in absolute numbers, by 100% in Pozsony, Nyitra, Komárom, Bars and Zemplén County and more than 3 times in Košice.After the creation of Czechoslovakia, people could declare their nationality more freely.