Other important towns include Pápa, Ajka, Várpalota, Tapolca, Balatonfüred, and Balatonalmádi. The county is populated mainly by Hungarians, with significant ethnic German, Slovak, and Roma (Gypsy) communities.
Veszprém county consists largely of the forested Bakony Mountains and parts of Mezoföld flatlands. The Bakony Mountains are fragmented by several valleys and divide into the Southern Bakony and the Northern Bakony Mountains. The inner areas of the Northern Bakony Mountains are breached by loess basins and steep stream valleys with rich karst formations. Tapolca basin lies at the centre of the county and to the south gives way to the highlands around Lake Balaton. The Keszthely Mountains rise in the southwestern part of the county.
Soil and geographic conditions in Veszprém county do not favour agriculture. The elevated areas of the Bakony are relatively rich in rainfall, while the southern parts of the mountains and hills—because of Mediterranean climatic influences—see a lot of autumn sunshine. Conditions are well suited for wine production, which takes place at Badacsony, Szent Görgy Mountain, Somló, and the north shore of Lake Balaton. Mineral resources found in the Bakony Mountains include bauxite, pitch coal, lignite, and basalt. Limestone and water from the karst regions are also important natural resources. The once-abundant karst springs in the Bakony Mountains were diminished by the large amounts of water brought to the surface by bauxite mining.
