Lučenec (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈlutʂeɲets] ; German: Lizenz; Hungarian: Losonc; Yiddish: לאשאנץ, romanized: Lashantz; Latin: Lutetia Hungarorum) is a town in the Banská Bystrica Region of south-central Slovakia. Historically, it was part, and in the 18th century the capital, of Nógrád County of the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1920, as a result of the Treaty of Trianon, it became a part of Czechoslovakia. The town has a large synagogue, built in 1924, which served a large Jewish population before World War II. The synagogue underwent renovations in 2016.

Lučenec is the economic centre of the whole Novohrad region, which includes districts Poltár and Veľký Krtíš.

Lučenec and its surroundings were inhabited in the Stone Ages. Slavs moved to this area in the 6th and 7th century as the first permanent settlers and the Hungarians joined them in the 10th century.

The first indirect mention of Lučenec was in 1128, when Lambert built a chapel in honour of Virgin Mary. The first direct mention of the settlement was in 1247 under the name Luchunch, but until the first half of the 15th century it was only a village, and was located off the main trade routes. In 1442, Lučenec was conquered by the Hussites troops under command of John Jiskra of Brandýs and in 1451 the Battle of Lučenec took place near the village between the troops of John Hunyadi and those of Jiskra, where the latter emerged victorious.

After the fall of the Fiľakovo (Hungarian: Fülek, German: Fülleck) castle in 1554, Lučenec was under the control of the Ottomans and their vassals as part of Budin Eyalet until capturing by Austrians in 1593. It was regained by Ottomans in 1596 and was again part of Filek (Ottoman name for Fiľakovo) sanjak (its centre was in modern-day Rimavská Sobota) in Eğri Eyalet till 1686. The town was burned down many times until the first half of the 19th century, when during the Revolutions of 1848/1849 it was occupied by the Russian imperial troops.

The town underwent modernization in the 19th and 20th centuries, for example, new industries like brickworks or tanneries were built, telegraph line in 1865, and in 1871 it was connected to the railway connecting Budapest (Slovak: Budapešť) and Žilina. Before the establishment of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, Lučenec was part of Nógrád County within the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1919, it was briefly part of the Slovak Soviet Republic. In 1938, Lučenec was annexed to Hungary as a result of the First Vienna Award, and this lasted until 1945 when it was returned to Czechoslovakia. Approximately 8.3% of current residents are ethnic Hungarians.

The Novohrad Museum and Gallery with a collection of over 30,000 artefacts moved to a building in Kubínyiho Square in 1985.

Lučenec has a Humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfa) with four alternating seasons. There are hot summers and cold winters. There is a high number of sunshine days with a short time of duration of snow cover as well as the cover is relatively low. Near by Lučenec are located several water reservoirs such as Ľadovo, Mýtna, Málinec and most popular Ružiná.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1970	20,378	—
1980	24,436	+19.9%
1991	28,580	+17.0%
2001	28,332	−0.9%
2011	28,475	+0.5%
2021	25,902	−9.0%
Source: Censuses

From 25,902 inhabitants (from census 2021) are:

• Slovaks 20,648 79.72%
• Hungarians 2,171 8.38%
• others 7,721 11.9%

In 1910 out of 12,939 inhabitants some 10,634 were Hungarians (82%), 1,675 Slovaks (13%), 428 Germans, 9 Romas, 1 Ruthenian, 12 Croatians, 18 Serbans and 162 others.

According to the 2001 census, there were 28,332 people living in the town, with majority of them being Slovaks (81.63%), with a minority of Hungarians (13.11%) and with a small percentage of Roma (2.32%), Czechs (0.61%) and others. The religious make-up was: 56.56% Roman Catholics, 21.12% people with no religious affiliation and 14.77% Lutherans.

Lučenec is divided into these boroughs:

• Lučenec
• Opatová
• Malá Ves
• Rúbanisko

• József Kármán (1769–1795), sentimentalist Hungarian author.
• Sándor Petőfi (1823–1849), Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary.
• Božena Slančíková (1867–1951), pen name Timrava, a Slovak novelist and playwright.
• Zoltán Speidl (1880–1917) Hungarian track and field athlete, competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics
• Zoltán Tildy (1889–1961), an influential leader of Hungary
• Tibor Serly (1901–1978), Hungarian classical composer
• Margit Bokor (1900–1949), Hungarian opera singer
• Ralph Henry Brewster (1904–1951), American writer and musician, spent several days here in 1942.
• Pavol Szikora (1952–2021), Slovak racewalker
• Ivan Saktor (1954–2021)
• Barouh Berkovits (1926–2012) inventor of demand pacemaker and DC defibrillator.

Lučenec is twinned with:

• 
  The Calvinist church
• 
  The Roman Catholic church
• 
  The Lutheran church
• 
  The Synagogue
• 
  The Novohrad library
• 
  The Tuhár brook
• 
  City Park

• List of cultural monuments in Lučenec

• Media related to Lučenec at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
• Spectacular Slovakia - Lučenec: reaching for the sky