Upland is the historical name for the territory of the northern mountain range. The market towns, emerging in the region between the rivers Ipoly and Bodrog are the characteristic settlements of the area. Their privileged position (rights for having markets, electing magistrates, free options to move and inherit) differentiated them from the serfs of the neighbouring villages.

The Upper-Tisza regional unit represents the folk architecture of the inhabitants living in the north-eastern corner of the country, a territory wedged between Slovakia, the Ukraine and Romania.