The closest cities include Varaždin and Koprivnica in Croatia, Lendava, Murska Sobota and Maribor in Slovenia, as well as Nagykanizsa in Hungary and Graz in Austria.

The flat parts of the region are also largely used for agriculture, which mostly includes fields of cereals, maize and potato, as well as orchards, which are mostly planted with apple trees.

Daily temperatures during the summer months usually range between 20 °C and 30 °C, but can reach as high as 40 °C in July and August, when they can also stay above 30 °C for several days.

Thunderstorms and rapid weather changes are common throughout the summer months, as well as in late spring, with a particularly stormy period being between mid-June and mid-July, when they often occur on a daily basis.

There are also several municipalities in the county, with their seats including Belica, Dekanovec, Domašinec, Donja Dubrava, Donji Kraljevec, Donji Vidovec, Goričan, Gornji Mihaljevec, Kotoriba, Mala Subotica, Nedelišće, Orehovica, Podturen, Pribislavec, Selnica, Strahoninec, Sveta Marija, Sveti Juraj na Bregu, Sveti Martin na Muri, Šenkovec, Štrigova and Vratišinec.

[2] Nedelišće, Pribislavec, Strahoninec and Šenkovec are all located on the outskirts of Čakovec, with Belica approximately 5 kilometers from the city's centre.

During the Iron Age, the Indo-European tribes identified in the area were Celts, Serets and Pannons, and the region became part of the Roman empire.

In the 1st century, the Romans knew the area as Insula intra Dravam et Muram ("island between the Drava and Mura rivers") according to the geographer Strabo.

During 13th century tradesmen and merchants (mostly ethnic Germans) started to arrive and began to develop the urban localities that are present today.

King Matthias Corvinus bought the mortgage and donated the land to John I Ernuszt and his son, who were Jewish merchants from Sweden, living in Buda.

In 1579 the craftsmen and merchants outside the walls of Čakovec Castle (csáktornyai kastély) were granted the right to trade; this was the beginning of the formal and legal city structure.

He was poisoned in 1626 by the general Albrecht Wallenstein in Pressburg and was buried in Pauline Monastery of Sveta Jelena (St. Helen in English) near Čakovec, next to the graves of his ancestors.

He was killed while hunting in the forest near Kuršanec (Kursanecz), apparently by a wounded wild boar, but there were rumors that he had been murdered by the order of the Habsburg court.

His brother, Petar Zrinski (Peter IV), was noted for his role in the attempted Croatian-Hungarian rebellion of 1664-1670 which ultimately led to his execution for treason.

In 1715, during the period of Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Count Michael Althan became the owner of Međimurje; he received the land for his loyal services.

The Church of St. Jerome was rebuilt in 1749 in Štrigova (Stridóvár) by the famous artist Ivan Ranger following the demolition of the original 15th century-built chapel by an earthquake in 1738.

Ignacije Szentmartony, a Jesuit from Kotoriba (Kottori), was a royal mathematician and astronomer in Lisbon and in 1754 an explorer of Brazil on behalf of the Portuguese government.

The National Council of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs in Zagreb sent hastily assembled troops, which crossed the river Drava and reached Čakovec where they were defeated.

The festival has been observed for centuries, with masked people participating in public parades and celebrations to drive off the demons of darkness and winter.

The main festivities of the Fašnik period are usually held in the centre of Čakovec, with a parade of masked people from the entire region walking through the city's streets to reach its central square, where a hanged hay doll representing the Fašnik is traditionally burned down to signify victory over the demons of darkness and winter, as well as to mark the end of festivities.

Another notable and highly attended festival held in Čakovec is the Porcijunkulovo, an annual fair which takes place on the streets around the city's centre between 30 July and 5 August.

Many of the region's traditional foods are served during the festivities and there is a daily entertainment program at a temporary stage set up at the city's central square.

Another condiment popular in the region is the pumpkin seed oil, which is used as a dressing for many local vegetable salad varieties.

There are spas used for recreation in Vučkovec and around Sveti Martin na Muri, both in the northern part of the county and near the Mura.

The German national anthem, Das Lied der Deutschen, composed by Joseph Haydn, is thought by some scholars to be derived from the folk song known in Međimurje under the name Stal Se Jesem; for details, see Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser.

The village of Kotoriba, located near the Hungarian border in the south-eastern part of the county, was the site of the first railway station building in Croatia.

There are plans in the works to build a bridge over the Mura River to connect the villages of Kerkaszentkirály in Hungary and Podturen in Međimurje County.

The last surviving ship mill in the county is also located on the Mura River, between Sveti Martin na Muri and Mursko Središće.

The latter even got its name from pekel, the word for "hell" in the local Kajkavian dialect, since the people quickly noticed the peculiar properties of the dark, greasy liquid in small ponds appearing spontaneously on the ground.

Today, a modern pipeline stretches from Omišalj on the Adriatic island of Krk and Sisak toward the oil refinery in the Slovenian city of Lendava, not far from Mursko Središće.