Visiting Hungary
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Hungary facts, geography & history
Facts
Government: Parliamentary democracy.
Population (est.): 9,982,000.
Capital, population (est.): Budapest, 2,597,000 (metro. area), 1,770,000 (city proper).
Language: Magyar (Hungarian) 94%, other 6%.
Monetary unit: Forint.
Geography
With a land area of 93,030 square kilometers, Hungary is a country in Central Europe. It measures about 250 kilometers from north to south and 524
kilometers from east to west. It has some 2,258 kilometers of boundaries, shared with Austria to the west, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia to the south and
southwest, Romania to the southeast, the Ukraine to the northeast, and Slovakia to the north.
Hungary's modern borders were first established after World War I when, by the terms of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, it lost more than 71% of what had
formerly been the Kingdom of Hungary, 58.5% of its population, and 32% of the Hungarians. With the aid of Nazi Germany, the country secured some boundary
revisions at the expense of parts of Slovakia in 1938, Carpatho-Ukraine in 1939, Romania in 1940 and Yugoslavia in 1941. However, Hungary lost these
territories again with its defeat in World War II. After World War II, the Trianon boundaries were restored with a small revision that benefited
Czechoslovakia.
Approximately slightly more than one half of Hungary's landscape consists of flat to rolling plains of the Carpathian Basin: the most important plain
regions include the Little Hungarian Plain in the west, and the Great Hungarian Plain in the southeast. The highest elevation above sea level on the
latter is only 183 metres.
Transdanubia is a primarily hilly region with a terrain varied by low mountains. These include the very eastern stretch of the Alps, Alpokalja,
in the west of the country, the Transdanubian Medium Mountains, in the central region of Transdanubia, and the Mecsek Mountains and Villány Mountains
in the south. The highest point of the area is the Írott-ko in the Alps, at 882 metres.
The highest mountains of the country are located in the Carpathians: these lie in the northern parts, in a wide band along the Slovakian border
(highest point: the Kékes at 3,327 ft; 1,014 m).
Hungary is divided in two by its main waterway, the Danube (Duna); other large rivers include the Tisza and Dráva, while Transdanubia contains
Lake Balaton, a major body of water. The largest thermal lake in the world, Lake Hévíz (Hévíz Spa), is located in Hungary. The second largest lake
in the Carpathian Basin is the artificial Lake Tisza (Tisza-tó).
Hungary has a continental climate, with cold, cloudy, humid winters and warm to hot summers. Average annual temperature is 9.7 °C (49.5 °F).
Temperature extremes are about 42 °C (110 °F) in the summer and -29 °C (-20 °F) in the winter. Average temperature in the summer is 27 to 35 °C
(81 to 95 °F), and in the winter it is 0 to -15 °C (32 to 5 °F). The average yearly rainfall is approximately 600 millimetres (24 in). A small,
southern region of the country near Pécs enjoys a reputation for a Mediterranean climate, but in reality it is only slightly warmer than the rest
of the country and still receives snow during the winter...............
Adopted from and read more at:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungary
History
If you are interested in this country's history, please take a look
here. |