Hungary

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Republic of Hungary

Flag Coat of arms
Motto: none
Historically Latin: Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate ("With the help of God for Homeland and Freedom") or Regnum Mariae Patronae Hungariae ("Kingdom of Mary, the Patron of Hungary"[1]
Anthem: Himnusz ("Isten, áldd meg a magyart")
"Hymn" or "Anthem" ("God, bless the Hungarians")


Capital
(and largest city) Budapest
19°15′E / 47.433°N 19.25°E / 47.433; 19.25
Official language(s) Hungarian; Hungarian Sign Language
Ethnic groups  95% Magyar, 2% Roma, 3% other minority groups
Demonym Hungarian
Government Parliamentary republic
 -  President László Sólyom
 -  Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai
 -  Speaker of the National Assembly Béla Katona
Foundation
 -  Foundation of Hungary 896 
 -  Recognized as Christian Kingdom - First king: Stephen I of Hungary December 1000 
 -  Currently 3rd Republic October 23, 1989 
EU accession May 1, 2004
Area
 -  Total 93,030 km² (109th)
35,919 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 0.74%
Population
 -  2009 July estimate 10,020,000[2] (83rd)
 -  2001 census 10,198,315 
 -  Density 107.7/km² (94th)
279.0/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2009 estimate
 -  Total $186.054 billion[3] (51st (2008))
 -  Per capita $18,548[3] (44th (2009))
GDP (nominal) 2009 estimate
 -  Total $124.241 billion.[3] (52nd (2008))
 -  Per capita $12,386[3] (46th (2009))
Gini (2008) 24.96 (low) (3rd)
HDI (2007) ▲ 0.879 (high) (43rd)
Currency Forint (HUF)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 -  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Date formats yyyy.mm.dd,
yyyy.mm.dd (CE)
Drives on the right
Internet TLD .hu¹
Calling code 36
¹ Also .eu as part of the European Union.

Hungary /ˈhʌŋɡəri/ (help·info) (Hungarian: Magyarország [ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ]  ( listen)), officially the Republic of Hungary (Magyar Köztársaság listen (help·info)), is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin in Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of EU, NATO, OECD, V4 and is a Schengen state. The official language is Hungarian, which is part of the Finno-Ugric family, thus one of the four official languages of the European Union that are not of Indo-European origin.[note 1]

Following a Celtic (after c. 450 BC) and a Roman (9 BC – c. 430) period, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian ruler Árpád, whose great-grandson Stephen I of Hungary was crowned with a crown sent from Rome by the pope in 1000. The Kingdom of Hungary lasted for 946 years,[note 2] and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centers of the Western world. The Battle of Mohács resulted in Ottoman occupation, followed by an integration into the Habsburg Monarchy, and later constituting half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy. A great power until the end of World War I, Hungary lost over 70% of its territory, along with one third of its population of Hungarian ethnicity,[4] under the Treaty of Trianon,[5] the terms of which have been considered excessively harsh by many in Hungary.[6] The kingdom was succeeded by a Communist era (1947–1989) during which Hungary gained widespread international attention regarding the Revolution of 1956 and the seminal move of opening its border with Austria in 1989, thus accelerating the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. The present form of government is a parliamentary republic (since 1989). Today, Hungary is a high-income economy,[7] and a regional leader regarding certain markers.[8][9][10][11]

Hungary is ranked 20th globally (out of 194 countries) on International Living's Quality of Life index (2010)[12] and 6th in an environmental protection index by GW/CAN.[13] Until recently, it was also listed as one of the 15 most popular tourist destinations in the world.[14][15] The country is home to the largest thermal water cave system[16] and the second largest thermal lake in the world (Lake Hévíz), the largest lake in Central Europe (Lake Balaton), and the largest natural grasslands in Europe (Hortobágy).

History

Before 895 AD

From 9 BC to the end of the 4th century, Pannonia was part of the Roman Empire on a part of later Hungary's area. In the final stages of the expansion of the Roman empire, the Carpathian Basin fell for a while into the sphere of the Mediterranean, yet Greco-Roman civilization, its town centers, paved roads, and written sources were all part of the advances which the Migration of Peoples ended.

Among the first to arrive were the Huns, who built up a powerful empire under Attila the Hun. Attila was regarded as an ancestral ruler of the Hungarians, however, this claim is rejected today by most scholars. After Hunnish rule faded away, the Germanic Ostrogoths and then the Lombards came to Pannonia, and the Gepids had a presence in the eastern part of the Carpathian Basin for about 100 years. In the 560s the Avars founded the Avar Khaganate,[17] a state which maintained supremacy in the region for more than two centuries and had the military power to launch attacks against all its neighbours. The Avar Khaganate was weakened by constant wars and outside pressure and finally the Avars' 250 year rule ended when the Khaganate was conquered by the Franks under Charlemagne in the West and the Bulgarians under Krum in the East. Neither of these two nor others were able to create a lasting state in the region, and in the late 9th century the land was inhabited only by a sparse population of Slavs.[18]