Hungary

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Republic of Hungary

Flag Coat of arms
Motto: none
Historically Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate (Latin, With the help of God for Homeland and Freedom) or Regnum Mariae Patronae Hungariae (Latin, 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, 19.25
Official languages Hungarian (Magyar)
Ethnic groups  95% Magyar, 2% Roma, 3% other minority groups
Demonym Hungarian
Government Parliamentary republic
 -  President László Sólyom
 -  Prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány
Foundation
 -  Foundation of Hungary 896 
 -  Recognized as 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
 -  2008 February estimate 10,034,000[2] (79th)
 -  2001 census 10,198,315 
 -  Density 109/km² (94th)
282/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2008 estimate
 -  Total $199.395 billion[3] (43rd)
 -  Per capita $19,829[3] (IMF) (39th)
GDP (nominal) 2008 estimate
 -  Total $164,339 billion[3] 
 -  Per capita $16,343[3] (IMF) 
Gini (2008) 24.96 (low) (3rd)
HDI (2007) ▲ 0.877 (high) (36th)
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 /ˈhʌŋgəri/ (help·info) (Hungarian: Magyarország; IPA: ['mɔɟɔrorsaːg]; listen (help·info)), officially in English the Republic of Hungary (Magyar Köztársaság listen (help·info), literally Magyar (Hungarian) Republic), is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, Visegrád Group and is a Schengen state. The official language is Hungarian, which is part of the Finno-Ugric family. It is one of the four official languages of the European Union that is not of Indo-European origin.

Following a Celtic (after c. 450 BC) and a Roman (9 BC – c. 4th century) period, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late Ninth Century by the Magyar chieftain Árpád, whose great grandson Stephen I of Hungary ascended to the throne with a crown sent from Rome in 1000. The Kingdom of Hungary existed with interruptions for 946 years, and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centers of the Western world (Stephen I, Louis I, Matthias Corvinus, Lajos Kossuth). A significant power until the 1910s, Hungary lost over two-thirds of its territory (along with 3.3 million ethnic Hungarians[4]) due to the Treaty of Trianon in 1920,[5] the terms of which have been considered harsh, and even humiliating by Hungarians.[6][7] 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 parliamentary republic (since 1989). Today, Hungary is a high-income economy,[8] and a regional leader regarding certain markers.[9][10] Its current goal is to become a developed country by IMF standards.[11]

Hungary was one of the 15 most popular tourist destinations in the world in the past decade,[12][13] with a capital regarded as "one of the most beautiful urban landscapes in the world".[14][15] The country is home to the second largest thermal lake in the world (Lake Hévíz), the largest lake in Central Europe (Lake Balaton), and the largest natural grassland in Europe (Hortobágy).

History

The land before AD 895

After the Western Roman Empire collapsed under the stress of the migration of Germanic tribes and Carpian pressure, the Migration Period continued bringing many invaders to Europe. Among the first to arrive were the Huns, who built up a powerful empire under Attila. Attila the Hun was erroneously regarded as an ancestral ruler of the Hungarians, opinion rejected today by majority of scholars. It is believed that the origin of the name "Hungary" does not come from the Central Asian nomadic invaders called the Huns, but rather originated from 7th century, when Magyar tribes were part of a Bulgar alliance called On-Ogour, which in Bulgar Turkic meant "(the) Ten Arrows".[16] After Hunnish rule faded, the Germanic Ostrogoths 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. 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 until the freshly unified Hungarians led by Árpád settled in the Carpathian Basin starting in 895.[18]