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Hungary is a Central European country. Hungary borders
Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania
to the east, Yugoslavia and Croatia to the south,
Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. It
has an area of 93 030 km2. The main cities
are Budapest, the capital, with 1 729 800 inhabitants
(2004), Debrecen (205 400 inhab.), Pécs (158 900 inhab.)
And Miskolc (181 400 inhab.). There are four regions
in Hungary: the Great Hungarian Plain, located in the
south and east, occupying more than half of the
territory; the Little Hungarian Plain, located in the
Northwest; the mountainous system known as Transdanubia,
with altitudes between 400 and 700 meters, separating
the two Hungarian plains; and the Northern Mountains,
with volcanic characteristics.
The hydrographic resources are vast, with the largest
rivers being the Danube and the Tisza, which run through
the country from north to south, with emphasis on the
existence of one of the largest lakes in Europe, Lake
Balaton, with 598 km2.
Climate
Hungary's climate is temperate continental and
moderately dry.
Economy
Hungary has bauxite, coal and manganese as its main
mineral resources, as well as substantial amounts of
lead, zinc and copper. In recent years, considerable
areas of oil, natural gas and uranium have been
discovered in Hungary, changing the Hungarian outlook
for energy resources, hitherto considered poor.
The most important industrial products are cement,
raw steel and rolled steel, fertilizers, textiles and
clothing, electronic articles (television and radio),
locomotives and buses.
Although the importance of agriculture has decreased
within the Hungarian economic environment, the truth is
that this country is self-sufficient in terms of the
production of agricultural goods, even exporting several
of these products. Of these, corn, wheat, beets, barley
and potatoes stand out.
As for the tertiary sector, it is important to
highlight the importance of tourism in obtaining foreign
currency. Hungary's main trading partners are Germany,
Austria, Italy and Russia.
Environmental indicator: the value of carbon dioxide
emissions, per capita(metric tons, 1999), is
5.6.
Population
It has a population of 9 981 334 inhabitants (est.
2006), which corresponds to a population density of
107.57 inhab./km2. The birth and death rates
are respectively 9.72% and 13.11%. Average life
expectancy is 72.66 years. The value of the Human
Development Index (HDI) is 0.837 and the value of the
Gender-adjusted Development Index (IDG) is 0.834
(2001). It is estimated that, by 2025, the population
will decrease to 9 276 000 inhabitants.
The Hungarian people, commonly called Magyar (name
also attributed to the Hungarian language), are quite
homogeneous, making it very difficult to distinguish any
subgroup. It constitutes 97% of the total population,
with the remaining 3% corresponding to Roma, Germans,
Slovaks, Serbs, Croats and Romanians. Catholicism (63%)
and Protestantism (26%) are the dominant religions. The
official language is Hungarian.
Art and Culture
Hungary - namely its capital, Budapest - is famous for
its intense cultural activity, the result of the huge
state investment in this matter that creates excellent
working conditions for the various artists. This is how
the high number of internationally renowned Hungarian
artists is understood, such as Béla Bartók, Zoltán
Kodály or Kálmán Mikszáth.
History
Hungary has its historical roots in the occupation of
the banks of the river Danube by the Magyar people at
the end of the 9th century, lands that had been occupied
by the Romans (14 BC. - 4th century AD), by the Germans
( 5th century), by the Avaros (6th-8th centuries) and
Charlemagne's empire (9th century). At the end of the
10th century, the Magyars adopted Christianity as a
religion, at the same time initiating the structuring of
a strong and independent kingdom; and in the 12th
century, Hungary was the main state in central-eastern
Europe. However, in 1241, the end of Hungary as an
independent kingdom began, through the great Mongol
invasion, which decimated half the Hungarian population
and left a trail of complete destruction. After this
invasion, Hungary plunged into a period of internal
instability, culminating in the disappearance of the
royal Arpad dynasty, in 1301. From that date, Hungary
came to be dominated by the royal house of Naples and,
after the invasions of the Ottoman Turks started in the
14th century, Hungary was divided, in 1568, into three
parts: a narrow strip to the west passed for the domain
of the Habsburgs of Austria (which would eventually
dominate all of Hungary in the late 17th century); to
the east, Transylvania gained autonomy status under the
sovereignty of the Turks; and the central part passed
into the direct domain of the Turks. Transylvania gained
the status of autonomy under the sovereignty of the
Turks; and the central part passed into the direct
domain of the Turks. Transylvania gained the status of
autonomy under the sovereignty of the Turks; and the
central part passed into the direct domain of the Turks.
In 1848 there was a revolution led by Hungarian
intellectuals with the aim of obtaining independence
from Hungary, caused not only by the social discontent
caused by the despotic politics of the Austrians, but
also by the constant ethnic conflicts between the
Magyars and the other ethnic groups present in the
territory, such as Romanians, Slovaks, Serbs and
Croats. Following this revolution, the Austro-Hungarian
empire was formed in 1867, under which Hungary enjoyed
greater internal independence, although not enough for
some sectors of society represented in Parliament, which
caused various situations of political instability. This
empire dissolved with the end of the First World War -
during which it maintained an alliance with Germany -,
with the Hungarian territory divided, under the Treaty
of Trianon (4 June 1920), between Romania,
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Austria, Poland and Italy,
with Hungary remaining with practically the area it
possesses today. This dismemberment was accompanied by a
period of great instability and social, political and
economic rupture, the causes of which are found in the
occupation of Hungary by the Romanian army and in the
failed attempt by the Hungarian Bolsheviks to gain
power. This whole situation left deep wounds in
Hungarian society, which, together with a national
reconstruction that proved to be difficult and
time-consuming, contributed to a broad growth of radical
right-wing movements. This fact was at the origin of
Hitler's alliance between Hungary and Germany, through
which they saw the opportunity to recover the areas lost
under the Trianon Treaty. As the war progressed, Hungary
became more and more involved in the conflict,
especially on the eastern front, where German forces
were opposed to the Soviet forces, counting on the
support of the majority of Hungarians, who kept in mind
the bad experience Bolshevik movement that occurred in
the late 1920s. However, the Soviet Union proved to be
stronger, gradually pulling back the German-Hungarian
forces until they were expelled from Hungary on April 4,
1945. Since then, the presence of the forces Soviets
paved the way for the implementation of a communist
regime, at first in a discreet way, then becoming more
concrete and effective in 1949, with the declaration of
the People's Republic of Hungary, a process that even
the 1956 revolution was unable to prevent. This year,
János Kádár came to power. Although communist.
With the end of communism in the Soviet Union and its
consequent dismemberment in 1989, Hungary took the
opportunity to break free from that ideology, initiating
a process of democratization based on the revision of
the Constitution, in which the division of powers was
established (legislative, judicial and executive), the
implementation of a multiparty political system and the
consequent abandonment of the term "popular" in the
designation of the country. The 1990 elections brought
to power a coalition of parties formed by the Hungarian
Democratic Forum, the Independent Owners Party and the
Christian Democratic Party, and led by the Forum's
leader, József Antall. Economic reforms were then
initiated to bring Hungary closer to the living
standards of Western European countries. Yet, the
government proved powerless to carry out such reforms,
which resulted in a heavy defeat for the coalition
parties (mainly the Forum) in the 1994 general
elections, which gave the Hungarian Socialist Party a
large victory (54% of the votes) , formed by former
members of the Communist Party. However, to avoid any
mistrust or fear, either on the part of the Hungarians
or on the part of the international community, the PSH
established an agreement with the Alliance of Free
Democrats (18% of the votes) with a view to forming a
coalition government under the leadership of socialist
Gyula Horn. This Government has since attempted to make
economic reforms more effective, having at the same time
started a process of constitutional revision to, within
two years, be approved a new Constitution. which
resulted in a heavy defeat for the coalition parties
(mainly the Forum) in the 1994 general elections, which
gave a large victory to the Hungarian Socialist Party
(54% of the votes), formed by former members of the
Communist Party. However, to avoid any mistrust or fear,
either on the part of the Hungarians or on the part of
the international community, the PSH established an
agreement with the Alliance of Free Democrats (18% of
the votes) with a view to forming a coalition government
under the leadership of socialist Gyula Horn. This
Government has since attempted to make economic reforms
more effective, having at the same time started a
process of constitutional revision to, within two years,
be approved a new Constitution. which resulted in a
heavy defeat for the coalition parties (mainly the
Forum) in the 1994 general elections, which gave a large
victory to the Hungarian Socialist Party (54% of the
votes), formed by former members of the Communist
Party. However, to avoid any mistrust or fear, either on
the part of the Hungarians or on the part of the
international community, the PSH established an
agreement with the Alliance of Free Democrats (18% of
the votes) with a view to forming a coalition government
under the leadership of socialist Gyula Horn. This
Government has since attempted to make economic reforms
more effective, having at the same time started a
process of constitutional revision to, within two years,
be approved a new Constitution.
Hungary formally joined the European Union on 1 May
2004 at a ceremony held in Dublin.
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