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World > Countries > Hungary

Hungary

Facts & Figures

Map of Hungary

President: Pál Schmitt (2010)

Prime Minister: Viktor Orban (2010)

Land area: 35,653 sq mi (92,341 sq km); total area: 35,919 sq mi (93,030 sq km)

Population (2010 est.): 9,880,059 (growth rate: –0.2%); birth rate: 9.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 7.7/1000; life expectancy: 73.7; density per sq km: 107

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Budapest, 2,597,000 (metro. area), 1,769,500 (city proper)

Other large cities: Debrecen, 210,500; Miskolc, 182,600; Szeged, 173,200; Pécs, 163,900

Monetary unit: Forint

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Geography

This central European country is the size of Indiana. Most of Hungary is a fertile, rolling plain lying east of the Danube River and drained by the Danube and Tisza rivers. In the extreme northwest is the Little Hungarian Plain. South of that area is Lake Balaton (250 sq mi; 648 sq km).

Government

Parliamentary democracy.

History

By 14 B.C. , western Hungary was part of the Roman Empire's provinces of Pannonia and Dacia. The area east of the Danube was never part of the Roman Empire and was largely occupied by various Germanic and Asiatic peoples. In 896 all of Hungary was invaded by the Magyars, who founded a kingdom. Christianity was accepted during the reign of Stephen I (St. Stephen), 977–1038. A devastating invasion by the Mongols killed half of Hungary's population in 1241. The peak of Hungary's great period of medieval power came during the reign of Louis I the Great (1342–1382), whose dominions touched the Baltic, Black, and Mediterranean seas. War with the Turks broke out in 1389, and for more than 100 years the Turks advanced through the Balkans. When the Turks smashed a Hungarian army in 1526, western and northern Hungary accepted Hapsburg rule to escape Turkish occupation. Transylvania became independent under Hungarian princes. Intermittent war with the Turks was waged until a peace treaty was signed in 1699.