Hungary

History:

It is an inland state in central Europe which was founded in 896. The Magyar tribes were probably the ascendants of ethnic Hungarians. They settled in the Great Alfold in the late 9th Century. In 1000 AD it was recognized as a kingdom and attained Christianity under the crown-ship of St Stephen.

Invasions by the Mongols and the Ottoman Turks in 13th and 14th Centuries respectively devastated the country. Hungary declared its freedom from Austria in 1849 and in 1867 the dual monarchy was established. After the defeat in World War I and II, the Hungarian People’s Republic was formed in 1949.It finally gained its freedom in 1989.

Politics

Hungary has a multiparty republic with one legislative house. The Parliament elects the Prime Minister and the President who is the chief of the state. The Prime Minister is the head of government. The political system has a single-chamber parliament which consists of 386 members, elected by voters after every four years.

Before completing the millennium of its foundation, Hungary joined NATO in 1999.

Economy:

In the late 1980s, it began to convert from a socialist to a free-market economy. Now the centrally planned economy has been successfully transformed into a market economy. It still needs to curtail the expenditure of government and to reform the economy to get into the euro zone by 2012-13.

Geographical settings:

Hungary is bounded by Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. Its covers the area of 93,030 sq km. Land is generally flat here and comprises of low mountains in its north direction. The Carpathians have the highest mountains of the country.

The river Danube divides Hungary into two parts. Tisza and Drava are the other two major rivers while lake Balaton in the Transdanubian highlands is the largest lake in central Europe.

The Great Alfold or great Hungarian Plain with fertile agriculture land covers almost half the country. Forests occupy about one-fifth of the land area. Bauxite, coal ,and natural gas are some of the natural resources found in Hungary. It is one of the more prosperous countries of eastern Europe which produces a huge quantity of bauxite.

Climate:

This country has a continental climate with extreme summer with 42 degree Celsius and extreme cold with -29 degree Celsius. However the average temperature in summers is 27 to 35 degree Celsius and 0 to -15 degree Celsius during winters. Annual rainfall is about 600 millimeters.

Demographics:

The people of Hungary are an amalgam of Magyars and various groups of Slovaks, Turkish, Germans, Ukrainians, Croats, and Romanians. The Roma is main Minority group which is 2.1 % of the total population. About 95 % of people speak the mother language which is Hungarian which is distantly related to Finnish and Estonian.

Culture:

Hungary has a vast treasure of culture including architecture, music, literature, science, and sports. The largest synagogue in Europe is situated in Hungary itself. It is very rich in folk arts too which includes dance, embroidery and black pottery, etc. Hungary is a musical country which gave the world some of the great composers of its times including Bartok, Kodaly and Liszt. This country offers very delicious and traditional delicacies like goulash, dobos cakes and strudels. Hungarian wines are drunk throughout Europe. Hungary is well known for its therapeutic springs.