Hungary country profile

27 August 2006
by eub2 -- last modified 04 January 2010

Formerly communist Hungary is one of the ten Eastern European countries that acceded to the European Union on 1 May 2004. Hungary is a landlocked state with many neighbours – Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria.

Magyar Köztársaság

Hungary is a landlocked state with many neighbours – Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. It is mostly flat, with low mountains in the north. Lake Balaton, a popular tourist centre, is the largest lake in central Europe.

The ancestors of ethnic Hungarians were the Magyar tribes, who moved into the Carpathian Basin in 896, conquering the people already in the region. Hungary became a Christian kingdom under St Stephen in the year 1000. The Hungarian language is unlike the other neighbouring languages and is only distantly related to Finnish and Estonian.

The capital city, Budapest, which originally was two separate cities: Buda and Pest, straddles the River Danube. It is rich in history and culture and famed for its curative springs. Hungary has a single-chamber parliament or national assembly whose 386 members are elected by voters every four years.

Hungary has some limited natural resources (bauxite, coal, and natural gas), as well as fertile soils and arable land. Hungarian wines are drunk throughout Europe. The country‘s main manufactured exports include machinery and transport equipment, foodstuffs and chemicals.

Hungary is a highly musical country whose traditional folk music inspired its great composers such as Liszt, Bartók and Kodály.

Official name: Republic of Hungary

Area (km²): 93 000

Population: 10 04 million (2008); 10 03 million (forecast for 2009)

Capital: Budapest

National holiday: 15 March

Currency: Forint

Date of joining: 01 May 2004

Head of state: László Sólyom since August 2005

Head of government: Gordon Bajnai since April 2009 as a result of a motion of censure, with the support of the ruling Socialist Party (MSZP) and the liberals (SZDSZ), while the conservative opposition did not take part in the voting

GDP (millions €): 105 842 (2008); 91 427 (forecast for 2009)

GDP per capita in PPS: € 15 800 (2008); € 14 600 (forecast for 2009)

Real growth rate of GDP: 0.6% (2008); -0.3% (forecast for 2009)

Unemployment rate: 9,9% (October 2009)

National debt as % of GDP: 73% (2008)

Inflation: 4,2% (October 2009)

Public deficit/surplus as % of GDP: -3.4% (2008)

Source: Eurostat

Links:
Head of State: http://www.keh.hu
Government: http://www.miniszterelnok.hu
Head of Government: http://www.meh.hu
Foreign Minister: http://www.mfa.gov.hu
Parliament: http://www.mkogy.hu

Map of Hungary

Source: European Commission, Spanish EU Presidency

 

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