about hungary

Hungary, landlocked in Central Europe, is bordered by seven countries and divided in half by the river Danube. Once one of the largest kingdoms in Europe, it suffered through many centuries of invasions, unwanted occupations, two World Wars and the Communist Party. Recently a free-market economy has emerged; Hungary joined NATO in 1999, and joined the European Union (EU), in 2004.

Capital

Budapest has long been known as the ‘Paris of Eastern Europe’. The city is divided by the river Danube. It has broad avenues and leafy parks. Budapest has a turn of the century feel as this is when most of the city was built. Historic Budapest is small, and most sights can be reached on foot from the city center. By strolling from one place to the next, you will pass magnificent examples of its distinctive architecture. Budapest is a mixture of architechtural styles with buildings and monuments from many eras. Turkish baths and old coffee houses abound in Budapest and in the spring and summer, pavement cafés fill up and the atmosphere gets more lively. The most famous landmark Budapest is the Parliament building on the banks of the Danube. This collection of palaces, churches and monuments has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. There are many good restaurants and a busy nightlife scene.

Independence: 1001 (unification by King Stephen I)

Territory is 92,966 sq km (35,894 sq miles), population 10 million.

Currency

Hungarian Forint (HUF) Currency Converter

Language

Hungarian (official): (Magyar) is a member of the Ugric group of the Uralic family of languages.

Religion

68% Roman Catholic, 21% Reformed (Calvinist) Protestant, 6% Evangelical (Lutheran), 5% other

Weather

Budapest averages 2000 hours of sunshine a year, among the highest in Europe.
It means there are opportunities to visit Budapest throughout the year in reasonably fine weather. Both spring and autumn are glorious in Budapest, with plenty to see and do, and the winter cold doesn’t really hit until mid-December.
However, even in winter there are occasionally spectacular blue skies.
Summer can be hot and lazy.

Hungary’s climate is temperate, and the country can be divided into three climatic zones: Mediterranean in the south, Continental in the east, and Atlantic in the west. In Southern Transdanubia, summers are long and winters mild and wet.

The Great Plain has the most extreme seasonal differences with cold, windy winters and hot, usually dry summers. Summers can be very hot in Budapest and Western Transdanubia, with winters relatively short, often cloudy but sometimes brilliantly sunny.
The mean average temperature in Hungary is 11 degrees centigrade.
January is the coldest month (minus two degrees Celsius) and July the hottest (28 degrees Celsius).