Overview

Official name: Hungary

Area: 93,030 square km

Population: 9,830,485

Neighbouring countries: Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia

Official language: Hungarian State form: Republic Capital and largest

city: Budapest (population: 1 700 000)

Other large cities: Debrecen, Miskolc, Szeged, Pécs, Gyor

Currency: Forint (HUF) Time zone: CET (GMT +1)

Major rivers: River Danube (417 km), River Tisza (597 km)

Largest lakes: Lake Balaton, Lake Velence

Highest point above sea level: Kékes (1014 m) in the Mátra Hills

Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU and a Schengen state. Administratively, Hungary is divided into 19 counties with the capital city of Budapest being independent of any county government.

Hungary is among the top tourist destinations in Europe with the capital Budapest regarded as one of the most beautiful cities worldwide. Despite its relatively small size, the country is home to numerous World Heritage Sites, UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, the second largest thermal lake in the world (Lake Hévíz), the largest lake in Central Europe (Lake Balaton), and the largest natural grassland in Europe (Hortobágy).

The official language of the country is Hungarian, which forms part of the Finno–Ugric language family. Hungarians call their language magyar. Although Hungary is located in Central Europe, Hungarian is not related to any of the languages that surround the country. Hungarian is spoken by 10 million people in Hungary, and cca. by 4-5 million more people outside of the country