Hungary

republicIndependence 1001, unification by King Stephen I

Hungary as the 1992 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 74 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalBudapest
Area93,030 km2
1992

Every edition of Hungary

Populationas each edition published it
10.33 million July 1992 · 10.57m in 1990
Population growth% a year
Not in this edition -0.07% in 1993
Median ageyears
Not in this edition 38.4 yrs in 2003
Life expectancyyears at birth
Not in this edition 70.86 yrs in 1993
Fertility ratechildren per woman
1.8 children per woman 1992 · 1.8 in 1990
Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births
14 deaths per 1,000 live births 1992 · 15 in 1990
GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars
Not in this edition $5,380 in 1993
GDP real growth% a year
Not in this edition -5% in 1993

Geography

13 fields
Total area
93,030km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Indiana
Land boundaries
2,113km
Austria 366 km, Slovenia 82 km, Czechoslovakia 676 km, Romania 443 km, Croatia 292 km, Serbia and Montenegro 151 km, Ukraine 103 km

Land area

92,340 km2

Coastline

none - landlocked

Disputes

Gabcikovo Dam dispute with Czechoslovakia

Climate

  • temperate;
  • cold, cloudy, humid winters;
  • warm summers

Terrain

mostly flat to rolling plains

Natural resources

bauxite, coal, natural gas, fertile soils

Land use

  • arable land 54%;
  • permanent crops 3%;
  • meadows and pastures 14%;
  • forest and woodland 18%;
  • other 11%;
  • includes irrigated 2%

Environment

levees are common along many streams, but flooding occurs almost every year

Note

landlocked; strategic location astride main land routes between Western Europe and Balkan Peninsula as well as between Ukraine and Mediterranean basin

People

14 fields
Population
10,333,327
(July 1992), growth rate - 0.1% (1992)

Per 1,000 population(1992)

Birth
12Death
13Net migration
0

Religions

Roman Catholic 67.5%Calvinist 20.0%Lutheran 5.0%atheist and other 7.5%
Labor force
5.4million
services, trade, government, and other 43.2%, industry 30.9%, agriculture 18.8%, construction 7.1% (1991)
Literacy
99%
(male 99%, female 98%) age 15 and over can read and write (1980)

Infant mortality rate

14 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth

66 years male, 75 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate

1.8 children born/woman (1992)

Nationality

noun - Hungarian(s); adjective - Hungarian

Ethnic divisions

Hungarian 96.6%, Gypsy 5.8%, German 1.6%, Slovak 1.1%, Southern Slav 0.3%, Romanian 0.2%

Languages

Hungarian 98.2%, other 1.8%

Organized labor

  • 45-55% of labor force;
  • Central Council of Hungarian Trade Unions (SZOT) includes 19 affiliated unions, all controlled by the government;
  • independent unions legal;
  • may be as many as 12 small independent unions in operation

Government

Republic

19 fields

Long-form name

Republic of Hungary

Type

republic

Capital

Budapest

Administrative divisions

  • 19 counties (megyek, singular - megye) and 1 capital city* (fovaros);
  • Bacs-Kiskun, Baranya, Bekes, Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Budapest*, Csongrad, Fejer, Gyor-Moson-Sopron, Hajdu-Bihar, Heves, Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok, Komarom-Esztergom, Nograd, Pest, Somogy, Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg, Tolna, Vas, Veszprem, Zala

Independence

1001, unification by King Stephen I

Constitution

  • 18 August 1949, effective 20 August 1949, revised 19 April 1972;
  • 18 October 1989 revision ensured legal rights for individuals and constitutional checks on the authority of the prime minister and also established the principle of parliamentary oversight

National holiday

October 23 (1956); commemorates the Hungarian uprising

Executive branch

president, prime minister

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly (Orszaggyules)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court, may be restructured as part of ongoing government overhaul

Leaders

Chief of State:
President Arpad GONCZ (since 3 August 1990; previously interim President from 2 May 1990)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister Jozsef ANTALL (since 23 May 1990)

Political parties and leaders

  • Democratic Forum, Jozsef ANTALL, chairman;
  • Dr. Lajos FUR, acting president;
  • Free Democrats, Peter TOLGYESSY, chairman;
  • Independent Smallholders, Jozsef TORGYAN, president;
  • Hungarian Socialist Party (MSP), Gyula HORN, chairman;
  • Young Democrats, Gabor FODOR, head;
  • Christian Democrats, Dr. Lazlo SURJAN, president;
  • note - the Hungarian Socialist (Communist) Workers' Party (MSZMP) renounced Communism and became the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSP) in October 1989;
  • there is still a small (fringe) MSZMP

Suffrage

universal at age 18

Elections

President:
  • last held 3 August 1990 (next to be held August 1994);
  • results - President GONCZ elected by popular vote;
  • note - President GONCZ was elected by the National Assembly with a total of 294 votes out of 304 as interim President from 2 May 1990 until elected President
National Assembly:
  • last held on 25 March 1990 (first round, with the second round held 8 April 1990);
  • results - percent of vote by party NA;
  • seats - (386 total) Democratic Forum 162, Free Democrats 90, Independent Smallholders 45, Hungarian Socialist Party (MSP) 33, Young Democrats 22, Christian Democrats 21, independents or jointly sponsored candidates 13

Communists

fewer than 100,000 (December 1989)

Member of

BIS, CCC, CE, CSCE, ECE, FAO, G-9, GATT, HG, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LORCS, NACC, NSG, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIIMOG, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation

  • Ambassador Pal TAR;
  • Chancery at 3910 Shoemaker Street NW, Washington, DC 20008;
  • telephone (202) 362-6730;
  • there is a Hungarian Consulate General in New York
US:
  • Ambassador Charles THOMAS;
  • Embassy at V. Szabadsag Ter 12, Budapest (mailing address is APO AE 09213-5270);
  • telephone [36] (1) 112-6450;
  • FAX 132-8934

Flag

three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and green

Economy

Hungary is in the midst of a difficult transition between a command and a | market economy.

16 fields
External debt
$22.7billion
(January 1991)

Budget

Revenues
$12.7 billionExpenditures
$13.6 billion
expenditures (1992 planned)

Overview

Hungary is in the midst of a difficult transition between a command and a market economy. Agriculture is an important sector, providing sizable export earnings and meeting domestic food needs. Industry accounts for about 40% of GDP and 30% of employment. Hungary claims that less than 20% of foreign trade is now with former CEMA countries, while about 70% is with OECD members.

Hungary's economic reform programs during the Communist era gave it a head start in creating a market economy and attracting foreign investment. In 1990, Hungary received half of all foreign investment in Eastern Europe and in 1991 received the largest single share. The growing private sector accounts for one-quarter to one-third of national output according to unofficial estimates.

Privatization of state enterprises is progressing, although excessive redtape, bureaucratic oversight, and uncertainties about pricing have slowed the process. Escalating unemployment and high rates of inflation may impede efforts to speed up privatization and budget reform, while Hungary's heavy foreign debt will make the government reluctant to introduce full convertability of the forint before 1993.

GDP

purchasing power equivalent - $60.1 billion, per capita $5,700; real growth rate - 7% (1991 est.)

Exports

$10.2 billion (f.o.b. 1991)

commodities:
capital goods 25.9%, foods 23%, consumer goods 16.5%, fuels 2.4%, other 32.2%
partners:
USSR and Eastern Europe 31.9%, EC 32.2%, EFTA 12% (1990)

Imports

$11.7 billion (f.o.b., 1991)

commodities:
capital goods 31.6%, fuels 13.8%, manufactured consumer goods 14.6%, agriculture 6%, other 34.0%
partners:
USSR and Eastern Europe 34%, EC 31%, EFTA 15.4%

Industrial production

growth rate - 20% (1991 est.)

Electricity

6,967,000 kW capacity; 28,376 million kWh produced, 2,750 kWh per capita (1990)

Industries

mining, metallurgy, engineering industries, processed foods, textiles, chemicals (especially pharmaceuticals), trucks, buses

Agriculture

  • including forestry, accounts for about 15% of GDP and 19% of employment;
  • highly diversified crop-livestock farming;
  • principal crops - wheat, corn, sunflowers, potatoes, sugar beets;
  • livestock - hogs, cattle, poultry, dairy products;
  • self-sufficient in food output

Illicit drugs

transshipment point for Southeast Asia heroin transiting the Balkan route

Economic aid

recipient - $9.1 billion in assistance from OECD countries (from 1st quarter 1990 to end of 2nd quarter 1991)

Currency

forint (plural - forints); 1 forint (Ft) = 100 filler

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Airports, 90 total, 90 usable

permanent-surface runways
20runways over | 3,659 m
2runways 2,440-3,659 m
10runways 1,220-2,439 m
15

Networkskm

Railroads
7,765 (1991)Inland waterways
1,622 (1988)
Railroads: ; 7,508 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 222 km narrow gauge (mostly 0.760-meter), 35 km 1.520-meter broad gauge; 1,147 km double track, 2,161 km electrified; all government owned

Railroads

  • 7,765 km total;
  • 7,508 km 1.435-meter standard gauge, 222 km narrow gauge (mostly 0.760-meter), 35 km 1.520-meter broad gauge;
  • 1,147 km double track, 2,161 km electrified;
  • all government owned (1991)

Highways

  • 130,014 km total;
  • 29,715 km national highway system - 26,834 km asphalt, 142 km concrete, 51 km stone and road brick, 2,276 km macadam, 412 km unpaved;
  • 58,495 km country roads (66% unpaved), and 41,804 km (est.) other roads (70% unpaved) (1988)

Pipelines

crude oil 1,204 km; petroleum products 630 km; natural gas 3,895 km (1986)

Ports

  • Budapest and Dunaujvaros are river ports on the Danube;
  • maritime outlets are Rostock (Germany), Gdansk (Poland), Gdynia (Poland), Szczecin (Poland), Galati (Romania), and Braila (Romania)

Merchant marine

14 cargo ships (1,000 GRT or over) and 1 bulk totaling 85,489 GRT/119,520 DWT

Civil air

28 major transport aircraft

Telecommunications

  • automatic telephone network based on radio relay system;
  • 1.9 million phones;
  • telephone density is at 17 per 100 inhabitants;
  • 49% of all phones are in Budapest;
  • 12-15 year wait for a phone;
  • 16,000 telex lines (June 1990);
  • broadcast stations - 32 AM, 15 FM, 41 TV (8 Soviet TV repeaters);
  • 4.2 million TVs (1990);
  • 1 satellite ground station using INTELSAT and Intersputnik

Defense Forces

Ground Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Border Guard, Territorial Defense

3 fields

Branches

Ground Forces, Air and Air Defense Forces, Border Guard, Territorial Defense

Manpower availability

  • males 15-49, 2,619,277;
  • 2,092,867 fit for military service;
  • 87,469 reach military age (18) annually

Defense expenditures

  • exchange rate conversion - 60.8 billion forints, 1.7% of GNP (1992 est.);
  • note - conversion of defense expenditures into US dollars using the current exchange rate would produce misleading results

Central Intelligence Agency. “Hungary.” The World Factbook 1992. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/hungary/1992.

How to cite ← 1991 edition 1993 edition →