Hungary

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

• landlocked;
• strategic location astride main land routes between Western Europe and Balkan Peninsula as well as between Ukraine and Mediterranean basin;
• the north-south flowing Duna (Danube) and Tisza Rivers divide the country into three large regions

0-14 years:

16.4% (male 847,081; female 802,340)

15-64 years:

68.8% (male 3,406,701; female 3,528,087)

65 years and over:

14.8% (male 544,956; female 945,869) (2002 est.)

at birth:

1.07 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.58 male(s)/female

total population:

0.91 male(s)/female (2002 est.)

noun:

Hungarian(s)

adjective:

Hungarian

conventional long form:

Republic of Hungary

conventional short form:

Hungary

local short form:

Magyarorszag

local long form:

Magyar Koztarsasag

• 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;
• 1997 amendment streamlined the judicial system

chief of state:

Ferenc MADL (since NA August 2000)

head of government:

Prime Minister Peter MEDGYESSY (since 27 May 2002)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president

elections:

• president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term;
• election last held 6 June 2000 (next to be held by June 2005);
• prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president

note: to be elected, the president must win two-thirds of legislative vote in the first two rounds or a simple majority in the third round

election results:

• Ferenc MADL elected president;
• percent of legislative vote - NA% (but by a simple majority in the third round of voting);
• Peter MEDGYESSY elected prime minister;
• percent of legislative vote - NA%

• Alliance of Free Democrats or SZDSZ [Gabor KUNCZE];
• Christian Democratic People's Party or KDNP [Gyorgy GICZY, president];
• Hungarian Civic Party or FIDESZ [Zoltan POKORNI];
• Hungarian Democratic Forum or MDF [Ibolya DAVID];
• Hungarian Democratic People's Party or MDNP [Erzsebet PUSZTAI, chairman];
• Hungarian Justice and Life Party or MIEP [Istvan CSURKA, chairman];
• Hungarian Socialist Party or MSZP [Laszlo KOVACS, chairman];
• Hungarian Workers' Party or MMP [Gyula THURMER, chairman];
• Independent Smallholders or FKGP [Jozsef TORGYAN, president]

ABEDA, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

chief of mission:

Ambassador Andras SIMONYI

chancery:

3910 Shoemaker Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

consulate(s) general:

Los Angeles and New York

FAX:

[1] (202) 966-8135

telephone:

[1] (202) 362-6730

chief of mission:

Ambassador Nancy Goodman BRINKER

embassy:

Szabadsag ter 12, H-1054 Budapest

mailing address:

pouch: American Embassy Budapest, 5270 Budapest Place, Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5270

telephone:

[36] (1) 475-4400

FAX:

[36] (1) 475-4764

lowest 10%:

4%

highest 10%:

21% (1998)

general assessment:

the telephone system has been modernized and is capable of satisfying all requests for telecommunication service

domestic:

• the system is digitalized and highly automated;
• trunk services are carried by fiber-optic cable and digital microwave radio relay;
• a program for fiber-optic subscriber connections was initiated in 1996;
• heavy use is made of mobile cellular telephones

international:

• Hungary has fiber-optic cable connections with all neighboring countries;
• the international switch is in Budapest;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean regions), 1 Inmarsat, 1 very small aperture terminal (VSAT) system of ground terminals

total:

7,869 km

broad gauge:

36 km 1.524-m gauge

narrow gauge:

219 km 0.760-m gauge

standard gauge:

7,614 km 1.435-m gauge (2,423 km electrified; 1,236 km double-tracked)

note: Hungary and Austria jointly manage the cross-border, standard-gauge railway connecting Gyor, Sopron, and Ebenfurt (Gysev railroad) which has a route length of about 101 km in Hungary and 65 km in Austria (2001)

total:

188,203 km

paved:

81,680 km (including 448 km of expressways)

unpaved:

106,523 km (1998 est.)

• Slovakia requested additional ICJ judgment in 1998 and talks continue to set modalities to assure Hungarian compliance with 1997 ICJ decision to proceed with construction of Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Dam, abandoned by Hungary in 1989;
• Hungary opposes Croatian plan to build a hydropower dam on the boundary stream Drava

• transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and cannabis and for South American cocaine destined for Western Europe;
• limited producer of precursor chemicals, particularly for amphetamine and methamphetamine;
• improving, but remains vulnerable to money laundering related to organized crime and drug trafficking