Hungary

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

total:

21.03 cu km/yr (9%/59%/32%)

per capita:

2,082 cu m/yr (2001)

• 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

noun:

Hungarian(s)

adjective:

Hungarian

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.98 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.59 male(s)/female

total population:

0.91 male(s)/female (2011 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A

vectorborne diseases:

tickborne encephalitis (2009)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Hungary

local long form:

none

local short form:

Magyarorszag

name:

Budapest

geographic coordinates:

47 30 N, 19 05 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

• 16 November 1918 (republic proclaimed);
• notable earlier dates: 25 December 1000 (crowning of King STEPHEN I, traditional founding date);
• 30 March 1867 (Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy established)

chief of state:

Janos ADER (since 10 May 2012)

head of government:

Prime Minister Viktor ORBAN (since 29 May 2010)

cabinet:

• Cabinet of Ministers prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president;
• other ministers proposed by the prime minister and appointed and relieved of their duties by the president

; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

• president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 2 May 2012 (next to be held by May 2017);
• prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president;
• election last held 29 May 2010

election results:

• Janos ADER elected president;
• National Assembly vote - 262 to 40;
• Viktor ORBAN elected prime minister;
• National Assembly vote - 261 to 107

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

• Constitutional Court (judges are elected by the National Assembly for nine-year terms);
• Curia (highest court; head of Curia elected by National Assembly, the other judges elected by the president on recommendation of the head of the National Office of the Courts, a separate administrative body);
• Regional Courts of Appeal (judges are appointed by the president)

• Christian Democratic People's Party or KDNP [Zsolt SEMJEN];
• Democratic Coalition [Ferenc GYURCSANY];
• Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance or Fidesz [Viktor ORBAN, chairman];
• Hungarian Socialist Party or MSzP [Attila MESTERHAZY];
• Movement for a Better Hungary or Jobbik [Gabor VONA];
• Politics Can Be Different or LMP [13-member leadership]

• Air Work Group (works to reduce air pollution in towns and cities);
• Danube Circle (protests the building of the Gabchikovo-Nagymaros dam);
• Fourth Republic (Negyedik Koztarsasag) or 4K! (anti-Orban, pro-democracy Facebook movement emerged from a Facebook group, One Million for Freedom of the Press or "Milla," and plans to form a leftist political party);
• Green Future (protests the impact of lead contamination of local factory on health of the people);
• Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (Tarsasag a Szabadsagjogokert) or TASZ (freedom of expression, information privacy);
• Hungarian Helsinki Committee (asylum seekers' rights, human rights in law enforcement and the judicial system);
• environmentalists: Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (Magyar Madartani Egyesulet) or MME;
• Green Alternative (Zold Alternativa);
• Szolidaritas ("Solidarity," formed in October 2011 by three trade unions and an NGO - anti-Orban government);
• "Egyutt 2014" ("Together 2014," a political electoral alliance bringing together Milla, Szolidaritas, and "Haza es Haladas," an association headed by former PM Gordon BAJNAI, to contest Fidesz and Viktor ORBAN in the 2014 parliamentary elections);
• Bekemenet ("Peace March," nominally independent organization that serves as pro-government mass organization, supporting ORBAN government's policies)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Gyorgy SZAPARY

chancery:

3910 Shoemaker Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 362-6730

FAX:

[1] (202) 966-8135

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Los Angeles, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Eleni Tsakopoulos KOUNALAKIS

embassy:

Szabadsag ter 12, H-1054 Budapest

mailing address:

pouch:

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

telephone:

[36] (1) 475-4400

FAX:

[36] (1) 475-4764

• three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and green;
• the flag dates to the national movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, and fuses the medieval colors of the Hungarian coat of arms with the revolutionary tricolor form of the French flag;
• folklore attributes virtues to the colors: red for strength, white for faithfulness, and green for hope;
• alternatively, the red is seen as being for the blood spilled in defense of the land, white for freedom, and green for the pasturelands that make up so much of the country

name:

"Himnusz" (Hymn)

lyrics/music:

Ferenc KOLCSEY/Ferenc ERKEL

note: adopted 1844

agriculture:

4.7%

industry:

30.9%

services:

64.4% (2010 est.)

lowest 10%:

3.1%

highest 10%:

22.6% (2009)

general assessment:

• the telephone system has been modernized;
• the system is digital 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

domestic:

competition among mobile-cellular service providers has led to a sharp increase in the use of mobile-cellular phones since 2000 and a decrease in the number of fixed-line connections

international:

• country code - 36;
• 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

• mixed system of state-supported public service broadcast media and private broadcasters;
• the 3 publicly-owned TV channels and the 2 main privately-owned TV stations are the major national broadcasters;
• a large number of special interest channels;
• highly developed market for satellite and cable TV services with about two-thirds of viewers utilizing their services;
• 3 state-supported public-service radio networks and 2 major national commercial stations;
• a large number of local stations including commercial, public service, nonprofit, and community radio stations;
• digital transition postponed to the end of 2014 (2007)

total:

8,057 km

country comparison to the world: 26

broad gauge:

36 km 1.524-m gauge

standard gauge:

7,802 km 1.435-m gauge (2,911 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

219 km 0.760-m gauge (2009)

total:

197,519 km

country comparison to the world: 24

paved:

74,993 km (43,898 km of interurban roads including 911 km of expressways)

unpaved:

112,526 km (2010)

• 18-25 years of age for voluntary military service;
• no conscription;
• 6-month service obligation (2010)

males age 16-49:

2,349,948

females age 16-49:

2,290,568 (2010 est.)

males age 16-49:

1,902,639

females age 16-49:

1,897,378 (2010 est.)

male:

59,237

female:

55,533 (2010 est.)

• bilateral government, legal, technical and economic working group negotiations continue in 2006 with Slovakia over Hungary's failure to complete its portion of the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros hydroelectric dam project along the Danube;
• as a member state that forms part of the EU's external border, Hungary has implemented the strict Schengen border rules

• 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;
• efforts to counter money laundering, related to organized crime and drug trafficking are improving but remain vulnerable;
• significant consumer of ecstasy