Hungary

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

agricultural land:

58.9%;

• arable land 48.5%;
• permanent crops 2%;
• permanent pasture 8.4%

forest:

22.5%

other:

18.6% (2011 est.)

total:

5.58 cu km/yr (12%/83%/5%)

per capita:

555.9 cu m/yr (2007)

• 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

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.85 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.6 male(s)/female

total population:

0.91 male(s)/female (2015 est.)

degree of risk:

intermediate

vectorborne diseases:

tickborne encephalitis (2013)

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)

• previous 1949 (heavily amended in 1989 following collapse of communism);
• latest approved 18 April 2011, signed 25 April 2011, effective 1 January 2012;
• amended several times, last in 2013 (2015)

chief of state:

Janos ADER (since 10 May 2012)

head of government:

Prime Minister Viktor ORBAN (since 29 May 2010)

cabinet:

Cabinet of Ministers proposed by the prime minister and appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president indirectly elected by the National Assembly with two-thirds majority vote in first round or simple majority vote in second round for a 5-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 results:

• Janos ADER (Fidesz) elected president;
• National Assembly vote - 262 to 40;
• Viktor ORBAN (Fidesz) elected prime minister;
• National Assembly vote - 130 to 57

highest court(s):

• Curia or Supreme Judicial Court (consists of the Curia president, vice president, and approximately 76 judges organized into 16 civil chambers, 3 criminal chambers, and 4 administrative chambers);
• Constitutional Court (consists of 15 judges including the court president and 2 vice-presidents)

judge selection and term of office:

• Curia president elected from among its members for 9 years by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president of the republic;
• other Curia judges appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, a separate 15-member administrative body;
• judge tenure based on interim evaluations until normal retirement age;
• Constitutional Court judges elected by two-thirds vote of the National Assembly;
• members serve single renewable 12-year terms with mandatory retirement at age 70

subordinate courts:

• 5 regional courts of appeal;
• 19 regional or county courts (including Budapest Metropolitan Court);
• 20 administrative and labor courts;
• 111 district or local courts

• Christian Democratic People's Party or KDNP [Zsolt SEMJEN]
• Democratic Coalition or DK [Ferenc GYURCSANY]
• Dialogue for Hungary or PM [Gergely KARACSONY, Timea SZABO, co-chairs]
• Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance or Fidesz [Viktor ORBAN]
• Hungarian Liberal Party or MLP [Gabor FODOR]
• Hungarian Socialist Party or MSZP [Jozsef TOBIAS]
• Movement for a Better Hungary or Jobbik [Gabor VONA]
• Politics Can Be Different or LMP [Andras SCHIFFER, Bernadett SZEL]
• Together 2014 or Egyutt [Viktor SZIGETVARI]
• Unity [a coalition of MSZP, Egyutt, DK, PM, and MLP for the 2014 legislative elections, since dissolved]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Colleen Bradley BELL (since 21 January 2015)

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:

7.1%

industry:

29.7%

services:

63.2% (2011 est.)

lowest 10%:

3.1%

highest 10%:

22.6% (2009)

general assessment:

• modern telephone 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 (2011)

• 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:

8,049 km

broad gauge:

36 km 1.524-m gauge

standard gauge:

7,794 km 1.435-m gauge (2,889 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

219 km 0.760-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 26

total:

199,567 km

paved:

76,075 km (includes 1,477 km of expressways)

unpaved:

123,492 km (2010)

country comparison to the world: 25

• 18-25 years of age for voluntary military service;
• no conscription;
• 6-month service obligation (2012)

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

refugees (countries of origin):

5,950 applicants for forms of legal stay other than asylum (Ukraine) (2015)

stateless persons:

124 (2014)

• 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