"text":"Hungary became a Christian kingdom in A.D. 1000 and for many centuries served as a bulwark against Ottoman Turkish expansion in Europe. The kingdom eventually became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which collapsed during World War I. The country fell under communist rule after World War II. In 1956, Moscow responded to a Hungarian revolt and announcement of its withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact with a massive military intervention. Under the leadership of Janos KADAR in 1968, Hungary began liberalizing its economy, introducing so-called \"Goulash Communism.\" Hungary held its first multiparty elections in 1990 and initiated a free market economy. It joined NATO in 1999 and the EU five years later."
"text":"Duna (Danube) (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"a fairly even distribution throughout most of the country, with urban areas attracting larger and denser populations"
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"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"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> percentages add up to more than 100% because respondents were able to identify more than one ethnic group; Romani populations are usually underestimated in official statistics and may represent 5–10% of Hungary's population"
"text":"<br>A World Factbook nélkülözhetetlen forrása az alapvető információnak. (Hungarian)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"air and water pollution are some of Hungary's most serious environmental problems; water quality in the Hungarian part of the Danube has improved but is still plagued by pollutants from industry and large-scale agriculture; soil pollution"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling"
"text":"Duna (Danube) (shared with Germany [s], Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania [m]) - 2,888 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"the Byzantine Greeks refered to the tribes that arrived on the steppes of Eastern Europe in the 9th century as the \"Oungroi,\" a name that was later Latinized to \"Ungri\" and which became \"Hungari\"; the name originally meant an \"[alliance of] ten tribes\"; the Hungarian name \"Magyarorszag\" means \"Country of the Magyars\"; the term may derive from the most prominent of the Hungarian tribes, the Megyer"
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"parliamentary republic"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Budapest"
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"47 30 N, 19 05 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
},
"daylight saving time":{
"text":"+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October"
"text":"the Hungarian capital city was formed in 1873 from the merger of three cities on opposite banks of the Danube: Buda and Obuda (Old Buda) on the western shore and Pest on the eastern; the origins of the original names are obscure, but according to the second century A.D. geographer, Ptolemy, the settlement that would become Pest was called \"Pession\" in ancient times; \"Buda\" may derive from either a Slavic or Turkic personal name"
"text":"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)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"Saint Stephen's Day, 20 August (1083); note - commemorates his canonization and the transfer of his remains to Buda (now Budapest) in 1083"
"text":"previous 1949 (heavily amended in 1989 following the collapse of communism); latest approved 18 April 2011, signed 25 April 2011, effective 1 January 2012"
},
"amendments":{
"text":"proposed by the president of the republic, by the government, by parliamentary committee, or by Parliament members; passage requires two-thirds majority vote of Parliament members and approval by the president; amended several times, last in 2018"
}
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICC jurisdiction"
},
"Citizenship":{
"citizenship by birth":{
"text":"no"
},
"citizenship by descent only":{
"text":"at least one parent must be a citizen of Hungary"
},
"dual citizenship recognized":{
"text":"yes"
},
"residency requirement for naturalization":{
"text":"8 years"
}
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age, 16 if married and marriage is registered in Hungary; universal"
"text":"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 26 February 2024 (next to be held in spring 2029); prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president; election last held on 3 April 2022 (next to be held in April or May 2027)"
"text":"<br><em>2024:</em> Tamas SULYOK elected president; National Assembly vote - 134 to 5<br><br><em>2022: </em>Katalin NOVAK (Fidesz) elected president; National Assembly vote - 137 to 51"
"text":"Hungarian Civic Union-Christian Democratic People's Party (FIDESZ-KDNP) (135); Democratic Coalition (DK) (15); Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik) (10); Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) (10); Momentum (10); Other (19)"
"text":"Curia or Supreme Judicial Court (consists of the president, vice president, department heads, and has a maximum of 113 judges, and is organized into civil, criminal, and administrative-labor departments; Constitutional Court (consists of 15 judges, including the court president and vice president)"
"text":"Curia president elected 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 at age 62; Constitutional Court judges, including the president of the court, elected by the National Assembly; court vice president elected by the court itself; members serve 12-year terms with mandatory retirement at age 62"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"5 regional courts of appeal; 19 regional or county courts (including Budapest Metropolitan Court); 20 administrative-labor courts; 111 district or local courts"
"text":"Christian Democratic People's Party or KDNP<br>Democratic Coalition or DK<br>Dialogue for Hungary or Párbeszéd<br>Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance or Fidesz<br>Hungarian Socialist Party or MSZP<br>Jobbik - Conservatives or Jobbik<br>LMP-Hungary's Green Party or LMP<br>Mi Hazank (Our Homeland Movement) or MHM<br>Momentum Movement or Momentum<br>Movement for a Better Hungary or Jobbik<br>National Self-Government of Germans in Hungary or MNOÖ<br>On the People's Side or A Nép Pártján<br>Our Homeland Movement or Mi Hazánk<br>TISZA – Respect and Freedom Party or TISZA"
"text":"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"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"Holy Crown of Hungary (Crown of Saint Stephen); national colors: red, white, green"
"text":"Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, and Andrássy Avenue (c); Old Village of Hollókő and its Surroundings (c); Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst (n); Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment (c); Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta (c); Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae) (c); Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape (c); Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape (c)"
"text":"high-income EU and OECD economy; tightening fiscal policy in response to budget deficit; delayed EU cohesion fund disbursement due to judicial independence concerns; high inflation and low consumer confidence; seeking alternatives to dependence on Russian natural gas "
"note":"<b>note:</b> central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenses converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated"
"text":"<p>Hungary’s telecom infrastructure has been upgraded in recent years following considerable investments made by telcos as they upgrade their mobile networks to 5G and deploy more fiber; these developments have helped operators to promote converged fixed and mobile service; the number of fixed lines continue to fall as subscribers migrate to the mobile platform for voice and data services; a number of measures aimed at promoting competition in the broadband market encourage investment in technology upgrades; Hungary has the highest fixed broadband penetration rate in Eastern Europe; there remains considerable growth in mobile broadband services delivered via upgraded networks;5G development is supported by the government, universities, other telcos, and vendors</p> (2024)"
"text":"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"
"text":"mixed system of state-supported public service broadcast media and private broadcasters; the 5 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; 4 state-supported public-service radio networks; a large number of local stations including commercial, public service, nonprofit, and community radio stations; digital transition completed at the end of 2013; government-linked businesses have greatly consolidated ownership in broadcast and print media (2019)"
"text":"5,874 km gas (high-pressure transmission system), 83,732 km gas (low-pressure distribution network), 850 km oil, 1,200 km refined products (2018)"
"text":"Hungarian Defense Forces (HDF or Magyar Honvédség): the HDF is organized as a joint force under a general staff with commands for land, air, cyber, special operations, territorial defense, and support forces (2024)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the National Police are under the Ministry of Interior and responsible for maintaining order nationwide; the Ministry of Interior also has the Counterterrorism Center, a special police force responsible for protecting the president and the prime minister and for preventing, uncovering, and detecting terrorist acts"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> in 2017, Hungary announced plans to increase the number of active soldiers to around 37,000 but did not give a timeline"
"text":"the HDF has a mix of Soviet-era and more modern, Western equipment from such countries as Germany, France, Sweden, and the US; in 2017, Budapest launched a modernization program known as Zrinyi 2026, which was aimed at replacing its Soviet-era weaponry with modern systems, and increasing Hungary’s defense expenditure to 2% of GDP by 2024, in line with NATO spending targets (2024)"
"text":"150 Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUFOR stabilization force); 150 Iraq (NATO); 410 Kosovo (NATO/KFOR); note - Hungary has small numbers of troops on several UN missions (2024)"
"text":"the Hungarian Defense Forces (HDF) are responsible for ensuring the defense of the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and citizens, and fulfilling Hungary’s commitments to the EU and NATO, as well as contributing to other international peacekeeping efforts under the UN; the HDF is also responsible for some aspects of domestic security, crisis management, disaster response, and assisting law enforcement forces in border security; Hungary’s most recent national security strategy addressed migration as an important security concern, alongside other issues, such as great power competition and cyber security; modernizing the HDF by replacing Soviet-era equipment with Western systems and building up Hungary’s defense industrial capacity has been a priority over the past decade<br><br>Hungary has been a member of NATO since 1999 and considers the collective defense ensured within the Alliance as a cornerstone of the country’s security; NATO membership is complemented by Hungary’s ties to the EU under its Common Security and Defense Policy; the HDF has participated in multiple NATO-led security missions, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo, as well as EU-led missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mali; it hosts a NATO battlegroup comprised of troops from Croatia, Hungary, Italy, and the US, and NATO’s Multinational Division Center, a headquarters capable of commanding a division-sized force (typically 15-20,000 troops) in a crisis; both organizations were established as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine; Hungary also hosts NATO’s Center of Excellence for Military Medicine; Hungary is a member of the Visegrad Group, a regional platform that brings together Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia to discuss cultural, defense, and political cooperation (2024)"
"text":"has a history of involvement in space activities going back to the Soviet era; growing a modern space program focused on acquiring satellites and contributing to the European Space Agency (ESA); has a national space strategy; builds and operates satellites; researches and develops space technologies, including communications, navigation, and subsystems for satellites; has an astronaut corps; in addition to being an ESA member and cooperating with individual ESA and EU member states, particularly France, has relations with a variety of other foreign space agencies and industries, including those of Brazil, Israel, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, the UAE, and the US; national space strategy included the goals of fostering innovation and increasing Hungary’s competitiveness in the commercial space sector (2024)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in the Space Programs reference guide"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide"
"text":"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"
