Language: Magyar (Hungarian)

Capital: Budapest

Population: 10 million, 20% live in the capital

Area: 93,030 sq km

Natural Features: moderate continental climate (cold and snowy winters and long, hot summers); Carpathian Mountains; Danube River

President: Mr. Peter Medgyessy

Type of Government: Parliamentary democracy; universal suffrage at 18 years of age

Religion: Roman Catholic 67.5%, Calvinist 20%, Lutheran 5%, atheist and other 7.5%

Currency: Forint

Economy: 1/3 of population lives below poverty level; the average person earns 160 Euros/month; 80 Euros/month = minimum wage

Life Expectancy: total population: 72.17 years

Infant Mortality Rate: 8.58 deaths/1,000 live births

Education: Average years of schooling of adults:9.1; Duration of compulsary education: 10 years; Duration of education – primary level: 4; Duration of education – secondary level: 8

Food: Savory, but generally not spicy; ragout, gulash (either as a soup or a stew), paprika, sour cream, hortogaby pancake (made with meat), unicum (bitter alcoholic drink made from 40 different plants)

History:
Located in Central Europe s Carpathian Basin, Hungary has been a link in the chain connecting East and West for a thousand years. The Hungarian state was born in the year 1000, when the first king, St. Stephen, was crowned. The Turks occupied Hungary during the 16th and 17th centuries, during which they left traces of their civilization, such as baths, coffee, and paprika. The princes of Vienna delivered the country from Turkish occupation in 1686, and thus began the Habsburg rule.

In 1867, an Austro-Hungarian compromise lead to the recognition of the Hungarian identity. The double monarchy began and Hungary became a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which collapsed during World War I. The country fell under Communist rule following World War II. In 1956, a revolt and announced withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact were met with a massive military intervention by Moscow. Hungary began liberalizing its economy in 1968, introducing so-called “goulash Communism.” It held its first multiparty elections in 1990 and initiated a free market economy. Hungary joined NATO in 1999 and is scheduled to join the EU along with nine other states on May 1, 2004. In an April 2003 referendum, 84% of voters voted in favor of joining the EU.

Detailled History:

Background:
Hungary has been a link in the chain connecting East and West for a thousand years. The ancestors of the Hungarians, or Magyars, occupied the Carpathian Basin and nationalised the Avar and Slavic populations living there. Settlement started in the 10th century, during which the Magyar people adopted western feudalism and western Chritianity. St. Stephen was chosen as the first king of Hungary in 1000. Because of his efforts to establish the Church and the Hungarian State, the Hungarian people still consider him to be the founder of the State, and he was shortly canonised.

The Turkish Occupation:
During the Turkish Occupation of the 16th and 17th centuries, the country broke up into three parts (1541): Transylvania, the western and northern counties dominated by the Habsburgs, and the central part of the country, which had been ruled by the Turks for 150 years. The Reformation gained ground and Hungary became a bulwark of Christianity because, in the age of castle warfare, the Turkish campaigns were blocked regularly by the Hungarian resistance.

The Habsburg Era:
The expulsion of the Turks was finally accomplished at the end of the 17th century. Armies from Vienna occupied Buda first (1686) and then the whole country and made it a part of the Habsburg Empire. The sovereigns in the 18th century, Maria Theresia and Joseph II, governed the country in an absolutist way. During their rule the country recovered from the destruction of the Turkish Conquest, and agricultural development started again in the age of the Counter-Reformation.

From the 1820 s on, the politicians endeavoured to change the still-feudal society into a bourgeois one. Culture and nationalism also flourished at this time. A revolution broke out in March 1848, and the Habsburgs, after putting down the revolution in Austria and Italy, turned against the Hungarians. Here the rebellion turned into full-fledged revolution, with the Hungarians declaring their independence from Vienna. The Habsburgs managed to suppress the Hungarians with the help of Russia in the summer of 1849. After the bloody revenge, the country rejected cooperation. In 1867 a compromise with the Habsburgs was arranged and a dual government was established.

The Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy during the reign of Emperor and King Franz Joseph (1848-1916) was a heterogeneous empire with multiple nationalities; it was active politically, especially in the Balkans.

World War I:
After the assassination of the Austrian Archduke in Sarajevo, the First World War broke out and Austria-Hungary joined the side of Germany. In accordance with Wilson s -14 Points-, defeat saw the Austro-Hungarian Empire divided into independent nation-states. In addition to the war indemnity, the peace agreement of 1920 meant the loss of large areas of land: the historical, thousand-year-old state lost two-thirds of its territory, and 3.3 million Hungarians were left outside the borders of the new State, concentrasted particularly in Transylvania.

The peace agreement, perceived as a national trauma, determined Hungarian foreign policy between the two World Wars. Hungarian politicians, hoping for a revision of the new borders, drifted into World War II on the side of Germany and Italy, both of whom were likewise dissatisfied with the Versailles Treaty.

World War II:
In return for territories re-annexed in the early stages of the war, Hungary supported the Germans, while being in contact with the Allies, as well. The German army occupied Hungary in March 1944. Ghettos were established and 500,000 people were sent to concentration camps in a few months. The Soviet Army reached Hungary s borders and the country became a theater of war between the German and Soviet armies. Budapest was destroyed and the country was sacked.

Behind the Iron Curtain:
In 1945 free elections were held, but the results were irrelevant as the presence of the Soviet Army strengthened the communists and resulted in the elimination of the multi-party system by 1948. This was the period of deportations, fear and the terror of the communist secret police. In 1956 a revolution aimed at restoring democracy broke out against the communist dictatorship. After the Soviet Army had occupied Hungary a second time, the Communist Party executed the Prime Minister. A strong emigration to the West began.

In the 80s, along with the economic crisis, political fermentation began. With the power of the Soviet Union impaired, the Hungarian Communist Party lost its military support and, facing ever more severe economic problems, agreed to hold free elections.

Since 1989:
Hungary held its first multiparty elections in 1990 and initiated a free market economy. Accession to the European Union has been Hungary s political priority and a key element of its foreign policy since the change of the political system in 1989-90. The country considers the enlargement as a historical necessity that has no real alternative. Hungary joined NATO in 1999 and is scheduled to join the EU along with nine other states on May 1, 2004. In an April 2003 referendum, 84% of voters voted in favor of joining the EU.