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

noun:

Hungarian(s)

adjective:

Hungarian

• Hungarian (official) 99.6%, English 16%, German 11.2%, Russian 1.6%, Romanian 1.3%, French 1.2%, other 4.2%;
• note - shares sum to more than 100% because some respondents gave more than one answer on the census;
• Hungarian is the mother tongue of 98.9% of Hungarian speakers (2011 est.)

major-language sample(s):

A World Factbook nélkülözhetetlen forrása az alapvető információnak. (Hungarian); The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

total:

44.5 years (2023 est.)

male:

42.6 years

female:

46.4 years

at birth:

1.06 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.63 male(s)/female

total population:

0.95 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

total:

4.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

male:

5.2 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

4.5 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

75.3 years (2023 est.)

male:

72.1 years

female:

78.7 years

degree of risk:

intermediate (2016)

vectorborne diseases:

tickborne encephalitis (2016)

total:

10.79 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

3.96 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

3.33 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

3.5 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

31.8% (2020 est.)

male:

35.8% (2020 est.)

female:

27.8% (2020 est.)

• 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

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

urban population:

72.9% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

0.05% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

particulate matter emissions:

14.24 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions:

45.54 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions:

7.25 megatons (2020 est.)

municipal solid waste generated annually:

3.712 million tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually:

962,893 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled:

25.9% (2015 est.)

municipal:

660 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial:

3.45 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural:

550 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Hungary

local long form:

none

local short form:

Magyarorszag

former:

Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic, Hungarian Soviet Republic, Hungarian Republic

etymology:

• 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

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

etymology:

• 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

• 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)

history:

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:

• 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

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Hungary

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

8 years

chief of state:

President Katalin NOVAK (since 10 May 2022)

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 11 March 2022 (next to be held spring 2027);
• prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president;
• election last held on 3 April 2022 (next to be held April or May 2027)

election results:

2022: Katalin NOVAK (Fidesz) elected president; National Assembly vote - 137 to 51; 2017: Janos ADER (Fidesz) reelected president; National Assembly vote - 131 to 39

description:

unicameral National Assembly or Orszaggyules (199 seats; 106 members directly elected in single-member constituencies by simple majority vote and 93 members directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by party-list proportional representation vote, using the D’Hondt method; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 3 April 2022 (next to be held in April 2026)

election results:

• percent of vote by party list - Fidesz-KDNP 54.1%, United for Hungary 34.5%, Mi Hazank 5.9%, other 5.5%;
• seats by party list - Fidesz-KDNP 135, United for Hungary 57, Mi Hazank 6, independent 1;
• composition as of June 2023 - men 171, women 28, percent of women 14.1%

highest court(s):

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)

judge selection and term of office:

• 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:

• 5 regional courts of appeal;
• 19 regional or county courts (including Budapest Metropolitan Court);
• 20 administrative-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 (Parbeszed) or PM [Bence TORDAI, Rebeka SZABO]
• Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance or Fidesz [Viktor ORBAN]
• Hungarian Socialist Party or MSZP [Bertalan TOTH, Agnes KUNHALMI]
• LMP-Hungary's Green Party [Peter UNGAR, Erzsebet SCHMUCK]
• Mi Hazank (Our Homeland Movement) or MHM [Laszlo TOROCZKAI]
• Momentum Movement (Momentum Mozgalom) [Ferenc GELENCSER]
• Movement for a Better Hungary or Jobbik [Marton GYONGYOSI]
• National Self-Government of Germans in Hungary or LdU [Ibolya HOCK-ENGLENDER]
• United for Hungary (a coalition of Jobbik, MSZP, Dialogue, DK, LMP, and Momentum)

chief of mission:

Ambassador Szabolcs Ferenc TAKACS (since 23 December 2020)

chancery:

1500 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.; Washington, D.C. 20005

telephone:

[1] (202) 362-6730

FAX:

[1] (202) 966-8135

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://washington.mfa.gov.hu/eng

consulate(s) general:

Chicago, Los Angeles, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador David PRESSMAN (since 14 September 2022)

embassy:

Szabadsag ter 12, H-1054 Budapest

mailing address:

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

telephone:

[36] (1) 475-4400

FAX:

[36] (1) 475-4248

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://hu.usembassy.gov/

• 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

total World Heritage Sites:

8 (7 cultural, 1 natural)

selected World Heritage Site locales:

• 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)

• high-income EU and OECD economy;
• decreasing government spending;
• increasing judicial independence concerns;
• flat income taxation;
• increasingly dependent on energy imports;
• strong tourism and automotive manufacturing

Fitch rating:

BBB (2019)

Moody's rating:

Baa3 (2016)

Standard & Poors rating: BBB (2019)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

total:

13.5% (2021 est.)

male:

11.5%

female:

16.2%

on food:

18.2% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco:

7.3% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

lowest 10%:

3.3%

highest 10%:

22.4% (2015)

Number of operational nuclear reactors:

4 (2023)

Number of nuclear reactors under construction:

0

Net capacity of operational nuclear reactors:

1.92GW (2023)

Percent of total electricity production:

46.8% (2021)

Percent of total energy produced:

44% (2021)

Number of nuclear reactors permanently shut down:

0

production:

6.956 million metric tons (2020 est.)

consumption:

8.079 million metric tons (2020 est.)

exports:

230,000 metric tons (2020 est.)

imports:

1.395 million metric tons (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

2.909 billion metric tons (2019 est.)

total petroleum production:

35,200 bbl/day (2021 est.)

refined petroleum consumption:

180,600 bbl/day (2019 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate exports:

8,000 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate imports:

134,800 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves:

12.1 million barrels (2021 est.)

production:

1.685 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

consumption:

10.545 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

exports:

3.758 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

imports:

11.678 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

3.738 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

general assessment:

• Hungary benefits from having a developed telecom infrastructure, with a focus among operators to develop the 5G sector and upgrade fixed networks to provide a 1Gb/s service;
• services based on 5G have been supported by the January 2021 multi-spectrum auction for spectrum in the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands;
• the number of fixed-lines continues to fall as subscribers migrate to the mobile platform for voice and data services;
• operators have looked to bundled packages to boost revenue and retain subscribers;
• the broadband market has effective infrastructure-based competition, with an extensive cable network competing against DSL services and a vibrant and rapidly expanding fiber sector;
• the regulator has also introduced a number of measures aimed at promoting market competition, which is pushing the drive for higher speed platforms and encouraging operators to invest in technology upgrades;
• as a result, Hungary now has the highest fixed broadband penetration rate in Eastern Europe;
• the number of super fast broadband connections (above 30Mb/s) accounted for 78% of all fixed broadband connections (2022)

domestic:

fixed-line connections, with 30 fixed per 100 persons and 106 mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 (2021)

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 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)

number of registered air carriers:

5 (2020); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 145

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

31,226,848 (2018)

total:

203,601 km (2014)

paved:

77,087 km (2014) (includes 1,582 km of expressways)

unpaved:

126,514 km (2014)

total:

1 (2022)

by type:

other 1