'Hungary' (; ; ), officially in English the 'Republic of Hungary' (''Magyar Köztårsasåg'' , literally ''Magyar (Hungarian) Republic''), is a
landlocked country in the
Carpathian Basin of
Central Europe, bordered by
Austria,
Slovakia,
Ukraine,
Romania,
Serbia,
Croatia, and
Slovenia. Its capital is
Budapest. Hungary has been a member state of the
European Union since
May 1 2004.
History
Tarsoly-plate, the ancient treasures of the
Hungarians.
In the time of the
Roman Empire, the region west of the
Danube river was known as
Pannonia. After the
Western Roman Empire collapsed under the stress of the migration of
Germanic tribes and
Carpian pressure, the
Migration Period continued bringing many invaders to
Europe. Among the first to arrive were the
Huns, who built up a powerful empire under
Attila. It is currently believed that the origin of the name "Hungary" does not come from the
Central Asian nomadic invaders called the
Huns, but rather originated from a later,
seventh century Bulgar alliance called
On-Ogour, which in
Old Turkish meant "(the) Ten Arrows"
[3][4].
After Hunnish rule faded, the
Ostrogoths then the
Lombards ruled in Pannonia, and the
Gepids ruled in the eastern part of the
Carpathian Basin for about 100 years, during which the
Slavic tribes began migrating into the region. In the 560s, the Slavs were supplanted by the
Avars, who maintained their supremacy of the land for more than two centuries. The
Franks under
Charlemagne from the west and the
Bulgars from the southeast managed to overthrow the Avars in the early
ninth century. However, the Franks soon retreated, and the Slavonic kingdom of
Great Moravia and the
Balaton Principality assumed control of much of Pannonia until the end of the century. The
Magyars migrated to Hungary in the late ninth century.
Medieval Hungary (896 – 1526)
Magyar tradition holds that the Country of the Magyars (''MagyarorszĂĄg'') was founded by
ĂrpĂĄd, who led the
Magyars into the
Pannonian plain in approximately 896 AD, and - according to the legend - was a distant relative to Attila. The "Ten Arrows" mentioned above referred to ten tribes, the alliance of which was the foundation of the army of the
invading Magyars. The century between the Magyars' arrival from the eastern European plains and the consolidation of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1001 was dominated by
pillaging campaigns across Europe, from Dania (
Denmark) to the
Iberian peninsula (
Spain).
[5]
The
Kingdom of Hungary was established in 1000 by King
Saint Stephen. Originally named Vajk, Stephen was a direct descendant of
ĂrpĂĄd, and was baptised as a child. He married
Giselle of Bavaria, the daughter of
Henry II, Duke of Bavaria in 996, and after the death of his father
Prince GĂ©za in 997, he assumed the mantle of ruler and became the first
Christian king of Hungary.
Hungary in the 14th century
St. Stephen I received his
crown and the double cross from
Pope Silvester II in 1000. As a Christian king, he established the Hungarian Church with ten dioceses and the royal administration of the country that was divided into counties (
comitatus or ''vĂĄrmegye''). Hungary became a patrimonial kingdom where the majority of the land was the private property of the ruler. In 1083, he was
canonized along with his son,
Imre of Hungary.
Initially, Hungarian history and politics developed in close association with that of
Poland and
Bohemia, driven by the interventions of various Popes and Emperors of the
Holy Roman Empire. Between 1241–1242, under King
BĂ©la IV, Hungary was devastated, suffering great loss of life at the hands of the
Mongol (
Tatar) armies of
Batu Khan who defeated the Hungarians at the
Battle of Muhi. A devastating
Mongol invasion killed half of Hungary's population.
[6] Despite the victory, the Mongols did not occupy Hungary, but withdrew shortly after upon the news of the death of
Ăgedei Khan, leaving behind a country in ruins. Following the
Mongol invasion, King BĂ©la IV invited 40 to 60 thousand
Cumans and a smaller group of
Jazyges to settle in depopulated areas of the
Great Hungarian Plain that would become
KunsĂĄg and
Jazygia. An area between
Szolnok and
Debrecen became
Greater Cumania while an area between
Kalocsa and
Szeged became
Little Cumania.
Gradually, under the rule of the dynasty of the
ĂrpĂĄds and even before it (since the ninth century), Hungary joined the greater West European
civilizations. Ruled by the
Angevins since 1308, the Kingdom of Hungary slowly lost control over territories later called
Wallachia (1330) and
Moldavia (1359).
JĂĄnos Hunyadi, the Regent of Hungary, fought offensive-defensive wars - with intermittent success - against the aggressive
Ottoman Empire mostly outside Hungary. The custom of sounding the
noon bell is closely related to an important battle won against the Ottomans that took place on
June 29,
1456, at
Nåndorfehérvår.
JĂĄnos's son, King
Matthias Corvinus, ruled the Kingdom of Hungary from 1458 to 1490. He newly strengthened Hungary and its government: under his rule, Hungary became an important artistic and
cultural centre of Europe during the
Renaissance. Matthias, whose wife was
Italian, imported artisans from Italy and France. Likewise,
Hungarian culture influenced others--for example, the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However successful in many battles against the Ottomans he only postponed the final conflict with the strengthened
Ottoman Empire
Ottoman occupation 1526-1686
The forthcoming two centuries were dominated by constant
warfare against the Ottoman Empire this time inside the Hungarian ethnic heartland. The Ottomans gained a decisive victory over the Hungarian army at the
battle of MohĂĄcs in 1526. The next decades were characterised by political chaos; the divided Hungarian nobility elected two kings simultaneously,
Ferdinand Habsburg (1526-1540) and
JĂĄnos Szapolyai (1526-1540), whose armed conflicts with one another weakened the country further. After the conquest of
Buda by the Ottomans in 1541, the Kingdom of Hungary came to be divided into three parts: one third of Hungary fell under Ottoman rule; one third (in the West) remained under
Habsburg rule (see
Kings of Hungary); and the third part, in the east (originally supporting JĂĄnos Szapolyai), remained independent (the Principality of
Transylvania) and subsequently become a semi-independent, vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. It was only more than 150 years later, at the end of the
seventeenth century, that Austria and its Christian allies regained the territories of the Kingdom from the Ottoman Empire. Centuries of
Ottoman occupation,
rebellion, and
war had reduced Hungary's population by half, and large parts of the country's southern half were almost deserted.
[7]
Habsburgs and the Austro-Hungarian empire 1686-1918
After the final retreat of the
Ottomans, struggle began between the Hungarian nation and the
Habsburg kings for the protection of noblemen' rights (thus guarding the autonomy of Hungary). The fight against Austrian
absolutism resulted in an unsuccessful revolt for popular freedom between 1703 and 1711, led by a Transylvanian nobleman,
Ferenc II RĂĄkĂłczi. The
revolution and war of 1848–1849 eliminated
serfdom and secured
civil rights. The Austrians were finally able to prevail, but only with Russian help.
Map of the counties in the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen (the Kingdom of Hungary proper and Croatia-Slavonia), 1886-1918
Thanks to the victories against Austria by the French-Italian coalition (the
Battle of Solferino, 1859) and Prussia (
Battle of KöniggrÀtz, 1866), Hungary would eventually, in 1867, manage to become a theoretically equal half of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire (see
Ausgleich). Having achieved this, the Hungarian government made an effort to nationally unify the kingdom by
Magyarization of the various other nationalities. The defeat suffered in
World War I led to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918.
Interwar 1918-1941
In March 1919, the Communists took power in Hungary. In April,
BĂ©la Kun proclaimed the
Hungarian Soviet Republic. But Kun's government, like its immediate predecessor, proved to be short-lived. This was despite some initial military successes against the Czechoslovakian Army.
On
13 June1919, the Versailles Peace Conference ordered Hungary to evacuate the northern territories and Romania to leave
TiszĂĄntĂșl. Hungary fulfilled its part of the order by
30 June 1919. But the
Romanian army refused to leave
TiszĂĄntĂșl.
The ensuing war between Hungary and Romania led to the defeat of the Hungarian
Red Army. By August 1919, more than half of present-day Hungary, including
Budapest, was occupied by
Romania. The Romanian occupation lasted until November 1919 when the
Romanian army departed.
Rightist Hungarian military forces, led by the former Austro-Hungarian Admiral
MiklĂłs Horthy, entered Budapest in the wake of the Romanian army's departure and filled the vacuum of
state power. In January 1920, elections were held for a unicameral assembly. Admiral Horthy was elected Regent, thereby formally restoring the monarchy to Hungary. However, there would be no more "Kings of Hungary" despite attempts by the former Habsburg ruler to return to his former seat of power. Horthy ruled as Regent until 16 October 1944. But, after 1932, autocratic tendencies gradually returned as a result of Nazi influence and the
Great Depression.
On
June 4,
1920, the
Treaty of Trianon was signed, establishing Hungary's new borders. Hungary lost 71% of its territory and also 66% of its population. About one-third of the Magyar population became minorities in neighbouring countries. Hungary also lost its only
sea port at Fiume (today
Rijeka). As a result,
Hungarian politics and culture of the
interwar period was dominated by
irredentism ( the restoration of historical
Greater Hungary). Throughout this era the
Hungarian Economy was severely unstable, becoming prosperous after the war, suffering greatly during and in the aftermath of the Great Depression, and stabilizing just before the start of World War II. The country moved closer to Germany and Italy in the 1930s in hopes of reversing some of the effects of the
Treaty of Trianon. Some lost territories were returned to Hungary in the two
Vienna Awards.
Hungary in World War II 1941-1945
Main articles: Hungary during the Second World War
In 1941, Hungary participated in the
invasion of Yugoslavia, gaining some territory but effectively joining the
Axis powers in the process (showing his non-agreement, prime minister
PĂĄl Teleki committed suicide). On
22 June 1941, while Germany invaded the Soviet Union in
Operation Barbarossa, Hungary declared war on 26 June, entering
World War II. In late 1941, the Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front experienced success at the
Battle of Uman. By 1943, after the
Hungarian Second Army suffered extremely heavy losses at the river Don, the Hungarian government sought to negotiate a surrender with the Allies. On
19 March 1944, as a result of this duplicity, German troops quietly occupied Hungary in what was known as
Operation Margarethe. But, by now it was clear that the Hungarians were Germany's "unwilling satellite". On
15 October 1944, Horthy made a weak effort to drive the country out of the war. This time the Germans launched
Operation Panzerfaust and Horthy was replaced by a puppet government under the pro-German Prime Minister
Ferenc SzĂĄlasi. SzĂĄlasi and his pro-Nazi
Arrow Cross Party remained loyal to the Germans until the end of the war. In late 1944, Hungarian troops on the Eastern Front again experienced success at the
Battle of Debrecen. But this was followed immediately by the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the
Battle of Budapest. During the German occupation in May-June 1944, the
Arrow Cross Party and Hungarian police deported nearly 440,000 Jews, mostly to
Auschwitz.
[8] Over 400,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered during the
Holocaust, as well as tens of thousands of
Romani people. Hundreds of Hungarian people were also executed by the
Arrow Cross Party for sheltering Jews. The war left Hungary devastated destroying over 60% of the economy and causing huge
loss of life. On
13 February 1945, the Hungarian capital city surrendered unconditionally. On
8 May 1945,
World War II in Europe officially ended.
Soviet era 1945-1989
Following the fall of Nazi Germany, Soviet troops occupied all of the country and through their influence Hungary gradually became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union. After 1948, Communist leader
MĂĄtyĂĄs RĂĄkosi established Stalinist rule in the country complete with forced collectivization and
planned economy. The rule of the RĂĄkosi government was nearly unbearable for Hungary's war-torn citizens. This led to the
1956 Hungarian Revolution and Hungary's temporary withdrawal from the
Warsaw Pact. The Soviets retaliated massively with military force, sending in over 150,000 troops and 2,500 tanks
[9]. Nearly a quarter of a million people left the country during the brief time that the borders were open in 1956. From the 1960s through the late 1980s, Hungary was often satirically referred to as "
the happiest barrack" within the
Eastern bloc. This was under the autocratic rule of its controversial communist leader,
JĂĄnos KĂĄdĂĄr. The last Soviet soldier left the country in 1991 thus ending Soviet military presence in Hungary. With the Soviet Union gone the
transition to a market economy began.
Hungarian Republic 1989-present
In the late 1980s, Hungary led the movement to dissolve the Warsaw Pact and shifted toward multi-candidate democracy. This means that even though there were several candidates, the communist party,
MSZMP, was not out for dispute. However, independent candidates were elected as protest against the party. At this time, there were increasing pressures for reform within the party. They also
transitioned towards a
market-oriented economy. On
October 23 1989,
Måtyås SzƱrös declared the
Third Hungarian Republic and became interim President. Hungary's first free elections were held in 1990. Following the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Hungary developed closer ties with
Western Europe as well as with other Central European countries. It became a member of the
Visegrad Group in 1991, joined
NATO in 1999, and became a member of the
European Union on
May 1,
2004.
Politics
Main articles: Politics of Hungary
The
President of the Republic, elected by the
Parliament every five years, has a largely ceremonial role, choosing the dates of the parliamentary elections.
The prime minister selects
Cabinet ministers and has the
exclusive right to dismiss them. Each Cabinet nominee appears before one or more parliamentary committees in open hearings and must be formally approved by the President.
A
unicameral, 386-member
National Assembly (the ''OrszåggyƱlés'') is the highest organ of state authority and initiates and approves legislation sponsored by the Prime Minister. National Parliamentary elections are held every four years; the next are due to be held in 2010.
An 11-member
Constitutional Court has power to challenge legislation on grounds of unconstitutionality.
Regions, counties, and subregions
Counties of Hungary
,
Regions of Hungary,
Subregions of Hungary
: ''See also
List of historic counties of Hungary''
Administratively, Hungary is divided into 19
counties. In addition, the
capital city (''fĆvĂĄros''),
Budapest, is independent of any county government. The counties and the capital are the 20
NUTS third-level units of Hungary.
The counties are further subdivided into 167
subregions (''kistérségek''), and Budapest is comprised of its own subregion. Since 1996, the counties and City of Budapest have been grouped into 7
regions for statistical and development purposes. These seven regions constitute NUTS' second-level units of Hungary.
There are also 23 towns with county rights (singular ''megyei jogĂș vĂĄros''), sometimes known as "urban counties" in English (although there is no such term in Hungarian). The local authorities of these towns have extended powers, but these towns belong to the territory of the respective county instead of being independent territorial units.
★
Western Transdanubia
★
Southern Transdanubia
★
Central Transdanubia
★
Central Hungary
★
Northern Hungary
★
Northern Great Plain
★
Southern Great Plain
Economy
Planned general government net lending 2005-2010.
Hungary continues to demonstrate
economic growth as one of the newest member countries of the European Union (since 2004). The private sector accounts for over 80% of
GDP. Hungary gets nearly one third of all
foreign direct investment flowing in to Central Europe.
Foreign ownership of and investment in Hungarian firms are widespread, with cumulative foreign direct investment totalling more than US$23 billion since 1989. The Hungarian sovereign debt's
credit rating is BBB+
as of July 2006, making Hungary the only other country in the EU apart from Poland not to enjoy an A grade score.
Inflation and
unemployment have been on the rise in the past few years, and they are expected to rise further. Foreign investors' trust in the Hungarian economy has declined, as they deem that the stringency measures planned in the second half of 2006 are not satisfactory, their focus being mainly on increasing the income side rather than curbing government spendings. Economic reform measures such as
health care reform,
tax reform, and
local government financing are being addressed by the present government.
The Hungarian government has expressed a desire to adopt the
euro currency between 2010 and 2014
[10]. However, foreign analysts widely criticised that date (2010) as highly unrealistic given the current shape of the economy in relation to the
Maastricht criteria; their assessments suggest that a date of 2013-2014 for Euro adoption is more realistic.
Geography
Main articles: Geography of Hungary
Topographic map of Hungary
Landscape
Approximately slightly more than one half of Hungary's landscape consists of flat to rolling plains of the
Carpathian Basin: the most important plain regions include the
Little Hungarian Plain in the west, and the
Great Hungarian Plain in the southeast. The highest elevation above sea level on the latter is only 183 metres.
Transdanubia is a primarily hilly region with a terrain varied by low mountains. These include the very eastern stretch of the
Alps,
Alpokalja, in the west of the country, the
Transdanubian Medium Mountains, in the central region of Transdanubia, and the
Mecsek Mountains and
VillĂĄny Mountains in the south. The highest point of the area is the
Ărott-kĆ in the Alps, at 882 metres.
The highest mountains of the country are located in the
Carpathians: these lie in the
northern parts, in a wide band along the
Slovakian border (highest point: the
KĂ©kes at 1,014 m (3327 ft)).
Hungary is divided in two by its main waterway, the
Danube (Duna); other large rivers include the
Tisza and
DrĂĄva, while Transdanubia contains
Lake Balaton, a major body of water. The largest thermal lake in the world,
Lake HĂ©vĂz (
HĂ©vĂz Spa), is located in Hungary. The second largest lake in the
Carpathian Basin is the artificial
Lake Tisza (''Tisza-tĂł'').
Climate
Hungary has a
continental climate, with cold, cloudy, humid winters and warm to hot summers. Average annual temperature is 9.7 °
C (49.5 °
F). Temperature extremes are about 42 °C (110 °F) in the summer and â29 °C (â20 °F) in the winter. Average temperature in the summer is 27 to 35 °C (81 to 95 °F), and in the winter it is 0 to â15 °C (32 to 5 °F). The average yearly rainfall is approximately 600 millimetres (24
in). A small, southern region of the country near
PĂ©cs enjoys a reputation for a
Mediterranean climate, but in reality it is only slightly warmer than the rest of the country and still receives snow during the winter.
Demographics
Main articles: Demographics of Hungary
Hungary's population by ethnicity
For 95% of the population, mostly
Hungarians, the mother tongue is
Hungarian, a
Finno-Ugric language unrelated to any neighbouring language and distantly related to
Finnish and
Estonian. Several
ethnic minorities exist:
Roma (2.1%),
Germans (1.2%),
Slovaks (0.4%),
Croats (0.2%),
Romanians (0.1%),
Ukrainians (0.1%), and
Serbs (0.1%).
[11]
The Roma minority
Main articles: Romani people
The real number of
Roma people, known colloquially as "Gypsies", in Hungary is a disputed question. In the 2001 census, only 190,000 people called themselves Roma, but experts and Roma organisations estimate that there are between 450,000 and 600,000 Roma living in Hungary.
[12] Since
World War II, the size of the Roma population has increased rapidly. Today every fifth or sixth newborn Hungarian child belongs to the Roma minority. Estimates based on current demographic trends claim that in 2050 15-20 percent of the population (1.2 million people) will be Roma.
[13]
Romas (called ''cigĂĄnyok'' or ''romĂĄk'' in Hungarian) suffer particular problems in Hungary. Rampant poverty and a subsequent lack of education are the main origin of the bad position of the Romas. Racial prejudice compounds the issue, and further makes the schooling and integration of Roma children into civil society an increasingly uphill struggle. As a result, school segregation is especially acute, with many Roma children sent to classes for pupils with learning disabilities. Currently slightly more than 80% of Roma children complete primary education, but only one third continue studies into the intermediate (secondary) level. This is far lower than the more than 90% proportion of children of non-Roma families who continue studies at an intermediate level. The situation is made still worse by the fact that a large proportion of young Roma are qualified in subjects that provide them only limited chances for employment. Less than 1% of Roma hold higher educational certificates. Their low status on the job market and higher unemployment rates cause poverty, widespread social problems and crime.
[14]
Ethnic Hungarians in neighbouring countries
For historical reasons (see
Treaty of Trianon), significant
Hungarian minority populations can be found in the surrounding countries, notably in
Romania (in
Transylvania),
Slovakia,
Serbia (in
Vojvodina),
Ukraine (in
Transcarpathia),
Croatia (mainly
Slavonia) and
Austria (in
Burgenland);
Slovenia is also host to a number of ethnic Magyars, where Hungarian language has an official status.
Religious affiliation in Hungary (2001)| Denominations | Population | % of total |
|---|
'Christianity' | '7,584,115' | '74.4' | Catholicism | 5,558,901 | 54.5 | ''Roman Catholics'' | ''5,289,521'' | ''51.9'' | ''Greek Catholics'' | ''268,935'' | ''2.6'' | Protestantism | 1,985,576 | 19.47 | ''Calvinists'' | ''1,622,796'' | ''15.9'' | ''Lutherans'' | ''304,705'' | ''3.0'' | ''Baptists'' | ''17,705 '' | ''0.2'' | ''Unitarians'' | ''6,541'' | ''0.1'' | ''Other Protestants'' | ''33,829'' | ''0.3'' | Orthodoxism | 15,298 | 0.1 | Other Christians | 24,340 | 0.2 | 'Judaism' | '12,871' | '0.1' | 'Other religions' | '13,567' | '0.1' | 'Total religions' | '7,610,553' | '74.6' | No religion | 1,483,369 | 14.5 | Did not wish to answer | 1,034,767 | 10.1 | Unknown | 69,566 | 0.7 | 'total' | '10,198,315' | '100.00' |
Religion in Hungary
In the past
The majority of Hungarian people became Christian in the 10th century. Hungary's first king, Saint Stephen, took up
Western Christianity, although his mother, ''Sarolt'', was baptized in the
eastern rite. Hungary remained predominantly Catholic until the 16th century, when the
Reformation took place and, as a result, first
Lutheranism, then soon afterwards
Calvinism became the religion of almost the entire population. In the second half of the 16th century, however,
Jesuits led a successful campaign of
counterreformation among the Hungarians. Jesuits founded educational institutions, including the oldest university that still exists in Hungary (
PĂ©ter PĂĄzmĂĄny), but they organized so-called ''missions'' too in order to promote popular piety. By the 17th century, once again, Hungary became predominantly Catholic. The eastern parts of the country, however, especially around
Debrecen ("the Calvinist Vatican") and
Transylvania (except the majority of the
Székelys), remained predominantly
Protestant.
Orthodox Christianity in Hungary has been the religion mainly of some national minorities in the country, notably,
Romanians,
Rusyns and
Ukrainians,
Serbs.
Hungary has been the home of a sizable
Armenian community as well. They still worship according to the
Armenian liturgical rite, but they have reunited with the
Church of Rome (
Armenian Catholics) under the primacy of the
Pope. According to the same pattern, a significant number of
Byzantine Rite Christians became re-united with the rest of the Catholic world (
Greek Catholics).
Hungary has been the home of a significant number of
Jews since the
Early Middle Ages, in fact, the largest
synagogue in Europe is in
Budapest. However, even
Hungarian Jews did not escape the
Holocaust during
World War II, and hundreds of thousands of them were either deported to concentration camps or simply executed.
Today
According to the last official census (2001), about three quarters of the citizens of Hungary (74.6%) claimed to belong to a particular religious denomination.
[15] Most of the Hungarians professed to be
Catholics (54.5%), whereas among the numerous
Protestant confessions
Calvinism (15.9%) and
Lutheranism (3%) are the most populous. It is remarkable, however, the number of those who did not wish to give a straight answer regarding religious affiliation (10.1%). This phenomenon goes back probably to the turbulent religious history of the country, when citizens were persecuted on basis of their religious background, notably, the substantial
Jewish community during
World War II., and also the faithful Christians during
communism.
The number of non-religious people in Hungary is 14.5%, which corresponds, approximately, to the proportion of non-religious people in other European countries. This does not mean, however, that the rest of the population consists of frequent churchgoers. Frequent religious attendance, that is to say, going to the church at least once a week, is about 12% in Hungary, which is, again, very much the European average.
Culture
Main articles: Culture of Hungary
Music
The
music of Hungary consists mainly of traditional Hungarian
folk music and music by prominent composers such as
Franz Liszt,
BĂ©la BartĂłk and
ZoltĂĄn KodĂĄly. Hungarian traditional music tends to have a strong
dactylic rhythm, as the language is invariably stressed on the first syllable of each word. Hungary also has a number of internationally renowned composers of contemporary classical music,
György Ligeti,
György Kurtåg,
Péter Eötvös and
ZoltĂĄn Jeney among them.
Cuisine
Hungarian cuisine is also a prominent feature of Hungarian culture, with traditional dishes such as
goulash (''gulyĂĄs'' or ''gulyĂĄsleves'') a main feature of the Hungarian
diet. Dishes are often flavoured with
paprika.
Stews are often to be found with typical elements such as
pork or
beef, for example as used in
pörkölt.There are also many desserts that are usually flavoured with fruit and pastry based(rétes).Food is a big part of the Hungarian culture and it is viewed often as rude to not accept it when offered.
Science
Hungary is famous for its excellent
mathematics education which has trained numerous outstanding scientists. Famous Hungarian mathematicians include
Paul ErdĆs, famed for publishing in over forty languages and whose
ErdĆs numbers are still tracked;
JĂĄnos (John) Bolyai, designer of
non-Euclidean (or "absolute")
geometry in 1831;
[16]
and
John von Neumann, a pioneer of
digital computing. Many Hungarian Jewish scientists, including ErdĆs, von Neumann,
Edward Teller, and
Eugene Wigner, fled rising
anti-Semitism in Europe and made their most famous contributions in the United States.
Hungarians are very proud of their inventions. These include the noiseless
match (
JĂĄnos Irinyi),
Rubik's cube (
ErnĆ Rubik), and the
krypton electric bulb (
Imre BrĂłdy). A number of other important inventions, including
holography (
Dennis Gabor), the
ballpoint pen (
LĂĄszlĂł BĂrĂł), the theory of the
hydrogen bomb (
Edward Teller), and the
BASIC programming language (
John Kemeny, with
Thomas E. Kurtz),
were invented by Hungarians who fled the country prior to World War II.
Hungarian physicist as
ZoltĂĄn Bay, he was the first person to observe
radar echoes from
the Moon, and one of his most important achievement the development of the
electron multiplier, which he had started in Hungary in 1938.
Literature
Hungarian literature has recently gained some renown outside the borders of Hungary (mostly through translations into German, French and English). Some modern Hungarian authors became increasingly popular in Germany and Italy especially
SĂĄndor MĂĄrai,
PĂ©ter EsterhĂĄzy,
PĂ©ter NĂĄdas and
Imre Kertész. The latter is a contemporary Jewish writer who survived the Holocaust and won the
Nobel Prize for literature in 2002.
The older classics of Hungarian literature and Hungarian poetry remained almost totally unknown outside Hungary.
JĂĄnos Arany, a famous nineteenth century Hungarian poet is still much loved in Hungary (especially his collection of
Ballads), among several other "true classics" like
SĂĄndor PetĆfi, the poet of the Revolution of 1848,
Endre Ady,
MihĂĄly Babits,
DezsĆ KosztolĂĄnyi,
Attila JĂłzsef and
JĂĄnos Pilinszky. Other well-known Hungarian authors are
Zsigmond MĂłricz,
Gyula Illyés,
Albert Wass, and
Magda SzabĂł.
Sport
One of the most famous Hungarians is the footballer
Ferenc PuskĂĄs (1927 â 2006). He scored 84 goals in 85 internationals for
Hungary, and 511 goals in 533 matches in the
Hungarian and
Spanish leagues. PuskĂĄs played the
1954 World Cup final against
West Germany. In 1958, after the
Hungarian Revolution, he emigrated to
Spain where he played in the legendary
Real Madrid team that also included
Alfredo Di Stéfano, and
Francisco Gento.
Hungarians are also known for their prowess at
water sports, mainly
swimming,
water polo and
canoeing; this can be said to be surprising at first, due to Hungary being
landlocked. On the other hand, the presence of two major rivers (the
Duna and the
Tisza) and a major lake (
Balaton) give excellent opportunities to practice these sports. Some of the world's best
sabre fencing athletes have historically hailed from Hungary.
See also
Lists
★
List of cities in Hungary
★
List of Hungarians
★
List of Hungarian rulers
★
List of Hungarian writers
★
List of colleges in Hungary
★
List of universities in Hungary
★
Common Hungarian surnames
★
Eastern name order used in Hungarian personal names
References
1. Hungarian Central Statistical Office Retrieved 2007-05-23
2. IMF report retrieved 2007-06-18
3. OSZK.
4. Hungary, EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica.
5. The Magyars
(650-997 AD)
6. Welcome to EncyclopĂŠdia Britannica's Guide to History
7. Hungarian Studies Review, 2000
8. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Holocaust Encyclopedia
9. Findley, Carter V., and John Rothney. Twentieth Century World. sixth ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. 278.
10. "GyurcsĂĄny modifies date", VilĂĄggazdasĂĄg
11. [1]
12. [2]
13. See, for instance, Romani World, where a high estimate of 19.62% is given for 2050.
14. See an abstract of Poverty and Ethnicity: A Cross-Country Study of Roma Poverty in Central Europe. by the World Bank for an overview.
15. [3]
16. ''The Contribution of Hungarians to Universal Culture'' (includes inventors), Embassy of the Republic of Hungary, Damascus, Syria, 2006.
External links
★
Official site of the National Assembly
★
Official site of the President of Hungary
★
Official site of the Prime Minister of Hungary
★
History of Hungary: Primary Documents
★
History of Hungary – The Corvinus Library
★
In The Land of Hagar - The Jews of Hungary – A Virtual Exhibition
★
Budapest Photos
★
Aerial photography: Hungary
★
Artistic photos of Hungary
★
Translation of Hungarian literary works - a database
★
1100 photos about the Hungarian countryside - along the long distance path "Countrywide Blue Tour"
★
★
An online gallery of photographs - Szeged, KĆszeg, ...
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