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 polyglot Austro-Hungarian Empire, which collapsed during World War I. The country fell under Communist rule following World War II. In 1956, a revolt and an announced withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact were met with a massive military intervention by Moscow. 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. In 2011, Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU for the first time.

Central Europe, northwest of Romania

slightly smaller than Indiana

temperate; cold, cloudy, humid winters; warm summers

mostly flat to rolling plains; hills and low mountains on the Slovakian border

bauxite, coal, natural gas, fertile soils, arable land

the upgrading of Hungary's standards in waste management, energy efficiency, and air, soil, and water pollution to meet EU requirements will require large investments

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

Hungarian 92.3%, Roma 1.9%, other or unknown 5.8% (2001 census)

Hungarian 93.6%, other or unspecified 6.4% (2001 census)

Roman Catholic 51.9%, Calvinist 15.9%, Lutheran 3%, Greek Catholic 2.6%, other Christian 1%, other or unspecified 11.1%, unaffiliated 14.5% (2001 census)

9,958,453 (July 2012 est.)

9.49 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

12.7 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

1.37 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

BUDAPEST (capital) 1.705 million (2009)

21 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

1.41 children born/woman (2012 est.)

3.097 physicians/1,000 population (2008)

7.04 beds/1,000 population (2008)

less than 0.1% (2009 est.)

fewer than 200 (2009 est.)

parliamentary democracy

19 counties (megyek, singular - megye), 23 urban counties (singular - megyei varos), and 1 capital city (fovaros)

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)

Saint Stephen's Day, 20 August; note - commemorates the date when his remains were transferred to Buda (now Budapest)

25 April 2011, effective 1 January 2012

civil legal system influenced by the German model

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

unicameral National Assembly or Orszaggyules (386 seats; members elected by popular vote under a system of proportional and direct representation to serve four-year terms)

Constitutional Court (judges are elected by the National Assembly for nine-year terms); Curia (highest court; head of Curia elected by National Assembly, the other judges elected by the president on recommendation of the head of the National Office of the Courts, a separate administrative body); Regional Courts of Appeal (judges are appointed by the president)

Christian Democratic People's Party or KDNP [Zsolt SEMJEN]; Democratic Coalition [Ferenc GYURCSANY]; Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance or Fidesz [Viktor ORBAN, chairman]; Hungarian Socialist Party or MSzP [Attila MESTERHAZY]; Movement for a Better Hungary or Jobbik [Gabor VONA]; Politics Can Be Different or LMP [13-member leadership]

Air Work Group (works to reduce air pollution in towns and cities); Danube Circle (protests the building of the Gabchikovo-Nagymaros dam); Fourth Republic (Negyedik Koztarsasag) or 4K! (anti-Orban, pro-democracy Facebook movement emerged from a Facebook group, One Million for Freedom of the Press, and plans to form a leftist political party); Green Future (protests the impact of lead contamination of local factory on health of the people); Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (Tarsasag a Szabadsagjogokert) or TASZ (freedom of expression, information privacy); Hungarian Helsinki Committee (asylum seekers' rights, human rights in law enforcement and the judicial system); environmentalists: Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (Magyar Madartani Egyesulet) or MME; Green Alternative (Zold Alternativa)

Australia Group, BIS, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

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

Holy Crown of Hungary (Crown of Saint Stephen); turul (falcon)

Hungary has made the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, with a per capita income nearly two-thirds that of the EU-25 average. The private sector accounts for more than 80% of GDP. Foreign ownership of and investment in Hungarian firms are widespread, with cumulative foreign direct investment worth more than $70 billion. In late 2008, Hungary's impending inability to service its short-term debt - brought on by the global financial crisis - led Budapest to obtain an IMF/EU/World Bank-arranged financial assistance package worth over $25 billion. The global economic downturn, declining exports, and low domestic consumption and fixed asset accumulation, dampened by government austerity measures, resulted in an economic contraction of 6.8% in 2009. In 2010 the new government implemented a number of changes including cutting business and personal income taxes, but imposed "crisis taxes" on financial institutions, energy and telecom companies, and retailers. The IMF/EU bail-out program lapsed at the end of the year and was replaced by Post Program Monitoring and Article IV Consultations on overall economic and fiscal processes. The economy began to recover in 2010 with a big boost from exports, especially to Germany, and achieved growth of approximately 1.4% in 2011. At the end of 2011 the government turned to the IMF and the EU to obtain a new loan for foreign currency debt and bond obligations in 2012 and beyond. Whether negotiations result in a loan depend on Hungary meeting EU and IMF requirements for ensuring the independence of monetary, judicial, and data privacy institutions. The EU also launched an Excessive Deficit Procedure and requested that the government outline measures to sustainably reduce the budget deficit to under 3% of GDP. Unemployment remained high, at nearly 11% in 2011. Ongoing economic weakness in Western Europe is likely to further constrain growth in 2012.

$198.1 billion (2011 est.)

$194.8 billion (2010 est.)

$192.4 billion (2009 est.)

$140.3 billion (2011 est.)

4.274 million (2011)

16.7% of GDP (2011 est.)

52.8% of GDP (2011 est.)

80.6% of GDP (2011 est.)

81.3% of GDP (2010 est.)

7% (31 December 2011)

5.75% (31 December 2010)

8.32% (31 December 2011 est.)

7.57% (31 December 2010 est.)

$30.51 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$31.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$74.5 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$68.78 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$110.2 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$104.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$18.77 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$27.71 billion (31 December 2010)

$28.29 billion (31 December 2009)

wheat, corn, sunflower seed, potatoes, sugar beets; pigs, cattle, poultry, dairy products

mining, metallurgy, construction materials, processed foods, textiles, chemicals (especially pharmaceuticals), motor vehicles

$1.929 billion (2011 est.)

$1.42 billion (2010 est.)

$103.1 billion (2011 est.)

$91.45 billion (2010 est.)

machinery and equipment 55.3%, other manufactures 30.6%, food products 7.4%, raw materials 3.2%, fuels and electricity 3.3% (2009 est.)

Germany 25.1%, Romania 5.7%, Austria 5.4%, Slovakia 5.4%, Italy 5%, France 4.8%, UK 4.6% (2010 est.)

$93.9 billion (2011 est.)

$87.15 billion (2010 est.)

machinery and equipment 44.7%, other manufactures 41.3%, fuels and electricity 5.1%, food products, raw materials 6.7%

Germany 24.7%, Russia 8.6%, China 8.4%, Austria 6.2%, Slovakia 4.9%, Poland 4.7%, Netherlands 4.4%, Italy 4.3% (2010 est.)

$48.84 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$44.99 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$184.5 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$178.9 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$71.89 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$69.46 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$20.56 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$19.59 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

forints (HUF) per US dollar -

35.34 billion kWh (2010 est.)

35.85 billion kWh (2009 est.)

4.702 billion kWh (2010 est.)

9.897 billion kWh (2010 est.)

8.804 million kW (2009 est.)

69% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

22% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0.6% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

8.3% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

22,560 bbl/day (2011 est.)

0 bbl/day (2009 est.)

108,500 bbl/day (2009 est.)

31.72 million bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

167,900 bbl/day (2009 est.)

141,100 bbl/day (2011 est.)

49,010 bbl/day (2010 est.)

171,600 bbl/day (2009 est.)

2.464 billion cu m (2011 est.)

11.24 billion cu m (2011 est.)

566 million cu m (2011 est.)

8.019 billion cu m (2011 est.)

8.013 billion cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

50.39 million Mt (2010 est.)

2.933 million (2011)

11.69 million (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)

3.064 million (2010)

6.176 million (2009)

gas 4,716 km; oil 984 km; refined products 361 km (2010)

1,622 km (most on Danube River) (2011)

Budapest, Dunaujvaros, Gyor-Gonyu, Csepel, Baja, Mohacs

Hungarian Defense Forces: Land Forces, Hungarian Air Force (Magyar Legiero, ML) (2011)

18-25 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; 6-month service obligation (2010)

1.75% of GDP (2005 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

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