This is the country
- which boasts one of the world's most beautiful capital cities: Budapest, the "Pearl of the Danube", whose wonderful panorama is on UNESCO's World Heritage list,
-where, despite repeated historical disasters which devastated both the people and their heritage, much remains of great value that is worth visiting and getting to know,
- where 2000-year-old Roman ruins and 400-year-old Turkish monuments can be found side-by-side, not to mention beautiful churches from the Romanesque period in Ják, Lébényszentmiklós, and Pannonhalma, or one-time stately castles in Eger, Sümeg, and Siklós,
- where magnificent palaces functioning as hotels await tourists in Szirák, Seregélyes, and Nagycenk, to mention only the most famous,
- where Lake Balaton is located, Central Europe's largest lake, providing a natural paradise for families with small children,
- where hundreds of therapeutic mineral springs gush up from the depths, helping many thousands to recover their health,
- where the rich Hungarian folk art and the horse shows which introduce the lifestyle and traditions of the "puszta" (Great Hungarian Plain) attract tens of thousands. And there's something else that keeps bringing visitors back to us - the legendary Hungarian hospitality.

Hungary lies in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe. The greatest distance from north to south is 268 km, and from east to west, 528 km.
Area: 93,030 km2
Population: 10,197,119 persons
Population density: 108 persons/km2. Sixty-three percent of the population live in towns.

Capital: Budapest (territory: 525 km2; vpopulation: 1,775,203 persons) v Time zone: Central European (GMT+1) v Summer season: From the last weekend in March to the last weekend in October + 1 hour
Official language: Hungarian
Type of Government: republic
Public administration: 19 Counties and Budapest

GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS
Fifty percent of Hungary's territory consists of flatlands: the ALFÖLD (The Great Plain) comprises the entire eastern half of Hungary, while the KISALFÖLD (The Little Plain), extends along the northwestern border. The country's two most prominent rivers - the Danube, of which the Hungarian section is 417 km long, and the Tisza at 598 km - traverse Hungary from north to south.

The Central Danube-Tisza region is also flatland, while the Transdanubian countryside lying west of the Danube has hilly terrain. Lake Balaton, Central Europe's warmest lake, is situated in the centre of this region.

The highlands stretch diagonally across Hungary: west of the Danube lies the Central Transdanubian mountain range with its hills reaching 400-700 metres (e.g. The Keszthely, Bakony, Vértes, Gerecse, Pilis, and Visegrád mountain ranges). East of the Danube lies the Central Northern mountain range with hills of 500-1000 metres (e.g. the Börzsöny, Cserhát, Mátra, Bükk, Cserehát, Zemplén mountain ranges). The highest point in Hungary is 1014 metres, which can be found at Kékes in the Mátra mountain range.

The Hungarian "puszta" (meaning "wasteland" or "barren land") is a popular tourist destination. Its one-time characteristic animals and ethnographic traditions can be seen at the horse-riding shows in the Hortobágy National Park (e.g. Bugac, Apajpuszta, Lajosmizse).