Europe · Central Europe
Hungary lies in Central Europe, at the heart of the Carpathian Basin, landlocked and bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. The Danube and Tisza rivers run through the country, along with Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe. The Hungarian conquest of the region took place around 895, and the coronation of King Stephen I in 1000 marked the founding of the Hungarian state. The official language is Hungarian, which is not grammatically related to the neighboring Slavic, Germanic, or Romance languages, belonging instead to the Finno-Ugric language family. Hungary has been a member of the European Union since 2004 and the Schengen Area since 2007, and its own currency, the forint, remains in circulation.
Budapest, the capital, straddles both banks of the Danube, with the Buda Castle Quarter and the Hungarian Parliament Building, completed in 1904, both UNESCO World Heritage sites. The Danube embankment and Andrássy Avenue, Budapest's grand boulevard leading to Heroes' Square, are also on the UNESCO list, along with the city's metro line, opened in 1896 and the oldest underground railway on the European continent. The village of Hollókő, known for its traditional Palóc folk architecture, is also a UNESCO World Heritage site, preserving a picture of Hungarian rural life from the 19th and 20th centuries. The early Christian burial chambers of Pécs, dating from the 4th century, remnants of the Roman-era city of Sopianae, are likewise on the UNESCO list.
Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe, is a major summer destination for both domestic and international tourism, its shores lined with wine regions such as Badacsony, along with beaches and sailing opportunities. Hungary's thermal water resources are exceptionally rich, with several hundred thermal springs and baths operating across the country, including Budapest's Széchenyi and Gellért baths, as well as Hévíz, home to one of the largest natural thermal lakes in the world. Hortobágy National Park, in the eastern part of the country, preserves the distinctive landscape of the Hungarian puszta and traditional livestock farming, including the Hungarian grey cattle breed, and is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Local cuisine is built around paprika, with gulyás, a beef-based soup, and paprikás csirke, paprika chicken, as signature dishes, often served with nokedli (dumplings), while Hungarian wine regions, such as Tokaj, are known for one of the region's most famous sweet wines, Tokaji Aszú.
The forint was introduced in Hungary on August 1, 1946, replacing the pengő, which had become practically worthless amid the hyperinflation following World War II, one of the most severe cases of hyperinflation in history, with prices at one point doubling on a daily basis. The name "forint" traces back to the medieval Florentine gold coin, the fiorino d'oro, which was already in use and imitated in Hungary as early as the 14th century under King Charles I, when the country minted its own gold coin also known as the "forint." At its introduction, the forint was backed by gold and began as an exceptionally stable currency, though this stability gradually weakened over the following decades, and after the fall of communism the country shifted to a market-based, floating exchange rate system. As a member of the European Union, Hungary is in principle obligated to eventually adopt the euro, though the exact timing remains an open question, meaning the forint continues to serve as the country's official currency for now.
This site has the remains of monuments such as the Roman city of Aquincum and the Gothic castle of Buda, which have had a considerable influence on the architecture of various periods. It is one of the world's outstanding urban landscapes and illustrates the great periods in the history of the Hungarian capital.
Hollokö is an outstanding example of a deliberately preserved traditional settlement. This village, which developed mainly during the 17th and 18th centuries, is a living example of rural life before the agricultural revolution of the 20th century.
The variety of formations and the fact that they are concentrated in a restricted area means that the 712 caves currently identified make up a typical temperate-zone karstic system. Because they display an extremely rare combination of tropical and glacial climatic effects, they make it possible to study geological history over tens of millions of years.
The first Benedictine monks settled here in 996. They went on to convert the Hungarians, to found the country's first school and, in 1055, to write the first document in Hungarian. From the time of its founding, this monastic community has promoted culture throughout central Europe. Its 1,000-year history can be seen in the succession of architectural styles of the monastic buildings (the oldest dating from 1224), which still today house a school and the monastic community.
The cultural landscape of the Hortobágy Puszta consists of a vast area of plains and wetlands in eastern Hungary. Traditional forms of land use, such as the grazing of domestic animals, have been present in this pastoral society for more than two millennia.
In the 4th century, a remarkable series of decorated tombs were constructed in the cemetery of the Roman provincial town of Sopianae (modern Pécs). These are important both structurally and architecturally, since they were built as underground burial chambers with memorial chapels above the ground. The tombs are important also in artistic terms, since they are richly decorated with murals of outstanding quality depicting Christian themes.
The Fertö/Neusiedler Lake area has been the meeting place of different cultures for eight millennia. This is graphically demonstrated by its varied landscape, the result of an evolutionary symbiosis between human activity and the physical environment. The remarkable rural architecture of the villages surrounding the lake and several 18th- and 19th-century palaces adds to the area’s considerable cultural interest.
The cultural landscape of Tokaj graphically demonstrates the long tradition of wine production in this region of low hills and river valleys. The intricate pattern of vineyards, farms, villages and small towns, with their historic networks of deep wine cellars, illustrates every facet of the production of the famous Tokaj wines, the quality and management of which have been strictly regulated for nearly three centuries.
Data: UNESCO WHC · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hungary joined the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in 1985, and since then a total of 8 sites have made it onto the list – seven cultural and one natural. In this article we go through each one: when they were inscribed, and what makes them unique.
The capital of Hungary is Budapest.
The area of Hungary is 93,028 km².
The population of Hungary is 9,488,428.
The currency of Hungary is Hungarian forint (HUF).
The official language of Hungary: Hungarian.
Hungary: Right-hand traffic.
Yes, Hungary is a member of the European Union.
Yes, Hungary is a member of the United Nations.