| Hungary |
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| Background: Hungary was 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 in 2004. |
| Geography and Environmental |
Capital: 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 |
| Area Total: 93,030 sq km |
| Area Land: 92,340 sq km |
| Area Water: 690 sq km |
| Area Comparative: slightly smaller than Indiana |
| Coastline: 0 km (landlocked) |
| Climate: temperate; cold, cloudy, humid winters; warm summers |
| Terrain: mostly flat to rolling plains; hills and low mountains on the Slovakian border |
| Elevation Extremes Lowest Point: Tisza River 78 m |
| Elevation Extremes Highest Point: Kekes 1,014 m |
| Natural Resources: bauxite, coal, natural gas, fertile soils, arable land |
| Land Use Arable Land: 49.58% |
| Land Use Permanent Crops: 2.06% |
| Land Use Other: 48.36% (2005) |
| Irrigated Land: 2,300 sq km (2003) |
| Environment Current Issues: 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 |
| Geography Note: 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 |
| Population |
| Population: 9,956,108 (July 2007 est.) |
| Age Structure 0 to 14 Years: 15.3% (male 785,643/female 741,907) |
| Age Structure 15 to 64 Years: 69.3% (male 3,399,926/female 3,498,403) |
| Age Structure 65 Years And Over: 15.4% (male 554,356/female 975,873) (2007 est.) |
| Median Age Total: 38.9 years |
| Median Age Male: 36.5 years |
| Median Age Female: 41.5 years (2007 est.) |
| Population Growth Rate: -0.253% (2007 est.) |
| Birth Rate: 9.66 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Death Rate: 13.05 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
| Sex Ratio At Birth: 1.06 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Under 15 Years: 1.059 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 15 to 64 Years: 0.972 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio 65 Years And Over: 0.568 male(s)/female |
| Sex Ratio Total Population: 0.909 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
| Infant Mortality Rate Total: 8.21 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Male: 8.91 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Infant Mortality Rate Female: 7.46 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
| Life Expectancy At BirthTotalPopulation: 72.92 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Male: 68.73 years |
| Life Expectancy At Birth Female: 77.38 years (2007 est.) |
| Total Fertility Rate: 1.33 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Adult Prevalence Rate: 0.1% (2001 est.) |
| HIV AIDS People Living With HIV AIDS: 2,800 (2001 est.) |
| HIV AIDS Deaths: less than 100 (2001 est.) |
| Religions: 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) |
| Languages: Hungarian 93.6%, other or unspecified 6.4% (2001 census) |
| Literacy Definition: age 15 and over can read and write |
| Literacy Total Population: 99.4% |
| Literacy Male: 99.5% |
| Literacy Female: 99.3% (2003 est.) |
Administrative Divisions: 19 counties (megyek, singular - megye), 22 urban counties (singular - megyei varos), and 1 capital city (fovaros)
counties: Bacs-Kiskun, Baranya, Bekes, Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Csongrad, Fejer, Gyor-Moson-Sopron, Hajdu-Bihar, Heves, Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok, Komarom-Esztergom, Nograd, Pest, Somogy, Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg, Tolna, Vas, Veszprem, Zala
urban counties: Bekescsaba, Debrecen, Dunaujvaros, Eger, Gyor, Hodmezovasarhely, Kaposvar, Kecskemet, Miskolc, Nagykanizsa, Nyiregyhaza, Pecs, Salgotarjan, Sopron, Szeged, Szekesfehervar, Szekszard, Szolnok, Szombathely, Tatabanya, Veszprem, Zalaegerszeg
capital city: Budapest |
| Legal System: rule of law based on Western model; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations |
| Economy |
| Overview: 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. Hungary continues to demonstrate strong economic growth and acceded to the EU in May 2004. The private sector accounts for over 80% of GDP. Foreign ownership of and investment in Hungarian firms are widespread, with cumulative foreign direct investment totaling more than $60 billion since 1989. Hungary issues investment-grade sovereign debt. International observers, however, have expressed concerns over Hungary's fiscal and current account deficits. Inflation has declined from 14% in 1998 to 3.7% in 2006. Unemployment has persisted above 6%. Hungary's labor force participation rate of 57% is one of the lowest in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Germany is by far Hungary's largest economic partner. Policy challenges include cutting the public sector deficit to 3% of GDP by 2008, from about 6.5% in 2006, and tackling a persistent trade deficit. The current government has announced and begun to implement an austerity program designed to address these issues, leading to eventual adoption of the euro. |
| GDP Purchasing Power Parity: $172.7 billion (2006 est.) |
| GDP Real Growth Rate: 3.8% (2006 est.) |
| GDP Composition By Sector Agriculture: 3.1% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Industry: 32.1% |
| GDP Composition By Sector Services: 64.8% (2006 est.) |
| Labor Force: 4.2 million (2006 est.) |
Labor Force By Occupation: agriculture: 5.5%
industry: 33.3%
services: 61.2% (2003) |
| Unemployment Rate: 7.4% (2006 est.) |
Household Income Or Consumption By Percentage Share: lowest 10%: 4.1%
highest 10%: 22.2% (2002) |
| Inflation Rate Consumer Prices: 3.7% (2006 est.) |
| Industries: mining, metallurgy, construction materials, processed foods, textiles, chemicals (especially pharmaceuticals), motor vehicles |
| Industrial Production Growth Rate: 9.5% (2006 est.) |
| Energy |
| Electricity Production: 31.83 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Production By Source Fossil Fuel: 60.1% |
| Electricity Production By Source Hydro: 0.5% |
| Electricity Production By Source Nuclear: 39% |
| Electricity Production By Source Other: 0.3% (2001) |
| Electricity Consumption: 37.1 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Exports: 6.3 billion kWh (2004) |
| Electricity Imports: 13.8 billion kWh (2004) |
| Oil Production: 47,530 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Consumption: 132,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
| Oil Proved Reserves: 110.7 million bbl (1 January 2002) |
| Natural Gas Production: 2.963 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Consumption: 14.46 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Imports: 11.42 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
| Natural Gas Proved Reserves: 34.26 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) |
| Exports: $67.99 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Exports Commodities: machinery and equipment 61.1%, other manufactures 28.7%, food products 6.5%, raw materials 2%, fuels and electricity 1.6% (2003) |
| Exports Partners: Germany 30.2%, Italy 5.7%, Austria 5.6%, France 5.3%, UK 5.1% (2005) |
| Imports: $69.75 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
| Imports Commodities: machinery and equipment 51.6%, other manufactures 35.7%, fuels and electricity 7.7%, food products 3.1%, raw materials 2.0% (2003) |
| Imports Partners: Germany 27.5%, Russia 7.4%, China 7.1%, Austria 6.6%, France 4.9%, Italy 4.9%, Netherlands 4.3% (2005) |
| Debt External: $107.3 billion (30 June 2006 est.) |
| Economic Aid Recipient: $3.4 billion in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004-06) |
| Communications |
| Telephones Main Lines In Use: 3.356 million (2005) |
| TelephonesMobileCellular: 9.32 million (2005) |
| Telephone System General Assessment: the telephone system has been modernized and is capable of satisfying all requests for telecommunication service |
| Telephone System Domestic: the system is digitalized and highly automated; trunk services are carried by fiber-optic cable and digital microwave radio relay; a program for fiber-optic subscriber connections was initiated in 1996; heavy use is made of mobile cellular telephones |
| Telephone System 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 |
| Radio Broadcast Stations: AM 17, FM 57, shortwave 3 (1998) |
| Radios: 7.01 million (1997) |
| Television Broadcast Stations: 35 (plus 161 repeaters) (1995) |
| Televisions: 4.42 million (1997) |
| Internet Service Providers-ISPs: 16 (2000) |
| Internet Users: 3.05 million (2005) |
| Transportation |
| Railways Total: 7,937 km |
| Railways Broad Gauge: 36 km 1.524-m gauge |
| Railways Standard Gauge: 7,682 km 1.435-m gauge (2,628 km electrified) |
| Railways Narrow Gauge: 219 km 0.760-m gauge (2005) |
| Waterways: 1,622 km (most on Danube River) (2006) |
| Airports: 46 (2006) |
| Military Expenditures Percent Of GDP: 1.75% (2005 est.) |
| Disputes International: 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 must implement the strict Schengen border rules |
| IllicitDrugs: 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 |