HUNGARY

ORIGO 14. TTEL:

Magyarorszg termszeti rtkei
tjak, egy-egy vros lersa, turisztikai nevezetessgek
a fvros s/vagy szlvrosa legfontosabb nevezetessgei
hagyomnyos s nemzeti nnepek
szoksok
nemzetisgek Magyarorszgon, magyar nemzetisgek ms
orszgokban
kulturlis rtkeink
- Hungary is situated in Central Europe at approximately an equal
distance from the Equator(Egyenlt) and the North Pole.
- The country occupies a territory of about 93,000 square kilometres.
Almost two thirds of this territory consists of fertile plains no more
than 200 metres above sea level.
- Hungary is divided into the capital, 19 counties and 22 towns of
county rank. Our country can be divided into three large regions:
Transdanubia, the Great Plain and Northern Hungary.
- The Transdanubian part is mainly hilly with the exception of the
northern region, which is called the Small Plain. The soil is
exceptionally good there for crops and vegetables.
- A similar area is the Great Plain, where most of Hungary's crops are
grown.
- Northern Hungary is fairly mountainous and the country's highest
peak can also be found there. Kkes tet
- Hungary belongs to the drainage system of Europe's second largest
river, the Danube. The Tisza is another long river and Lake Balaton is
the second largest freshwater lake in Central and Western Europe.
- Hungary is in the temperate zone and has a continental climate. This
means that tere are big differences between the weather in the four
seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.
- Because of the Carpathian Basin, Hungary is protected from the
extremes of weather by the mountains surrounding her from almost
all sides. Her climate is influenced by both moderate maritime and
mild Mediterranean air currents(ramlat).

- Temperatures above 30C may occur in July and August but

generally do not last long. January and February are the coldest
months, but even then the average temperature does not fall below
minus 5C.

Regions
- Alfld, the Great Hungarian Plain
- Transdanubia:
- Western Hungary (Kisalfld, the Little Hungarian
- Southern Transdanubia
- Central Transdanubia and Lake Balaton
- Northern Hungary
- On the north Hungary is bordered by the Czech and Slovak Republic,
on the north-east by The Ukraine, on the east Romania, on the south
by Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia while on the west the country
borders on Austria.
- The official language of Hungary is Hungarian, but quite a few other
languages are spoken as native languages by the several ethnic
minorities living near the country's borders. These are German and
the Slavonic languages spoken in the countries around us.
- Some of Historians think that the language of Hungarian is a Uralic
language, part of the Finno-Ugric language family. Its the official
position. But I think its not true. The Finns and the Hungarians
perhaps lived together in our original homeland, but it doesnt mean
that we are a language family. I think that the Hungarian language is
a unique which doesnt belong to any family of languages.
- Hungary is a parliamentary republic. There are parliamentary
elections every four years, and the leader of the winning party is
asked by the president to form the government. The government
consists of representatives of the parties that are in majority. The
president is elected by the parliament every five years.

- As a result of the latest elections, five parties have seats in the

Hungarian Parliament. These are the FIDESZHungarian Civic
Alliance (FIDESZ), the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP).

These two parties are coalition and they govern the country. There
are three opposition parties in Hungarian parliament. The
Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP), the Jobbik Movement, the
Together Party(Egytt), the Democratic Party(DK) and the Politics
Can Be Different (LMP). The FIDESZ, the KDNP and the Jobbik
Movement are political right wing. The MSZP and LMP are the
political left wing.
- Hundreds of thousands of Hungarians live below the poverty line as
living standards are declining and unemployment is growing. It is
also difficult to put an end to inflation. These effects can be felt even
today.
- After World War I there was the Treaty of Trianon of 1920. The
victorious forces redrew the borders of Hungary so that it runs
through Hungarian majority areas. As a consequence, 3.3 million
Hungarians found themselves outside the new borders. The other
main group are the emigrants, who left Hungary at various times for
example the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. There has been some
emigration since Hungary joined the EU, especially to countries such
as Germany or England although this has not been as drastic.
- The Roma minority and the illegal immigrants has caused the
biggest source of problems in Hungary till today. Nowadays they
have bad chances for work because of their education. Slightly more
than 80% of Roma children complete primary education, but only
one third continue studies into the intermediate (secondary) level.
Most of the Roma people live in significantly worse conditions than
others.
- I live in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary. I live in a detached
house in the 4th district in the North of Budapest, jpest.
- I have lived here all my life. It is located on the left bank of the
Danube River. The district is composed of
six parts. jpest is the
largest, but the district also includes Megyer, Kposztsmegyer,
Istvntelek, Szkesdl and the northern tip of the island Npsziget.
- Tourism also plays an important role in our economy as millions of
tourists come to Hungary from year to year.
- I think one reason for so many tourists coming to our country is the
hospitality of the Hungarians. Hungary also has various tourist
attractions. Visitors can enjoy the wonderful sights of Budapest,
relax on one of the numerous beaches of Lake Balaton, go and see
the lovely Hungarian villages where traditions of folk art are
preserved and treasured or visit some of the smaller but beautiful

towns like Veszprm, Kszeg, Eger or Szentendre. They can go for

outings to the romantic 'Puszta', the Great Hungarian Plain, where
they can see the famous Hungarian stud farms.(mnes)
TRADITIONAL AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS:
On March 15th we commemorate the Hungarian Revolution and War
of Independence of 1848-49.
May 1st is a spring holiday when maypoles are put up in gardens. This
day is Labour Day in EU and Hungary.
August 20th is the day of king Stephen I. On this day we commemorate
the founding of our state almost a thousand years ago.
On October 23rd we celebrate the declaration of the Hungarian Republic
and
commemorate the revolution of 1956.
FAMILY CELEBRATIONS IN HUNGARY:
We celebrate our birthday, name-day, a new-born babys christening,
silver, golden, diamond jubilee, wedding anniversary, graduation day,
Mothers Day (first Sunday in May), Valentines Day (14 th February), the
Day of the Dead (early in November), Christmas Eve (24 th December),
Christmas Day (25 th December), The Boxing Day (26 th December), New
Years Eve (31st December), New Years Day (1 st January), Good Friday
(Friday before Easter Sunday), Easter Sunday, Easter Monday,
Pentecost.(Pnksd)
- Budapest is the capital and the largest city of Hungary and one of
the largest cities in the European Union. It is the country's principal
political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre.
- Today Budapest is a busy metropolis with a population of 2 million
people. The city is extremely rich in historical and cultural
monuments(emlkm), works of art and natural beauties.
- Where would you take tourists?
- I think I would start the tour of Budapest by taking the tourist up to
the Gellrt Hill, because this is the best point from which to see the
panorama of the city. There is also a fortress(erd) on the top of the
hill called
the Citadel, which was built in 1851. Standing
high above the city on the highest point of the hill is the Statue of
Liberty.
- Then I would take the visitor to the centre of Buda where we can
find the Castle Hill. On its top the Royal Castle District was built. In
its central square, the Trinity Square, stands the famous Matthias
Church. -It is also called the Coronation Church and several kings of
Hungary were buried(temetni) here. It was built in the thirteenth
century in Gothic style so it is more than 700 years old. Next to the
church we can see the bronze statue of King Stephen I. and that of
Janos Hunyadi.

- Behind the church the Fishermen's Bastion can be found, from

which there is a magnificent view of the Danube with the Houses
of Parliament on the opposite bank.
- The most popular park for the people living in Budapest is the
beautiful Margaret Island, which is right in the middle of the
Danube.
- Today a lot of different establishments provide recreation facilities
for the inhabitants of the capital, such as the Open-air Theatre of the
State Opera House, the Grand Hotel, the National Sport Swimming
Pool, or the Palatinus Medicinal and Open-air Baths.
- One of the best-known monuments in Pest is the one in Heroes'
Square. It was erected in 1896 to commemorate the 1000th
anniversary of the founding of Hungary.