Hungary is located in the Central Europe, to the northwest of Romania. Strategically, it is located between Western Europe and the Balkan Peninsula as well as between Ukraine and Mediterranean basin. The north-south flowing rivers, namely Duna and Tisza, divide the country into three large regions. It covers a total area of 93,028 sq. km and lies between 47°00’N latitude and 20°00’E longitude. Comparatively, Hungary is slightly smaller than Indiana. As the country is landlocked, it borders Austria (366 km), Croatia (329 km), Romania (443 km), Serbia (166 km), Slovakia (676 km), Slovenia (102 km) and Ukraine (103 km). The natural resources of the land are bauxite, coal, natural gas and fertile soils.

About more than half of the country’s land is mostly flat to rolling plains. The Little Hungarian Plain, the Great Hungarian Plain and the Pannonian Basin are the most important plain regions of Hungary. There are hills and low mountains on the Slovakian border, where Transdanubia is an example of such land. The Transdanubia stretches to the Alps, Alpokalja, Transdanubian Mountains, the Mecsek Mountains, and the Villany Mountains. Hungary enjoys hot summers and low humidity, that is, it enjoys a continental climate. There are frequent rain showers and snowfalls during the winters. The average annual temperature is 9.7°C and the average yearly rainfall is approximately 600 mm.

 The country has its species identified through the plains of the European region. The native animal of Hungary is the Hungarian grey cow. Another important species is the black and white long-wool sheep. The birds of Hungary are erne, peregrine falcon, warbler, spoonbill, ibis, aigrette, bittern, red heron and small sea pig. There are several tropical plants in the forests such as oak, lime, beech and other deciduous plants. The Great Hungarian Plain has species like hare, fox, deer, boar, duck, heron, crane and stork.

A very important cuisine for the rural and urban population is the Magyar Kenyer, that is, the Hungarian bread. Since pig-breeding became important, its meat has dominated the national diet of the Hungarians. Delicacies during marriages include chicken soup with noodles, gulyas, stuffed cabbage, sweetened millet, sweetened rice, butter-cream tortes and other baked foods. Hungarians are generally wine drinkers. They have their own regional wines.

Due to privatization of industry and commerce, there was a wide gap between the rich and the poor. Hence, expensive clothes of new brands like Levi-Strauss were bought by a minority of the population. The American jeans are worn by the younger population in the rural as well as the urban areas. The rich drive foreign cars. Also, the elite classes own villas and luxurious apartments. Men are expected to earn and look after their families while women look after the children and the domestic chores. Men, generally do not help women in their household work. Hungarians are very patriotic. They have great regards for mother and motherland, which is expressed in the national literature and culture. Love marriages are very common in Hungary. However, due to shortage of apartments for the married couples, they move into the small apartments of either set of parents. Before the Second World War, German was the most important language of the country. However, later, Russian was a compulsory language in the schools and universities. English is spoken by majority of the young population and is considered as a business language. The extraordinary feature of the Hungarians is their hospitality. According to the surveys in the 1990s, about 72% of the population are Roman Catholics. The other religious denominations include the Calvinist Reformed, Lutherans, and Jewish. Hungary has the largest Jewish population in the region after Russia. 

Hungary is a part of the European Union’s single market and medium-sized, high-income economy. The economy shifted from a socialist economy to a market economy in the early 1990s. Hungary produces wheat, corn, sunflower seed, sugar beets, dairy products, etc. The industries that contribute to its economic growth are mining, metallurgy, construction materials, processed foods, chemicals and motor vehicles. Hungary exports machinery and equipment, food products, raw materials and fuels and electricity to Germany, Romania, Slovakia, Austria, Italy, France, and U.K. The imports of the country include machinery and equipment, fuels and electricity, food products and raw materials from Germany, Russia, China, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Italy and Netherlands.

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