Geography of Hungary
1., Great Alföld (Great Alföld)
2., Northern Medium Mountains (Northern Hills)
3., Transdanubian Medium Mountains (Transdanubia)
4., Transdanubian Hills (Transdanubia)
5., Mecsek Mountains (Transdanubia)
6., Little Alföld (Transdanubia)
7., Alpokalja (Transdanubia)
With a land area of 93,030 square kilometers, Hungary is a country in Central Europe. It measures about 250 kilometers from north to south and 524 kilometers from east to west. It has some 2,258 kilometers of boundaries, shared with Austria to the west, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia to the south and southwest, Romania to the southeast, the Ukraine to the northeast, and Slovakia to the north.
Hungary's modern borders were first established after World War I when, by the terms of the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, it lost more than 71% of what had formerly been the Kingdom of Hungary, 58.5% of its population, and 32% of the Hungarians. With the aid of Nazi Germany, the country secured some boundary revisions at the expense of parts of Slovakia in 1938, Carpatho-Ukraine in 1939, Romania in 1940 and Yugoslavia in 1941. However, Hungary lost these territories again with its defeat in World War II. After World War II, the Trianon boundaries were restored with a small revision that benefited Czechoslovakia.
Topography
Most of the country has an elevation of fewer than 200 meters. Although Hungary has several moderately high ranges of mountains, those reaching heights of 300 meters or more cover less than 2 % of the country. The highest point in the country is Mount Kékes (1,014 meters) in the Mátra Mountains northeast of Budapest. The lowest spot is 77.6 meters above sea level, located in the south of Hungary, near Szeged.
The major rivers in the country are the Danube and Tisza. The Danube also flows through parts of Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Serbia, and Romania. It is navigable within Hungary for 418 kilometers. The Tisza River is navigable for 444 kilometers in the country. Less important rivers include the Drava along the Croatian border, the Rába, the Szamos, the Sió, and the Ipoly along the Slovakian border. Hungary has three major lakes. Lake Balaton, the largest, is 78 kilometers long and from 3 to 14 kilometers wide, with an area of 592 square kilometers. Hungarians often refer to it as the Hungarian Sea. It is Central Europe's largest freshwater lake and an important recreation area. Its shallow waters offer good summer swimming, and in winter its frozen surface provides excellent opportunities for winter sports. Smaller bodies of water are Lake Velence (26 square kilometers) in Fejér County and Lake Fertő (Neusiedler See--about 82 square kilometers within Hungary).
Hungary has three major geographic regions (which are subdivided to seven smaller ones): the Great Alföld, lying east of the Danube River; the Transdanubia, a hilly region lying west of the Danube and extending to the Austrian foothills of the Alps; and the Northern Hills, which is a mountainous and hilly country beyond the northern boundary of the Great Hungarian Plain.
The Great Alföld contains the basin of the Tisza River and its branches. It encompasses more than half of the country's territory. Bordered by mountains on all sides, it has a variety of terrains, including regions of fertile soil, sandy areas, wastelands, and swampy areas. Hungarians have inhabited the Great Plain for at least a millennium. Here is found the puszta, a long, and uncultivated expanse (the most famous such area still in existence is the Hortobágy), with which much Hungarian folklore is associated. In earlier centuries, the Great Plain was unsuitable for farming because of frequent flooding. Instead, it was the home of massive herds of cattle and horses. In the last half of the nineteenth century, the government sponsored programs to control the riverways and expedite inland drainage in the Great Plain. With the danger of recurrent flooding largely eliminated, much of the land was placed under cultivation, and herding ceased to be a major contributor to the area's economy.
The Transdanubia region lies in the western part of the country, bounded by the Danube River, the Drava River, and the remainder of the country's border with Slovenia and Croatia. It lies south and west of the course of the Danube. It contains Lake Fertő and Lake Balaton. The region consists mostly of rolling foothills of the Austrian Alps. However, several areas of the Transdanubia are flat, most notably the Little Alföld along the lower course of the Rába River. Transdanubia is primarily an agricultural area, with flourishing crops, livestock, and viticulture. Mineral deposits and oil are found in Zala county close to the border of Croatia.
The Northern Hills lie north of Budapest and run in a northeasterly direction south of the border with Slovakia. The higher ridges, which are mostly forested, have rich coal and iron deposits. Minerals are a major resource of the area and have long been the basis of the industrial economies of cities in the region. Viticulture is also important, producing the famous Tokaji wine.
The country's best natural resource is fertile land, although soil quality varies greatly.
About 70 % of the country's total territory is suitable for agriculture; of this portion, 72 % is arable land. Hungary lacks extensive domestic sources of the energy and raw materials needed for industrial development.
Rivers
| Name | Lenght in Hungary |
| Danube | 417 km |
| Tisza | 596 km |
| Lajta | |
| Rábca | |
| Rába | 211 km |
| Zala | 139 km |
| Dráva | |
| Ipoly | 143 km |
| Zagyva | 160 km |
| Sajó | 125 km |
| Hernád | 118 km |
| Bodrog | 118 km |
| Szamos | |
| Hármas-Körös | |
| Maros | 48 km |
Lakes
| Name | Surface |
| Balaton | 596 km² |
| Fertő | 75 km² |
| Velence | 26 km² |
Climate
Temperatures in Hungary vary from -28° C to 22° C. Average yearly rainfall is about sixty-four centimeters. Distribution and frequency of rainfall are unpredictable. The western part of the country usually receives more rain than the eastern part, where severe droughts may occur in summertime. Weather conditions in the Great Plain can be especially harsh, with hot summers, cold winters, and scant rainfall.
By the 1980s, the countryside was beginning to show the effects of pollution, both from herbicides used in agriculture and from industrial pollutants. Most noticeable was the gradual contamination of the country's bodies of water, endangering fish and wildlife. Although concern was mounting over these disturbing threats to the environment, no major steps had yet been taken to arrest them.
| Geography of Hungary | |
| Geographic coordinates: | 47°00′N 20°00′E / 47.000°N 20.000°E |
| Map references: | Europe |
| Area: | |
| total: | 93,030 km² |
| land: | 92,340 km² |
| water: | 690 km² |
| Land boundaries, total: | 2,009 km |
| border countries: | Austria (366 km), Croatia (329 km), Romania (443 km), Serbia (151 km), Slovakia (515 km), Slovenia (102 km), Ukraine (103 km) |
| Coastline: | 0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime claims: | none (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 |
| highest point: | Kékes 1,014 m |
| Natural resources: | bauxite, coal, natural gas, fertile soils, arable land |
| Land use: | |
| arable land: | 51% |
| permanent crops: | 3.6% |
| permanent pastures: | 12.4% |
| forests and woodland: | 19% |
| other: | 14% (1999) |
| Irrigated land: | 2,060 km² (1993 est.) |
| Environment - current issues: | the approximation of Hungary's standards in waste management, energy efficiency, and air, soil, and water pollution with environmental requirements for EU accession will require large investments |
| Environment - international agreements: | |
| party to: | Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands |
| signed, but not ratified: | Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol |
| Geography - note: | landlocked; strategic location astride main land routes between Western Europe and Balkan Peninsula as well as between Ukraine and Mediterranean basin |
Pictures
-
A famous tourist destination: the Danube Bend -
The mountainous part of the county: in the Northern Hills, more precisely in Mátra -
Old wells in the Great Alföld
See also
References
This image is available from the United States Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division under the digital ID {{{id}}}
This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Wikipedia:Copyrights for more information.
This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA.
| Countries |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Cities | ||
| Tributaries | ||
| Canals | ||
| See also | ||