Hungary's landscape consist mostly of the flat to rolling plains of the Carpathian Basin[?], with hills and lower mountains to the north along the Slovakian border (highest point: the Kékes[?] at 1,014 m). Hungary is divided in two by its main waterway, the Danube (Duna), other large rivers include the Theiss (Tisza) and Dráva[?], while the western half contains Lake Balaton, a major waterbody.
The local climate is temperate, with cold, cloudy, humid winters and warm summers, and the relative isolation of the Carpathian Basin makes it susceptible to droughts. Average annual temperature is 9.7° C.
Hungary continues to demonstrate strong economic growth and to work toward accession to the European Union. The private sector accounts for over 80% of GDP. Foreign ownership of and investment in Hungarian firms is widespread, with cumulative foreign direct investment totaling more than $23 billion since 1989. Hungarian sovereign debt was upgraded in 2000 to the second-highest rating among all the Central European transition economies. Inflation and unemployment - both priority concerns in 2001 - have declined substantially. Economic reform measures such as health care reform, tax reform, and local government financing have not yet been addressed by the present government.
Some 98% of the population speaks Hungarian, a Finno Ugric language unrelated to any neighbouring language. Several ethnic minorities exist, such as those of the Roma (4%), Germans (2.6%), Serbs (2%), Slovaks (0.8%) and Romanians (0.7%), though most speak Hungarian. Several large Hungarian minorities exist across the border in neighbouring countries, notably in Slovakia, Romania (in Transylvania) and Serbia (in Vojvodina).
The largest religion in Hungary is Roman Catholicism (67.5%), with a sizable Calvinist minority (20%). Other smaller denominations include Lutherans (5%) and Jews (0.2%). The remainder adheres to very small religions or is unaffiliated.
Link to this page
