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Hungary: Travel information
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About
Geography
As much as 50 % of the country's territory is flat: the Great Hungarian Plain occupies the entire eastern part of the country and the Small Plain lies along the northwest border. The region between the Danube and Tisza rivers is flat, while the region called Transdanubia west of the Danube is undulating terrain featuring central Europe's warmest lake, the BALATON. The lake is situated in Transdanubia. Its length is 77 km (48 miles), and at its greatest width 14 km (8.75 miles). The surface of the water covers about 598 sq km (233.6 sq mile). The average depth of the water is a shallow 3 m (9.8 foot). In summer it warms up to a relatively high temperature, 26 C (78 F ) on average. Lake Velence has an area of 26 sq km (10.1 sq mile). The 82 sq km (32 sq mile) bed of the southern portion of Lake Fertõ situated at the western border of Hungary is mostly covered by reeds.
A range of mountains of medium height stretches across the country. West of the Danube, the Transdanubian range is 400-700 metres high, divided into the Keszthely Hills, the Bakony, Vértes, Gerecse, Pilis and Visegrád mountains. East of the Danube the Northern mountain range rises to heights of 500-1000 meters, divided into the Börzsöny, Cserhát, Mátra, Bükk, Cserehát and Zemplén mountains.
The Hungarian "puszta" (plain) is a favourite tourist destination where the characteristic animals and ethnographic traditions can be seen in the Hortobágy National Park (Hortobágy) and in the Kiskunság National Park (Bugac, Apajpuszta, Lajosmizse) when the horse shows are held. The highest point: Kékes (1,014 m) in the Mátra Mountains Longest rivers: Danube (Hungarian stretch: 417 km) and the Tisza (598 km) cut across the country from north to south
Budapest
Budapest was established through the unification of three cities: Buda, Óbuda and Pest, in 1873. With a population of nearly 2 million, it represents the centre of the state administration, culture, science, industry, trade and transport.
The capital is located along the two embankments of the Danube: 16 out of its 23 districts are located on the Pest side, six on the Buda side and one on Csepel island surrounded by the Danube. The Buda side of the city reaches up into the hills, while the Pest side was built on the flood plain of the Danube. The 235 m (256 yard) Gellért Hill rises on the right-hand side of the Danube, nearly in the centre of the town, offering a view of the capital. Eight public roads and two rail bridges span the Danube, in its Budapest stretch. The bridges destroyed during World War II, with the exception of Elizabeth Bridge, were restored in their original form.
The Royal Castle and the Castle District restored after the war in their original style and beauty, form part of the many spectacular sights of the capital. The Castle houses the extremely rich collection of the Hungarian National Gallery and the country's biggest library, the National Széchényi Library. Just across on the other side of the Danube rises the neo-Gothic building of Parliament. Not far from there lies the city's most beautiful natural conservation area, Margaret Island, about 3 km (1.875 mile) long and dotted with parks, sport grounds, swimming pools and a spa hotel.
The capital houses national scientific and cultural institutions including the Hungarian Academy of Science together with a number of research institutes. The overwhelming majority of university and college students in Hungary pursue their studies at higher educational institutions in Budapest.
It is one legacy of the capital-centred structure that evolved at the turn of the century and later that seven out of the eight national main roads depart from Budapest, nine main rail lines run there, while the capital is also the hub for shipping, air traffic and bus transport. This disadvantageous position must be corrected by rearranging the transport network, regional development and by designating new motorways on a continuous basis. Three underground rail lines ease the woes of a congested public transport network in Budapest. Several rail stations have been upgraded, and there are now metro links to them.
The numerous thermal and curative springs deservedly elevate the capital to the rank of "city of spas". Its spas were already being praised back in the Roman era. Budapest at present has 80 exploited hot water springs with waters at temperatures of between 24 to 78°C (87 to 172 F°). Twelve out of the capital's 47 spas are qualified as thermal or curative. The curative waters are mostly efficacious in the treatment of locomotion, joint, gastric and blood circulatory diseases and various gynaecological illnesses, and as a drinking cure they are good for easing digestive ailments. Its developed and natural assets and the marvellous scenery truly make Budapest a great tourist centre.
20th century in Hungary
The First World War and its consequences are well known. The Austro- Hungarian monarchy was broken up. Budapest became the oversized capital of a small country, which could not regain its earlier international role in a hostile Carpathian Basin that had been cut into pieces. Its population continued to grow at a moderate pace, but it now resembled the urban growth of the developing countries, nurtured more by crisis in the countryside than by the internal energy of the city. By the 1930s Budapest was beginning to overcome the consequences of World War I, when the next world war overwhelmed it, causing enormous damage to its buildings, as well as to its population.
Under socialism, it has maintained a steady rate of development. With the dissolution of socialism in 1989, the city has entered the post-industrial age with the leading role of blue-collar industry being replaced by services and a white-collar workforce. And now Budapest is again searching for its place among the major European metropolises. Budapest is once again becoming a Central European capital.
