This small country is one of the oldest European countries, situated in the middle of the continent in Central Europe. It has an area of 93,036 km2 and roughly 10 million inhabitants. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine, andRomania to the east, Serbia, and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The country’s capital, and largest city is Budapest.

Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and is a Schengen state. In the year 2000 the nation celebrated the thousandth anniversary of the foundation of the Hungarian State. Since the reign of state-founder King Saint Stephan, Hungary has gone through golden ages as well as repeated trials, but has survived despite its stormy history. Today, more and more visitors develop Hungary who wish to encounter this beautiful country with natural, historical, cultural and gastronomic attractions.

Hungary is one of the thirty most popular tourist destinations in the world, attracting 10.2 million tourists a year (2011). This is the country which boasts one of the world’s most beautiful capitals: Budapest, the “Pearl of the Danube” and where 2000 year old Roman ruins and 400 year old Turkish monuments can be found side by side. It is a country of diversity, full of sights and experiences that will impress, astonish and above all please its visitors. Hungary is home to the largest thermal water cave system and the second largest thermal lake in the world (Lake Hévíz), the largest lake in Central Europe (Lake Balaton), and the largest natural grasslands in Europe (Hortobágy).

• Population: 9 980 485
• Capital: Budapest
• Area: 93 030 km2
• Currency: Forint (HUF)

• Time zone: CET (UTC+1), Summer: CEST (UTC+2)
• Official language: Hungarian
• Date format: yyyy/mm/dd
• Drives: on the right

Continental climate

Ideal clothing for summer: Summer is usually warm in Hungary. Average high temperature in july is 23 to 30 Celsius. So, just in case, pack a sweater, but don’t expect cold days.

The Hungarian providers use GSM technology which is common in EU, but can be incompatible with some countries (US, Japan).

Network coverage:

• 2G: GSM 900, GSM 1800
• 3G: UMTS900, UMTS 2100
• 4G: LTE 800, LTE 1800, LTE 2600

Central emergency number: 112

Drinking water supply is guaranteed throughout Hungary.

Electricity in Hungary is the European standard. 220 Volt with the two round prongs and generally recessed sockets.