Hungary
is a medium-sized country in the Carpathian basin, with ten million inhabitants. It has been a separate state for more than a thousand years and has been a member state of the European Union since 2004. The size of the country is about 93 000 square kilometres, its official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe.
Although Hungary is humble in size, throughout history it has welcomed and given home to diverse values, cultures and traditions – and is part of both the Eastern and Western heritage. It has given the world many well-known inventors, scientists, explorers, composers and athletes. In addition Hungary has more Nobel Prize winners per capita than any other nation.
Besides being a world leader in Nobel Prize laureates, there are also many famous inventions and innovations that Hungarians have given to the world – just to name a few:
Across the country there are 8 World Heritage Sites, and even though it is a small country Hungary is abundant in natural beauty such as 10 national parks, rivers, gentle hills, fresh water lakes, lush forests, large plains, caves and caverns with fantastic underground treasures and the world’s second largest thermal lake. The beautiful sceneries provide great opportunities for hiking and other fun outdoor activities. All this makes the country an increasingly popular European tourist destination.
The capital city Budapest and the countryside both evoke a strong sense of history and tradition almost at every turn. In Hungary many cities have attained their historical monuments, showing influence from various cultures, including the Turkish invaders, Austrian emperors, not to mention Italian Renaissance designers.