HUNGARY | Travel | Tourism

History

Hungary began as a separate state with the arrival of the Hungarians in the 9th century. The first king of Hungary was Stephen I. He introduced Christianity and created a constitutional kingdom. Hungary has a stormy history: it was invaded by the Tatars; there was a 150-year period of Turkish rule, and after the Turks Hungary was dominated by the Habsburgs. Hungary was on the losing side in both World Wars, and after the end of the war the period of socialism began. Soviet troops stayed in the country till 1989. The transition began with the first free election in 1990. Hungary joined the EU in 2004.

Facts & Figures

Territory: 93.012 sq. km (source: Eurostat 2025)

Population: 9.539.502 (source: Eurostat 2025 )

Capital: Budapest

Official Language: Hungarian

Currency: Hungarian Forint (HUF)

Time Zone: The standard time in Hungary is Central European Time (CET). During summer, the Central European Summer Time (CEST) is applied.

Climate

In Hungary, in the heart of Europe, there is a continental climate; typically, the year is divided into four seasons. Winter and summer have large differences in temperature; in winter the temperature may often drop below -10°C, while in summer it may rise over +30°C for weeks. During winter, the people often keep to their houses from early afternoon, so after dark almost nobody is on the streets. By contrary, during the summer everybody is “on the run” from home to find a bathing or sunbathing place. 

Hungarians around the world

Almost one third – that is around five million Hungarians - are living outside the country’s borders. Most of them are living in the neighbouring countries (regions such as Transylvania, the Uplands, Subcarpathia, and Voivodina), but you may meet Hungarians all around the world. These people often live in small cultural communities and they welcome every Hungarian-speaking visitor.

Language

Hungary's official language is Hungarian (magyar), which is a very special language and difficult to learn. English and German are spoken mainly by younger people. 

It is common to say that Hungarian language is difficult to learn; you have to be born here for it. However, willpower and study will really help you to get into it. Hungarians appreciate it very much if a foreigner tries to express him or herself in Hungarian, regardless of its correctness.

There are two main reasons for the difficulty of the language:

• the vocabulary is very rich and nuanced, that is, one must learn more words to get the basic knowledge. The alphabet has 36 letters (ten more than English!), among them twelve (!) vowels.
• the grammatical issues are complex, with many exceptions. Composition of words is typical: short (and many types of) prefixes and suffixes may change the meaning completely.

These difficulties are intensified by the huge nubmer of abbreviations (like "süti" for "sütemény") and slang expressions, found especially among young people, in the army, or in prisons.

Public Holidays

• 1st January New Year's Day
• 15th March Anniversary of 1848-49 Revolution
• Easter Monday
• 1st May Labour Day
• Whitsuntide Monday
• 20th August St Stephen's and Constitution Day
• 23rd October Anniversary of 1956 Revolution
• 1st November All Saints' Day
• 25th - 26 th December Christmas