Population

Hungary: 10,043,000 (Jan 2000).

Budapest: 1,837,000 (1999 estimate).

Ethnic composition: 97.7% Hungarian, 1.4% Roma(Gypsy), 0.3% German, 0.1% Slovak, 0.1% Croat, 0.1% Romanian, others 0.3% (1997). Most Roma go unaccounted by official statistics - their actual number probably approaches 5% or more.

Language: Hungarian (Magyar), which is from the Ugric of the Finno-Ugric languages.

International dialling code: +36

Internet domain: .hu

President: Ferenc Madl

Prime minister: Ferenc Gyurcsany

Geography

At 93,036 km² (35,919 sq. miles), Hungary is slightly larger than all of Ireland. North to south, the greatest distance is 268km; east to west, it's 528km.

Highest point: Mount Kékes at 3,327 ft (1,014 m).

Longest river: Tisza (596 km of which is in Hungary and also happens to flow through Szolnok).

Largest lake: Lake Balaton (length of 77 kms and width of 2-14 kms, 596 square kilometres in area, and is the largest lake in Central Europe).

Local Time

Hungary is in the Central European Time (CET) Zone, one hour ahead of the United Kingdom.

National Holidays

January 1	New Year's Day.
March 15	Anniversary of 1848 Revolution.
Easter	Easter Sunday/Monday.
May 1	Labour Day.
May	Whit Sunday/Monday.
August 20	St. Stephen's Day.
October 23	Republic Day.
December 25-26	Christmas.

Currency

Forint (Ft or HUF)

Coins: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100.

Banknotes: 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10 000, 20 000.