Hungary HU - Maximum and Minimum

Hungary is a small country. With its 93 000 square kilometres, it accounts for less than 0.9 per cent of Europe's total land area. It has a population of ten million. But it lies in the heart of Europe, and that heart throbs with vitality, exuding life. We now guide the reader to a country with a maximum capacity for living, for Hungary has stood its ground and survived since Árpád's conquest of Hungary in 896. A.D. Since 1945 it has had mostly peaceful conditions in which to cultivate the legacy of the past, deal with its present - boasting gains, but having problems too - and face its hopefully, bright - future.

While keeping pace with progress, attuning itself to world trends, Hungary (HU) is doing its utmost to preserve its special national features - be they the "puszta", the vast Hungarian grasslands, "pálinka" (a kind of brandy) or "paprika", the horseherd, the "csárda" - that characteristically Hungarian country tavern or wayside inn - or the Hungarians' lively national dance, the "csárdás". But there is much more to it than that. The place holds a wealth of experiences for globe-trotter and businessman alike. To mention just some of the poles: the things on offer in Hungary include physical and mental refreshment, cultural and culinary treats, oratorios and operettas, tours round villages and stately mansions.

Some of the many maximums : here is found the world's largest Lipizzan stud farm. This is the furthest place to the west and the north in Europe where architectural monuments from the Ottoman Empire can be found. And this is the place in Europe where the skull of a prehistoric ape of ten million years ago was discovered. The medicinal waters, with a daily output of 500 000 cubic metres, are another absolute maximum . There are older (e.g. Hévíz, Hajdúszoboszló) and newer (e.g. Zalakaros) spas with thermal waters which are suitable not just for therapeutic purposes, but also for general refreshment.

Hungary's minis are often on the positive side. For instance, only to a minimum degree have popular customs and folk costumes fallen into oblivion and change in the flora and fauna of the National Parks - the Hortobágy, Kiskunság or Little Cumania (a district of South-Central Hungary), the Bükk Mountains (in North-Eastern Hungary), Aggtelek (famed for its 23-kilometre-long cave system) - have been kept to a minimum . Also, the pollution of the water of Lake Balaton, which, with a water surface of 595 square kilometres, is the largest freshwater lake of Central Europe, has been successfully reduced to a minimum . Rather than skyscrapers, neat holiday cottages are being built. Here, with a minimum input of effort, anyone may indulge his hobbies, from hunting to collecting coins, from listening to evergreen melodies to angling (the two main rivers are the Danube and the Tisza).

Minimum, too, have been the changes wrought in the centuries-old historic town-centres in such places as Sopron, Kőszeg, Szombathely, Székesfehérvár, Veszprém, Győr, Szentendre and Eger. In many places, the old walls are being filled with new life. Budapest, with its strikingly beautiful location, naturally continues to be the number one city. Called "the pearl of the Danube", it is the political, administrative, economic, academic and cultural centre of the nation, with top-quality attractions ranging from buildings of historic and artistic value to places of entertainment, from museums to medicinal baths.

Within minimum distances, you will find, at every step, something to see and experience in Hungary. You can easily reach Hungary by road, rail, water or air.

The nationalities are treated here with maximum respect, and there is complete freedom of religion in Hungary. Even during economically difficult periods, the authorities, devote resources to satisfying the extremely great demand for education and entertainment, as attested by performances given by international stars, by the renovation of several theatres, by the birth of Hungarian musicals, the lively musical life, and the growing collections of museums (there even exist separate museums for cards and for gloves!). The regular cultural events include, in spring, the Budapest Spring Festival, among other things. In summer the Szeged Open-Air Festival. In autumn, the Budapest Art Weeks (with the Autumn at Lake Balaton series as a new feature). And in winter, various programmes associated with popular customs.

Hungary possesses no Himalayan heights or oceanic depths, but there is great zest for living and maximum hospitality. It is a sign of the greatest possible recognition that Hungary can boast of 6 sites which UNESCO has recognised as being worthy of protection and conservation as part of World Cultural Heritage List. Two of them, the national parks of the Aggtelek karst, with central Europe's largest cave system, and the grass plain of the Hortobágy, are natural treasures. A part of the cultural heritage is the ancient Christian cemetery with its painted burial chambers in Pécs, the one-thousand year old, functioning monastery in Pannonhalma, the panorama of the Danube with the Castle of Buda and the Citadel on Gellért Hill and the little village of Hollókő, with its characteristic settlement structure and peasant houses.

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