Wayzata World Factbook 1994/World Factbook - 1994 Edition - Wayzata Technology (1994).iso/pc/text/txtfiles/hungary.bkg

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#CARD:Hungary:Background Notes
BACKGROUND NOTES:  Hungary
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE
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July 1993
Official Name:  Republic of Hungary
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PROFILE
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Geography
Area:  93,000 sq. km. (36,000 sq. mi.); about the size of Indiana.
Cities:  Capital--Budapest (est. pop. 2 million); Debrecen (220,000);
Miskolc (208,000); Szeged (189,000); Pecs (183,000).
Terrain:  Much of Hungary is flat, with low mountains in the north and
northeast and north of Lake Balaton.
Climate:  Temperate.  January average temp. 00C (320F); July 200C
(700F).
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People
Nationality:  Noun and adjective--Hungarian(s).
Population (1991 est.):  10 million.
Ethnic groups: Magyar 92%, Gypsy 3% (est.), German 1%, Slovak
1%, Jews 1%, Southern Slav 1%, others 1%.
Religions:  Roman Catholic 68%, Calvinist 20%, Lutheran 5%, others,
including Jewish, Baptist, Adventist, Pentecostal, Unitarian 5%.
Languages:  Magyar 98%, other 2%.
Education: Compulsory to age 16.  Attendance--96%.  Literacy--99%.
Health:  Infant mortality rate--15/1,000.  Life expectancy--67 yrs. men,
75 yrs. women.
Work force (5 million):  Agriculture--19%.  Industry and commerce--
49%. Services--27%. Government--5%.
Official language: Magyar (Hungarian).
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Government
Type:  Parliamentary democracy.  Constitution:  August 20, 1949.
Substantially revised in 1989,  amended in 1990.
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Branches:  Executive--Council of Ministers.  Legislative--Hungarian
National Assembly (386 members, 4-yr. term).  Judicial--Supreme
Court and Constitutional Court.
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Administrative regions:  19 counties plus capital region of Budapest.
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Principal political parties:  Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF, center);
Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ, center left); Independent
Smallholders' Party (FKGP, center right); Socialists (MSZP, reform
communists); Federation of Young Democrats (FIDESZ, center left);
Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP, center right).
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Flag:  Three horizontal stripes--red, white, and green.
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Economy
GDP (1992):  $32 billion.  Annual growth rate (1992):  -4%.  Per capita
income (1992):  $3,000.  Inflation rate (1992): 24%.
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Natural resources:  Fertile land, bauxite, brown coal.
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Agriculture/forestry (16% of 1990 GDP):  Products--meat, corn, wheat,
potatoes, sugar beets, vegetables, fruits, sunflower seeds.  Arable land-
-51%, of which 71% is cultivated.
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Industry/construction (40% of 1990 GDP): Machinery, buses, and other
transportation equipment; precision and measuring equipment; textiles;
medical instruments; and pharmaceuticals.
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Trade (1992): Exports--$10.7 billion:  machinery, buses, and other
transportation equipment; medical instruments; pharmaceuticals; textiles;
other consumer manufactures; and agricultural products.  Major
markets--Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Italy, US, France,
Commonwealth of Independent States.  Imports--$11 billion:  energy,
raw materials, machinery, and transportation equipment.  Major
suppliers--Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria,  Commonwealth of
Independent States.
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Official exchange rate  (December 1992):  About 83 forints=U.S.$1.
(###)
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HISTORY
Since its conversion to Western Christianity before 1,000 AD, Hungary
has been an integral part of Europe.  Although Hungary was a
monarchy for nearly 1,000 years, its constitutional system preceded, by
several centuries, the establishment of Western-style governments in
other European countries.
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Sharing defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy (1867-1918) at
the end of World War I, Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory and
nearly as much of its population.  It experienced a brief but bloody
communist dictatorship and counter-revolution in 1919, followed by a
25-year regency under Admiral Miklos Horthy.  Although Hungary
fought in most of World War II as a German ally, following an
unsuccessful attempt to switch sides on October 15, 1944, it fell under
German military occupation until the end of the war.  In January 1945, a
provisional government concluded an armistice with the Soviet Union.
It also established the Allied Control Commission, under which Soviet,
American, and British representatives held complete sovereignty over
the country.  The Commission's chairman was a member of Stalin's
inner circle and exercised absolute control.
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Communist Takeover
The provisional government, dominated by the Hungarian Communist
Party (HCP), was replaced in November 1945 after elections which
gave majority control of a coalition government to the Independent
Smallholders' Party.  The government instituted a radical land reform
and gradually nationalized mines, electric plants, four heavy industries,
and some large banks.
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The communists ultimately undermined the coalition regime through
discrediting leaders of rival parties and by terror, blackmail, and framed
trials.  In elections tainted by fraud in 1947, the leftist bloc gained
control of the government; post-war cooperation between the U.S.S.R.
and the West collapsed as the Cold War began.  With Soviet support,
Moscow-trained Matyas Rakosi began to establish a communist
dictatorship.  By February 1949, all opposition parties had been forced
to merge with the HCP to form the Hungarian Workers' Party.  In
1949, the communists held a single-list election and adopted a Soviet-
style constitution which created the Hungarian People's Republic.
Rakosi became Prime Minister in 1952.
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Between 1948 and 1953, the Hungarian economy was reorganized
according to the Soviet model.  In 1949, the country joined the Council
for Mutual Economic Assistance (CEMA)--a Soviet-bloc economic
organization.  All private industrial firms with more than 10 employees
were nationalized.  Freedom of the press, religion, and assembly were
strictly curtailed; the head of the Roman Catholic Church, Cardinal
Jozsef Mindszenty, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
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But the forced industrialization and land collectivization soon led to
serious economic difficulties, which reached crisis proportions by mid-
1953, the year Stalin died.  The new Soviet leaders blamed Rakosi for
Hungary's economic situation and began a more flexible policy in
Eastern Europe called the "New Course."  Imre Nagy replaced Rakosi
as prime minister in 1953 and repudiated much of Rakosi's economic
program of forced collectivization and heavy industry. He also ended
political purges and freed thousands of political prisoners.
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However, the economic situation continued to deteriorate, and Rakosi
succeeded in disrupting the reforms and in forcing Nagy from power in
1955 for "right-wing revisionism."  Hungary joined the Soviet-led
Warsaw Pact Treaty Organization the same year.  Rakosi's attempt to
restore Stalinist orthodoxy then foundered as increasing opposition
developed within the party and among students and other organizations
after Khrushchev's 1956 denunciation of Stalin.  Fearing revolution,
Moscow replaced Rakosi with his deputy, Erno Gero, in order to
contain growing ideological and political ferment.
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1956 Revolution
Pressure for change reached a climax on October 23, 1956, when the
security forces fired on Budapest students marching in support of
Poland's confrontation with the Soviet Union. The ensuing battle
quickly grew into a massive popular uprising.  Gero called on Soviet
troops to restore order on October 24.  Fighting did not abate until the
Central Committee named Imre Nagy as prime minister on October 25,
and the next day Janos Kadar replaced Gero as party first secretary.
Nagy dissolved the state security police, abolished the one-party
system, promised free elections, and negotiated with the U.S.S.R to
withdraw its troops.
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Faced with reports of new Soviet troops pouring into Hungary despite
Soviet Ambassador Andropov's assurances to the contrary, on
November 1, Nagy announced Hungary's neutrality and withdrawal
from the Warsaw Pact.  He appealed to the United Nations and the
Western powers for protection of its neutrality.  Preoccupied with the
Suez Crisis, the UN and the West failed to respond.  The Soviet Union
launched a massive military attack on Hungary on November 3.  Some
200,000 Hungarians fled to the West.  Nagy and his colleagues took
refuge in the Yugoslav Embassy.
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Janos Kadar, after delivering an impassioned radio address on
November 1 in support of "our glorious revolution" and vowing to fight
the Russians with his bare hands if they attacked Hungary, defected
from the Nagy cabinet; he fled to the Soviet Union and on November 4
announced formation of a new government.  He returned to Budapest
and, with Soviet support, carried out severe reprisals; thousands of
people were executed or imprisoned.  Despite a guarantee of safe
conduct, Nagy was arrested and deported to Romania.  In June 1958,
the government announced that Nagy and other former officials had
been executed.
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Reform Under Kadar
In the early 1960s, Kadar announced a new policy under the motto of
"He who is not against us is with us."  He declared a general amnesty,
gradually curbed some of the excesses of the secret police, and
introduced a relatively liberal cultural and economic course aimed at
overcoming the post-1956 hostility toward him and his regime.  In
1966, the Central Committee approved the "New Economic
Mechanism," through which it sought to overcome the inefficiencies of
central planning, to increase productivity, to make Hungary more
competitive in world markets, and to create prosperity to ensure political
stability.  However, the reform was not as comprehensive as planned,
and basic flaws of central planning continued to stagnate economic
growth.
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Over the next two decades of relative domestic quiet, Kadar's
government responded to pressure for political and economic reform
and to counter-pressures from reform opponents.  By the early 1980s, it
had achieved some lasting economic reforms and limited political
liberalization and pursued a foreign policy which encouraged more trade
with the West.  Nevertheless, the New Economic Mechanism led to
foreign debt in pursuit of economic stimuli for unprofitable industries.
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Transition to Democracy
Hungary's transition to a Western-style parliamentary democracy was
the first and the smoothest among the former Soviet bloc, inspired by a
nationalism that long had encouraged Hungarians to control their own
destiny.  By 1987,  activists within the party and bureaucracy and
Budapest-based intellectuals were increasing pressure for change.
Some of these became reform socialists.  Others began movements
which were to develop into parties.  Young liberals formed the
Federation of Young Democrats (FIDESZ); a core from the so-called
Democratic Opposition formed the Association of Free Democrats
(SZDSZ); and the neopopulist national opposition established the
Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF).  Civic activism intensified to a
level not seen since the 1956 revolution.  In 1988, Kadar was replaced
as prime minister, and Reform Socialist leader Imre Pozsgay was
admitted to the Politburo.  That same year, the parliament adopted a
"democracy package," which included trade union pluralism; freedom of
press, association, and assembly; a new electoral law; and a radical
revision of the constitution, among others.
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A Central Committee plenum in February 1989 endorsed in principle the
multiparty political system and the characterization of the October 1956
revolution as a "popular uprising," in the words of Pozsgay, whose
reform movement had been gathering strength as communist party
membership declined dramatically.  Kadar's major political rivals then
cooperated to move the country gradually to democracy.  The Soviet
Union reduced its involvement by signing an agreement in April 1989 to
withdraw Soviet forces by June 1991.  National unity culminated in
June 1989 as the country reburied Imre Nagy, his associates, and,
symbolically, all other victims of the 1956 revolution.  A roundtable,
made up of representatives of the new parties and some recreated old
parties (such as the Smallholders and Social Democrats), the communist
party, and different social groups, met in the summer and fall of 1989 to
discuss major changes to the Hungarian constitution and the steps in the
transition to a fully free and democratic country.  In October 1989, the
communist party convened its last congress, which ended with a
substantial victory for the party's reform faction and a change in name to
the Hungarian Socialist Party.
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In a historic session on October 16-20, 1989, the parliament adopted
legislation providing for multiparty parliamentary elections and a direct
presidential election.  The parliament aimed to transform Hungary from
a people's republic into the Republic of Hungary, to protect  human and
civil rights, and to ensure separation of powers among the judicial,
executive, and legislative branches of government.  It asserted the
"values of bourgeois democracy and democratic socialism" and gave
equal status to public and private property as a prerequisite for moving
toward a market economy.
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Principal Government Officials
President--Arpad Goncz
Prime Minister--Jozsef Antall (MDF)
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Geza Jeszenszky (MDF)
Ambassador to the United States--Pal Tar
Ambassador to the United Nations--Andre Erdos
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The Hungarian embassy is located at 3910 Shoemaker St. NW,
Washington, DC 20008.
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POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Hungary's first free, multiparty elections in more than 40 years were a
milestone in the move toward a parliamentary democracy.  In 1990, the
Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) won 43% of the vote to 24% for
the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ).  As a result, the MDF leader,
Jozsef Antall, became prime minister and formed a center-right coalition
government--with the Independent Smallholders' Party (12%) and the
Christian Democratic People's Party (6%)--to command a 60% majority
in the parliament.  In addition to a small number of independents, the
other parties represented in the parliament were the HSP, who gained
only 8% despite their reformist credentials, and the Young Democrats
(FIDESZ), who received 6%.
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The Antall coalition government has achieved a reasonably well-
functioning parliamentary democracy and is laying the foundation for a
free market economy.  The non-communist government formed by
Prime Minister Jozsef Antall in May 1990 has made considerable
progress toward transformation of the Hungarian economic system.  Its
stated objective is a "social market" system, in which the market
mechanism would be the basic guide of economic activity and the state
would provide an extensive safety net for the needy.
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The prime minister selects the ministers in his cabinet.  Under a checks-
and-balances system, each cabinet nominee appears  before four
parliamentary committees in open hearings.  The unicameral Hungarian
National Assembly is the highest organ of state authority and initiates
and approves legislation sponsored by the Prime Minister.  A 15-
member constitutional court has power to challenge legislation on
grounds of unconstitutionality.
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As the 1994 elections approach, there has been a growing sense of
disillusionment and frustration among the populace, especially
pensioners, the unemployed, and families seriously affected by inflation
and the other costs of the transition to a free-market economy.
Disenchantment with parliamentary politics has grown, due to the
contentious nature of partisan disputes, and voter participation has been
low in a number of by-elections since 1990.  The perceived gulf
between the voters and political parties has not led to massive social
disturbances, with the one exception of a taxi drivers' civil disobedience
action, which paralyzed the county for 3 days in October 1990.
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ECONOMY
Before World War II, Hungary had a predominantly agricultural
economy.  Following the standard Stalinist pattern, industrialization was
forced on Hungary in the post-war period.  Under communism, most
economic activity was conducted by state-owned enterprises or
cooperatives, although various small businesses were allowed to
operate.  Agriculture was collectivized, undoing the immediate post-war
division of large estates among small peasant owners.  Today, farms are
being privatized, both to small holders and to agribusiness firms.
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In 1950, more than 50% of the labor force worked on the land; now,
slightly less than 20% engages in agricultural activity.  Recently,
Hungarian agriculture has been generally self-sufficient and an
important source of export earnings.  Both the agricultural and industrial
sectors have suffered from a lack of investment since the late 1970s.  In
the 1970s and 1980s, Hungary accumulated a huge foreign debt, largely
to finance subsidies to consumers and to unprofitable state enterprises.
Net foreign debt rose from about $1 billion in 1972 to about $13 billion
in 1992, giving Hungary the highest per capita debt in Central Europe.
Its repayment record, however, has been excellent.
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Changes introduced by the communist regime, particularly during its
last 2 years, eased the transformation to a market economy.  When
Antall took office, 150 state enterprises already had been privatized
under a "business transformation" law.  Private firms had rights equal to
those of state enterprises under a law on corporate association.  A joint
venture law was in place, and foreign companies had begun to invest in
Hungary.  A little-used bankruptcy law was in place.  A value-added tax
and a progressive personal income tax had largely replaced the former
arbitrary levies on profits of state enterprises.  The 1990 budget passed
by the communist parliament had slashed the annual deficit by cutting
subsidies while raising charges on fuel, cigarettes, and liquor.
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The Antall Government has encouraged the founding of private
businesses and moved forward on privatization of state enterprises,
putting most state assets into the hands of a new State Property Agency.
Part or all of 429 companies have achieved privatization, perhaps one-
fifth of the state enterprises designated for sale to private owners. This
has addressed the abuse of the business transformation act by some state
enterprise managers who had used it for personal gain.  Also, open
bidding now is required for any acquisition of a state enterprise.  By the
end of 1992, more than 60,000 private businesses were operating; 40%
were active in construction.  In 1992, more than 12,000 foreign firms
were doing business in Hungary.
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The 1992 federal budget ended with a deficit of 8% of GDP, stalling a
3-year program with the IMF, as revenue shortfalls exceeded budget
cuts.  The government cut all consumer subsidies and reduced the real
value of subsidies to the remaining state enterprises.  Subsidy cuts led to
increases in the price of medicines, bakery products, sugar, rice,
railroad and bus transportation, postage, telephone calls, water and
sewerage services, electricity, coal, and gas.  Charges on concessionary
home mortgages were increased substantially.
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The deregulation of prices begun under the communist regime has been
extended by the Antall Government; more than 95% of prices have been
decontrolled.  The reform effort incurs painful, immediate costs to
achieve more productive use of economic resources and higher income
in the longer term.  Phasing out uneconomic activities and reducing
exports to the former Soviet bloc helped lead to a decline in the gross
domestic product (GDP) in 1992 that amounted, in real terms, to 4%.
Unemployment rose from 1.7% of the labor force in 1990 to an average
of about 13% in 1992.
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Foreign Trade
Hungary has shifted much of its trade from its former Soviet-bloc
partners to Western countries.  In 1992, 75% of Hungary's trade was
with Western countries; Germany now is Hungary's principal trading
partner, providing more trade with Hungary than with all of the former
Soviet republics.  Trade with Russia has been further reduced due to
declining oil exports to Hungary.  Trade with the United States is
increasing; total trade has risen to about $600 million in 1992.  The
U.S. has extended to Hungary most-favored-nation status, Generalized
System of Preferences concessions, Overseas Private Investment
Corporation insurance, and access to the Export-Import Bank.  The two
countries have concluded a bilateral investment treaty and are negotiating
a business and economic treaty.  In 1992, more than 400 U.S. firms
were operating in Hungary, an increase of 34% from 1991.
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Foreign concerns have invested over $5 billion in Hungary--more than
half of all foreign investment in Central and Eastern Europe.  The
United States is the largest investor, with about $2 billion invested by
mid-1992, followed by Germany and Austria.  Foreign capital is
attracted by low wages for highly skilled workers, generous tax
incentives, favorable geographic location, fertile land, and knowledge of
the market of the former Soviet bloc.
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Any Hungarian person or enterprise may engage in international trade
now, and about 90% of imports have been freed from license
restrictions.
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FOREIGN RELATIONS
Except for the short-lived neutrality declared by Imre Nagy in
November 1956, Hungary's foreign policy generally followed the
Soviet lead from 1947-89.  During 1948-49, Hungary maintained
treaties of friendship, cooperation, and mutual assistance with the
former Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria.
In 1950, it concluded a friendship treaty with the then-German
Democratic Republic.  It was one of the founding members of the
Soviet-led Warsaw Pact and CEMA, and it was the first Central
European country to withdraw from those organizations, both now
defunct.
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Along with other European associates of the former Soviet Union,
Hungary has been participating in East-West cooperation agreed upon at
the 1975 Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
(CSCE).  It has signed all of the CSCE follow-on documents since
1989.  Hungary's record of implementing CSCE Helsinki Final Act
provisions, including those on reunification of divided families, remains
among the best in Eastern Europe.  Relations with Romania, however,
have remained strained in recent years over charges of human rights
violations against the ethnic Hungarian minority in Transylvania.
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Hungary has been a member of the United Nations since December
1955 and is a member of the 1992-93 Security Council.  It is committed
to strengthening ties with the West and with Japan and the newly
industrialized countries of Asia.  Prime Minister Antall has expressed
strong interest in joining the European Community and NATO.  Early in
his Administration, he visited Austria, France, Germany, Israel, Italy,
Japan, United Kingdom, and the United States.
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DEFENSE
Hungary spearheaded the move leading to the dissolution of the Warsaw
Pact Treaty Organization by its 17% reduction  of defense expenditures
and the 30% reduction of its armed forces between 1989 and 1992 to a
level of 100,000.  This latter figure includes 26,000 civilian employees
of the Hungarian Home Defense Forces (HHDF).  Renamed the
Hungarian Home Defense Forces, (Honvedseg), the military has
undergone major restructuring in organization, orientation, and training.
The Home Defense Force includes the army, which is the largest,
followed by the air force and a small naval contingent that patrols the
Danube River.  Young men become eligible at age 18 for 12 months of
military service; 16-month alternate service in non-military institutions is
available for conscientious objectors.
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On March 11, 1989, Hungary and the Soviet Union concluded an
agreement under which the latter withdrew all 65,000 troops from the
country in June 1991 and asked that Hungary compensate the former
Soviets for the military bases they relinquished.  Hungarian counter-
claims charge that some of the bases were built without permission and
do not conform to Hungarian building codes.  Toxic wastes and other
Soviet materials left behind at these bases constitute a serious
environmental hazard.  The zero option of no claim for compensation by
either side was finally worked out.  As compensation for a portion of
state debt to Hungary, both sides, Hungary and Russia, agreed that a
sum of up to $800 million in military equipment would be made
available to Hungary.  This will apparently result in Hungary's
acquisition of MIG-29 aircraft.
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U.S.-HUNGARIAN RELATIONS
Relations between the United States and Hungary following World War
II were affected  by Soviet armed forces' occupation of Hungary.  Full
diplomatic relations were established at the legation level on October 12,
1945, before the signing of the Hungarian peace treaty on February 10,
1947.
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After the communist takeover in 1947-48, relations with Hungary were
increasingly strained by the nationalization of U.S.-owned property,
unacceptable treatment of U.S. citizens and personnel, and restrictions
on the operations of the American Legation.  During the difficult period
following the Hungarian national uprising in 1956, relations continued
to erode.
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Embassies were opened in 1966, and bilateral relations slowly but
steadily improved after ambassadors were exchanged.  In 1972, a
consular convention was concluded to provide consular protection to
U.S. citizens in Hungary.  In 1973, a bilateral agreement was reached
under which Hungary settled the nationalization claims of American
citizens.  In 1976, Hungary paid its debt arrearages to the U.S.
Government in full, including those dating back to the post-World War I
era.  In 1977, an agreement on exchanges and cooperation in culture,
education, science, and technology was concluded.
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In January 1978, the United States returned to the people of Hungary
the historic Crown of Saint Stephen and other Hungarian coronation
regalia that had been safeguarded by the United States since the end of
World War II.  Symbolically and actually, this event marked the
beginning of excellent relationships between the two countries.  A 1978
bilateral trade agreement included extension of most-favored-nation
status.  Cultural and scientific exchanges were expanded. Major U.S.
official cultural exhibits have been well received. In 1989, the United
States and Hungary renewed a civil air agreement providing for direct
service between New York and Budapest.
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Then, as Hungary began to pull away from the links forged by Soviet
communism, the United States offered assistance and expertise to help
establish a constitution, a democratic political system, and a plan for a
free market economy.  Between 1989 and 1992, the Support for East
European Democracy (SEED) Act, provided more than $121 million for
economic restructuring and private sector development.  The Hungarian-
American Enterprise Fund, capitalized at $65 million, offers loans,
equity capital, and technical assistance to promote private sector
development Hungarian-American joint ventures.
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In 1991 the U.S. and Hungary initiated a security assistance relationship
which is now active in both the  International Military Education and
Training Program ($700,000) and the $13 million Foreign Military
Sales Program.
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Additional U.S. assistance includes a $10 million energy sector grant
and other technical assistance.  Grants to the International Executive
Service Corps, MBA Enterprise Corps (composed of recent recipients
of Master of Business Administration degrees), and the Center for
International Private Enterprise helps these non-governmental
organizations provide expertise directly to private enterprises.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Environmental Law
Institute assist the Ministry of Environment and the Hungarian
Parliament in drafting the country's first environmental legislation.
Other issues receiving attention include health care, employment,
housing, education, and small business development.  About 140 Peace
Corps volunteers throughout Hungary  work to improve English
language training and environmental awareness.
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Principal U.S. Officials
Ambassador--Charles H. Thomas
Deputy Chief of Mission--Richard L. Baltimore III
Press/Cultural Affairs--Donna Culpepper
Political--William Siefkin
Economic--Charles English
Commercial--Gary Gallagher
Science Attache--Lawrence Cohen
Administrative--Martha L. Campbell
Consul--Arnold Haskin Campbell
Defense Attache--Col. John Concannon
AID Director --David Cowles
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The U.S. embassy in Hungary is located at Szabadsag Ter 12, Budapest
(tel. [phone]).  (###)
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Travel Notes
Customs:  No visa is required for visits up to 90 days.  Visitors are
encouraged to register at the US Embassy.  There is no limit on the
amount of hard currency that may be brought into Hungary.  However,
travelers are required to declare upon entry any foreign funds in their
possession to facilitate re-export of the funds upon departure.
Immunization requirements are generally those of Western Europe.
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Climate and clothing:  Budapest's climate is temperate, with seasons of
almost equal length.
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Health:  Services and medications are widely available and generally
adequate, although of a different standard from that in the United States.
Tapwater is potable.  Raw fruits and vegetables are safe to eat.  Avoid
unpasteurized milk.
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Telecommunications:  Telephone and telegraph services are readily
available at standard international rates. Hungary is 6 hours ahead of
Eastern Standard Time.
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Tourist attractions:  Budapest is the country's leading tourist attraction,
especially for its museums, historic houses and buildings of the "Var"
(Royal Castle) area overlooking the Danube River.  Roman ruins are
located at Aquincum in suburban Budapest and other parts of
Transdanubia (Pannonia).  The remains of the Renaissance palace of the
Hungarian kings at Visegrad on the Danube bend are of great historic
and cultural interest.  Many Europeans visit Lake Balaton, Central
Europe's largest lake, for fishing, swimming and sunbathing.  Thermal
baths are located throughout the country.  The Hungarian Puszta or
"Great Plain" in the east is interesting for its wildlife.
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National holidays:  Businesses and the US Embassy may be closed on
the following Hungarian holidays:
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New Year's Day--January 1
Commemoration of 1848-49 Revolution--March 15
Easter Monday--date varies
Labor Day--May 1
National Day (St. Stephen's Day--August 20
Commemoration of 1956 Revolution--October 23
Christmas Day--December 25
Boxing Day--December 26  (###)
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Further Information
American University.  Area Handbook for Hungary.  Available from the
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402:
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For information on economic trends, commercial development,
production, trade regulations, and tariff rates, contact the International
Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington,
DC, 20230, or any Commerce Department district office.  For
information on business opportunities, call the Commerce Department's
East European Business Information Center at [phone]. (###)
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Published by the United States Department of State -- Bureau of Public
Affairs -- Office of Public Communication -- Washington, DC -- July
1993 -- Editor:  Pete Knecht
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Department of State Publication 7915
Background Notes Series -- This material is in the public domain and
may be reprinted without permission; citation of this source is
appreciated.
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For sale by the Superindendent of Documents, US Government Printing
Office, Washington , DC 20402. (###)
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