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BACKGROUND NOTES:  Hungary
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

July 1993
Official Name:  Republic of Hungary

PROFILE

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).

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).

Government
Type:  Parliamentary democracy.  Constitution:  August 20, 1949.
Substantially revised in 1989,  amended in 1990.

Branches:  Executive--Council of Ministers.
Legislative--Hungarian National Assembly (386 members, 4-yr.
term).  Judicial--Supreme Court and Constitutional Court.

Administrative regions:  19 counties plus capital region of
Budapest.

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).

Flag:  Three horizontal stripes--red, white, and green.

Economy
GDP (1992):  $32 billion.  Annual growth rate (1992):  -4%.  Per
capita income (1992):  $3,000.  Inflation rate (1992): 24%.

Natural resources:  Fertile land, bauxite, brown coal.

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.

Industry/construction (40% of 1990 GDP): Machinery, buses, and
other transportation equipment; precision and measuring
equipment; textiles; medical instruments; and pharmaceuticals.

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.

Official exchange rate  (December 1992):  About 83
forints=U.S.$1.


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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

The Hungarian embassy is located at 3910 Shoemaker St. NW,
Washington, DC 20008.


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%.

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.

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.

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.


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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Any Hungarian person or enterprise may engage in international
trade now, and about 90% of imports have been freed from license
restrictions.


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.

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.

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.


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.

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.


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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

The U.S. embassy in Hungary is located at Szabadsag Ter 12,
Budapest (tel. [phone]).


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.

Climate and clothing:  Budapest's climate is temperate, with
seasons of almost equal length.

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.

Telecommunications:  Telephone and telegraph services are readily
available at standard international rates. Hungary is 6 hours
ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

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.

National holidays:  Businesses and the US Embassy may be closed
on the following Hungarian holidays:

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


Further Information
American University.  Area Handbook for Hungary.  Available from
the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402:

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].


Published by the United States Department of State -- Bureau of
Public Affairs -- Office of Public Communication -- Washington,
DC -- July 1993 -- Editor:  Pete Knecht

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.

For sale by the Superindendent of Documents, US Government
Printing Office, Washington , DC 20402.