Hungary was part of the polyglot Austro-Hungarian Empire, which collapsed during World War I. The country fell under Communist rule following World War II. In 1956, a revolt and announced withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact were met with a massive military intervention by Moscow. Under the leadership of Janos KADAR in 1968, Hungary began liberalizing its economy, introducing so-called "goulash Communism." Hungary held its first multiparty elections in 1990 and initiated a free market economy. It joined NATO in 1999 and is scheduled to accede to the EU along with nine other states on 1 May 2004. In an April 2003 referendum, 84 percent voted in favor of joining the EU.

bauxite, coal, natural gas, fertile soils, arable land

arable land: 52.2%
other: 45.34% (1998 est.)
permanent crops: 2.46%

10,045,407 (July 2003 est.)

Hungarian 89.9%, Roma 4%, German 2.6%, Serb 2%, Slovak 0.8%, Romanian 0.7%

Roman Catholic 67.5%, Calvinist 20%, Lutheran 5%, atheist and other 7.5%

Hungarian 98.2%, other 1.8%

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99.4%
male: 99.5%
female: 99.3% (2003 est.)

Budapest

parliamentary democracy

1001 (unification by King Stephen I)

Saint Stephen's Day, 20 August