DISCOVER HUNGARY

Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine.

With an area of 93,028 km², the country is about the size of Portugal, or about the same size as the U.S. state of Indiana.

Hungary has a population of almost 10 million people (in 2015), and the official language is Hungarian.

The largest and the national capital is Budapest (1.8 million). Major cities in Hungary are Debrecen (211,000), the nation's second-largest city and the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region. Miskolc (168,000) is an industrial city in northeastern Hungary. Szeged (168,000) on the banks of the Tisza River is the regional centre of the Southern Great Plain, the city is famous for its University of Szeged. Pécs (156,000) is on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the country's southwest, the city is historically a multi-ethnic city where many cultures have interacted through 2000 years of history.

Timeline

• 895 or 896: Establishing the Hungarian state in the Carpathian Basin.
• 1000: King Saint Stephen established the Christian Hungarian Kingdom. Hungary became part of Western civilization.
• 1222: King András II issued the Golden Bull which was the Hungarian equivalent of England's Magna Carta.  Golden Bull was the first constitution in Continental Europe.
• 1241–1242: During the Mongol invasion the Mongolian forces defeated the army of the Hungarian Kingdom. After the Mongols left Hungary King Béla IV rebuilt the country including Buda castle.
• 1301–1342: The Angevins’ King Charles I of Hungary strengthened the royal power and reformed the system of royal revenues and monopolies. The Hungarian mines produced more than 30 % of the world’s gold and silver production until the Spanish conquest of America.
• 1324–1382: during the reign of Angevins’ King Louis I of Hungary also known as Louis Great Hungary is one of the most powerful kingdoms in Europe.
• 1361: Buda became the capital of Hungary.
• 1456: Triumph of Nándorfehérvár also known as the siege of Belgrade. The Christian forces led by John Hunyadi and Giovanni da Capistrano defeated the Ottoman army led by Mehmed II. The victory stopped the Ottoman advance towards Europe for 70 years. The day of the victory, July 22, has been a memorial day in Hungary ever since.
• 1526: In the Battle of Mohács the Kingdom of Hungary and its allies (Crown of Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire, Duchy of Bavaria, Papal State and the Kingdom of Poland) led by Louis II were defeated by the Ottoman Empire, led by Suleiman the Magnificent. The Ottoman victory led to the partition of Hungary for several centuries between the Ottoman Empire, the Habsburg monarchy, and the Principality of Transylvania.
• 1541: The Janissaries of Suleiman the Magnificent take Buda by ruse, hiding as visitors. Buda became the centre of the Ottoman reign in Hungary.
• 1686: The siege of Buda was fought between the Holy League and the Ottoman Empire, as part of the follow-up campaign in Hungary after the Battle of Vienna. The Holy League retook Buda (modern-day Budapest) after 78 days, ending almost 150 years of Ottoman rule.
• 1699: The Ottomans ceded nearly all of Ottoman Hungary and the new territories were united with the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary.
• 1848–1849: One of the many European Revolutions of 1848 and closely linked to other revolutions in the Habsburg areas. The revolution in the Kingdom of Hungary grew into a war for independence from the Austrian Empire, ruled by the Habsburg dynasty.
• 1867: The dual Monarchy of Austria–Hungary was formed
• 1873: The old capital Buda and Óbuda were officially united with Pest creating the new metropolis of Budapest.
• 1914–1918: Austria–Hungary lost in World War I.
• 1920: Hungary lost 71% of its territory and 66% of its antebellum population.
• 1940: Hungary joined the Axis Powers in World War II.
• 1944–1945: The siege of Budapest orb of Budapest was the 50-day-long encirclement by Soviet and Romanian forces of the Hungarian capital of Budapest, near the end of World War II. The city unconditionally surrendered on 13 February 1945. It was a strategic victory for the Allies in their push towards Berlin.
• 1945: Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, Hungary became a satellite state of the Soviet Union.
• 1956: The Hungarian Revolution between 23 October – 10 November 1956 was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by the government's subordination to the Soviet Union (USSR). Soviet invasion forces crushed the revolution.
• 1989: The end of Communism in Hungary.
• 1990: The first free election in Hungary.
• 1999: Hungary joined NATO.
• 2004: Hungary joined the European Union.