Hungary is quite a small country situated in the Carpathian
Basin in Central Europe. On its 93 000 square kilometres
territory around 10 million inhabitants live. The capital
is Budapest with a population of 2 million people. Most
of Hungary's territory consists of plain area no more
than 200 m above sea level. The highest peak is Kékestetõ
(1015m) in Mátra Mountains, the lowest point (78m)
is near Szeged.
Hungary is divided by river Danube. The eastern part is
the Great Plain and Northern Hungary while the west side
of the river Danube, the so called Transdanubia is much
more hilly. In Transdanubia lies lake Balaton, the biggest
hot-water lake in all Europe, which is a popular destination
of tourism. Its lengths is 77 km and the average width
is 5 km.
Beside the 417 km long Hungarian section of the river
Danube, the second biggest river is Tisza running on the
eastern part of the country. Both rivers are navigable.
Another lake, Velence should be mentioned that is also
a target of tourists, but mainly for natives.
Hungary is rich in mineral and medicinal waters. Today
there are about 500 natural springs, so you can find and
visit many thermal bathes in Budapest and in other towns
(Bük, Debrecen, Eger, Gyula, Hajdúszoboszló,
Hévíz, Sárvár etc.) as well.
Regarding
the climate in wintertime the temperatures generally
ranges between -10 and +3 Celsius degree, while in the
summer the lowest is +25 and the highest temperature
is +35 or sometimes - like in the last few years - near
+40 degrees mainly in July and August.
Hungary belongs to the Central European Time zone which
is one hour ahead of Greenwhich Meridian Time.
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