Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Hungary
local long form: none
local short form: Magyarorszag

Government type:
parliamentary democracy

Capital:
name: Budapest
geographic coordinates: 47 30 N, 19 05 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:
19 counties (megyek, singular - megye), 23 urban counties (singular - megyei varos), and 1 capital city (fovaros)
counties: Bacs-Kiskun, Baranya, Bekes, Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Csongrad, Fejer, Gyor-Moson-Sopron, Hajdu-Bihar, Heves, Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok, Komarom-Esztergom, Nograd, Pest, Somogy, Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg, Tolna, Vas, Veszprem, Zala
urban counties: Bekescsaba, Debrecen, Dunaujvaros, Eger, Erd, Gyor, Hodmezovasarhely, Kaposvar, Kecskemet, Miskolc, Nagykanizsa, Nyiregyhaza, Pecs, Salgotarjan, Sopron, Szeged, Szekesfehervar, Szekszard, Szolnok, Szombathely, Tatabanya, Veszprem, Zalaegerszeg
capital city: Budapest

Independence:
16 November 1918 (republic proclaimed); notable earlier dates: 25 December 1000 (crowning of King STEPHEN I, traditional founding date); 30 March 1867 (Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy established)

National holiday:
Saint Stephen's Day, 20 August; note - commemorates the date when his remains were transferred to Buda (now Budapest)

Constitution:
25 April 2011, effective 1 January 2012

Legal system:
civil legal system influenced by the German model

International law organization participation:
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Pal SCHMITT (since 6 August 2010)
head of government: Prime Minister Viktor ORBAN (since 29 May 2010)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president; other ministers proposed by the prime minister and appointed and relieved of their duties by the president
elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 29 June 2010 (next to be held by June 2015); prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president; election last held 29 May 2010
election results: Pal SCHMITT elected president; National Assembly vote - Pal SCHMITT 263, Andras BALOGH 58; Viktor ORBAN was elected prime minister; National Assembly vote - 261 to 107
note: to be elected, the president must win two-thirds of legislative vote in the first round or a simple majority in the second round

Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly or Orszaggyules (386 seats; members elected by popular vote under a system of proportional and direct representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held on 11 and 25 April 2010 (next to be held in April 2014)
election results: percent of vote by party (5% or more of the vote required for parliamentary representation in the first round) - Fidesz 52.7%, MSzP 19.3%, Jobbik 16.7%, LMP 7.5%; seats by party - Fidesz 263, MSzP 59, Jobbik 47, LMP 16, independent 1
note: current composition - seats by party - Fidesz-KDNP 263, MSzP 48, Jobbik 46, LMP 15, Democratic Coalition 10, independent 4

Judicial branch:
Constitutional Court (judges are elected by the National Assembly for nine-year terms); Curia (highest court; head of Curia elected by National Assembly, the other judges elected by the president on recommendation of the head of the National Office of the Courts, a separate administrative body); Regional Courts of Appeal (judges are appointed by the president)

Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic People's Party or KDNP [Zsolt SEMJEN]; Democratic Coalition [Ferenc GYURCSANY]; Hungarian Civic Alliance or Fidesz [Viktor ORBAN, chairman]; Hungarian Socialist Party or MSzP [Attila MESTERHAZY]; Movement for a Better Hungary or Jobbik [Gabor VONA]; Politics Can Be Different or LMP [13-member leadership]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
Air Work Group (works to reduce air pollution in towns and cities); Danube Circle (protests the building of the Gabchikovo-Nagymaros dam); Fourth Republic (Negyedik Koztarsasag) or 4K! (anti-Orban, pro-democracy Facebook movement emerged from a Facebook group, One Million for Freedom of the Press, and plans to form a leftist political party); Green Future (protests the impact of lead contamination of local factory on health of the people); Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (Tarsasag a Szabadsagjogokert) or TASZ (freedom of expression, information privacy); Hungarian Helsinki Committee (asylum seekers' rights, human rights in law enforcement and the judicial system); environmentalists: Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (Magyar Madartani Egyesulet) or MME; Green Alternative (Zold Alternativa)

International organization participation:
Australia Group, BIS, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Gyorgy SZAPARY
chancery: 3910 Shoemaker Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 362-6730
FAX: [1] (202) 966-8135
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Eleni Tsakopoulos KOUNALAKIS
embassy: Szabadsag ter 12, H-1054 Budapest
mailing address: pouch: American Embassy Budapest, 5270 Budapest Place, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5270
telephone: [36] (1) 475-4400
FAX: [36] (1) 475-4764

Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and green; the flag dates to the national movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, and fuses the medieval colors of the Hungarian coat of arms with the revolutionary tricolor form of the French flag; folklore attributes virtues to the colors: red for strength, white for faithfulness, and green for hope; alternatively, the red is seen as being for the blood spilled in defense of the land, white for freedom, and green for the pasturelands that make up so much of the country

National symbol(s):
Holy Crown of Hungary (Crown of Saint Stephen); turul (falcon)

National anthem:
name: "Himnusz" (Hymn)