Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Hungary
local long form: none
local short form: Magyarorszag
etymology: the Byzantine Greeks refered to the tribes that arrived on the steppes of Eastern Europe in the 9th century as the "Oungroi," a name that was later Latinized to "Ungri" and which became "Hungari"; the name originally meant an "[alliance of] ten tribes"; the Hungarian name "Magyarorszag" means "Country of the Magyars"; the term may derive from the most prominent of the Hungarian tribes, the Megyer

Government type:
parliamentary republic

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 cities with county rights (megyei jogu varosok, singular - megyei jogu 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
cities with county rights: 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 (1083); note - commemorates his cannonization and the transfer of his remains to Buda (now Budapest) in 1083

Constitution:
history: previous 1949 (heavily amended in 1989 following the collapse of communism); latest approved 18 April 2011, signed 25 April 2011, effective 1 January 2012
amendments: proposed by the president of the republic, by the government, by parliamentary committee, or by Parliament members; passage requires two-thirds majority vote of Parliament members and approval by the president; amended several times, last in 2016 (2017)

Legal system:
civil legal system influenced by the German model

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

Citizenship:
citizenship by birth: no
citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Hungary
dual citizenship recognized: yes
residency requirement for naturalization: 8 years

Suffrage:
18 years of age, 16 if married and marriage registered in Hungary; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]

Executive branch:
chief of state: Janos ADER (since 10 May 2012)
head of government: Prime Minister Viktor ORBAN (since 29 May 2010)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers proposed by the prime minister and appointed by the president
elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by the National Assembly with two-thirds majority vote in first round or simple majority vote in second round for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 13 March 2017 (next to be held by spring 2022); prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president
election results: Janos ADER (Fidesz) reelected president; National Assembly vote - 131 to 39; Viktor ORBAN (Fidesz) reelected prime minister; National Assembly vote - 130 to 57

Legislative branch:
description: unicameral National Assembly or Orszaggyules (199 seats; 106 members directly elected in single-member constituencies by simple majority vote and 93 members directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by party list proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)
elections: last held on 6 April 2014 (next to be held on 8 April 2018)
election results: percent of vote by party - Fidesz-KDNP 66.8%, Unity 19.1%, Jobbik 11.6%, LMP 2.5%; seats by party - Fidesz-KDNP 133, Unity 38, Jobbik 23, LMP 5

Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Curia or Supreme Judicial Court (consists of the president, vice president, department heads, and approximately 91 judges and is organized into civil, criminal, and administrative-labor departments; Constitutional Court (consists of 15 judges including the court president and vice president)
judge selection and term of office: Curia president elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president of the republic; other Curia judges appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the National Judicial Council, a separate 15-member administrative body; judge tenure based on interim evaluations until normal retirement age; Constitutional Court judges, including the president of the court elected by the National Assembly; court vice president elected by the court itself; members serve 12-year terms with mandatory retirement at age 70
subordinate courts: 5 regional courts of appeal; 19 regional or county courts (including Budapest Metropolitan Court); 20 administrative-labor courts; 111 district or local courts

Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic People's Party or KDNP [Zsolt SEMJEN] Democratic Coalition or DK [Ferenc GYURCSANY] Dialogue for Hungary or PM [Gergely KARACSONY, Timea SZABO] Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance or Fidesz [Viktor ORBAN] Hungarian Liberal Party or MLP [Gabor FODOR] Hungarian Socialist Party or MSZP [Gyula MOLNAR] Movement for a Better Hungary or Jobbik [Gabor VONA] Politics Can Be Different or LMP [Akos HADHAZI, Bernadett SZEL] Together 2014 or Egyutt or E14 [Peter JUHASZ] Momentum (Momentum Mozgalom) [Andras FEKETE-GYOR] Unity (electoral coalition of MSZP, E14, DK, PM, MLP)

Political pressure groups and leaders:
Civil Osszefogas Forum ("Civil Unity Forum," nominally independent organization that serves as the steering committee for the pro-government mass organization Bekemenet (Peace March), supporting ORBAN government's policies; increasingly inactive in Orban’s second consecutive term from 2014) 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) MigSzol (Migrant Solidarity Group of Hungary) (independent advocacy group on migration crisis) MostMi ("Now Us") [Bori TAKACS](Facebook group that was a major participant at anti-government demonstrations in late 2014-early 2015; pro-Europe, anti-establishment movement that blames Fidesz for the state of the country but also blames all established political parties for perceived political and economic failures since the fall of communism) Okotars (empowerment of civil society in Hungary)
other: Energy Club (Energia Klub) Greenpeace Hungary (Greenpeace Magyarorszag)

International organization participation:
Australia Group, BIS, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), 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 (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Laszlo SZABO (since 8 September 2017)
chancery: 3910 Shoemaker Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 362-6730
FAX: [1] (202) 966-8135
consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, New York
consulate(s): Boston

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d’Affaires David KOSTELANCIK (since 20 January 2017)
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) 475-4248

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); national colors: red, white, green

National anthem:
name: "Himnusz" (Hymn)
lyrics/music: Ferenc KOLCSEY/Ferenc ERKEL
note: adopted 1844