General information

Hungary lies in Central Europe in the Carpathian Basin. The greatest distance from north to south is 268 km, from east to west 528 km.

50% of the country's territory is flatland: the Alföld (Great Plain) that occupies the entire eastern half of the country and the Kisalföld (Small Plain) along the north-western border.

The two most important rivers, the Danube (Hungarian stretch: 417 km) and the Tisza (598 km) flow across the country from north to south. The region between the Danube and Tisza is flat, while the region lying to the west of the Danube, Transdanubia is rolling hilly country with Central Europe's warmest lake, the Balaton at its centre.

A range of mountains stretches diagonally right across the country. To the west of the Danube, the Transdanubian Range is 400-700 metres high, divided into the Keszthely Hills, the Bakony, Vértes, Gerecse, Pilis and Visegrád mountains.

To the east of the Danube, the Northern Range rises to heights of 500-1000 metres, divided into the Börzsöny, Cserhát, Mátra, Bükk, Cserehát and Zemplén mountains. The highest point is the Kékes (1,014 m) in the Mátra.

The Hungarian "puszta" is a favourite tourist destination where the once characteristic animals and ethnographic traditions can be seen in the Hortobágy National Park (Hortobágy) and in the Kiskunság National Park (Bugac, Apajpuszta, Lajosmizse) on the occasion of horse shows.