Hungary - Government
Based on the etymolgy of Hungary, it was 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. The Government system in this country is the parliamentary republic type and the different Administrative divisions includes:
19 counties (megyek, singular - megye), 25 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-Csanad, 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: Baja, Bekescsaba, Debrecen, Dunaujvaros, Eger, Erd, Esztergom, Gyor, Hodmezovasarhely, Kaposvar, Kecskemet, Miskolc, Nagykanizsa, Nyiregyhaza, Pecs, Salgotarjan, Sopron, Szeged, Szekesfehervar, Szekszard, Szolnok, Szombathely, Tatabanya, Veszprem, Zalaegerszeg
capital city: Budapest
National symbols
Holy Crown of Hungary (Crown of Saint Stephen); national colors: red, white, green.
The flag
The National flag of Hungary has 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.
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The National Anthem
| Title | "Himnusz" (Hymn) |
|---|---|
| Lyric/music | Ferenc KOLCSEY/Ferenc ERKEL |
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note: adopted 1844
More about the government of Hungary
| Date of 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 canonization and the transfer of his remains to Buda (now Budapest) in 1083 |
| Legal system | civil legal system influenced by the German model |
| International law organization participation | accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICC jurisdiction |
| 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 2018 |
| 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 |
| Executive Branch | |
| Chief of state | President Tamas SULYOK (since 5 March 2024) |
| 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 26 February 2024 (next to be held in spring 2029); prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president; election last held on 3 April 2022 (next to be held in April or May 2027) |
| Election results | 2024: Tamas SULYOK elected president; National Assembly vote - 134 to 5 2022: Katalin NOVAK (Fidesz) elected president; National Assembly vote - 137 to 51 |
| 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, using the D’Hondt method; members serve 4-year terms) |
| Elections | Last held on 3 April 2022 (next to be held in April 2026) |
| Election results | Percent of vote by party list - Fidesz-KDNP 54.1%, United for Hungary 34.5%, Mi Hazank 5.9%, other 5.5%; seats by party list - Fidesz-KDNP 135, United for Hungary 57, Mi Hazank 6, independent 1; composition - men 170, women 29, percentage women 14.6% |
| Judicial branch | |
| Highest court(s) | Curia or Supreme Judicial Court (consists of the president, vice president, department heads, and has a maximum of 113 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 at age 62; 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 62 |
| 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 |
| Diplomatic representation in the US | |
| Chief of mission | Ambassador Szabolcs Ferenc TAKÁCS (since 23 December 2020) |
| Chancery | 1500 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20005 |
| Telephone | [1] (202) 362-6730 |
| FAX | [1] (202) 966-8135 |
| Email address and website | [email protected] https://washington.mfa.gov.hu/eng |
| Consulate(s) general | Chicago, Los Angeles, New York |
| Consulate(s) | Houston, Miami |
| Diplomatic representation from the US | |
| Chief of mission | Ambassador David PRESSMAN (since 14 September 2022) |
| Embassy | Szabadsag ter 12, H-1054 Budapest |
| Mailing address | 5270 Budapest Place, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5270 |
| Telephone | [36] (1) 475-4400 |
| FAX | [36] (1) 475-4248 |
| Email address and website | [email protected] https://hu.usembassy.gov/ |
| National heritage | |
| Total World Heritage Sites | 8 (7 cultural, 1 natural) |
| Selected World Heritage Site locales | Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, and Andrássy Avenue (c); Old Village of Hollókő and its Surroundings (c); Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst (n); Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma and its Natural Environment (c); Hortobágy National Park - the Puszta (c); Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs (Sopianae) (c); Fertö / Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape (c); Tokaj Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape (c) |
Key Political parties and their leaders in Hungary
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International organization participation
All Important Facts about Hungary
Want to know more about Hungary? Check all different factbooks for Hungary below.
