HUNGARYBudapest

2012

• Hungary (in hungarian: Magyarország), is a landlocked country in Central Europe.

•It’s situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to thesouthwest and Austria to the west.

General information

•The offical language is hungarian,which is part of the Uralic language family.

•Hungary has a continental climate, with hot summers with low overall humidity levels but frequent rainshowers and mildly cold snowy winters.

•Our 2 biggest rivers are Tisza and Danube (in the picture), and the most known lake is Balaton.

•Hungary’s population count approximately 10 Million people and Budapest is inhabited by 2 million people.

•The capital and largest city is Budapest, where our school is too.

The forint is the currency of Hungary.

Anthem•Himnusz in english: hymn, this is a musical poetic prayer that serves as the official national anthem of Hungary.•It’s more solemn and dignified tone than many other lively national anthems.•The poem was written by Ferenc Kölcsey in 1823, and was composed by Ferenc Erkel in 1844.

Kölcsey Erkel

The first part of anthem in literal translation:

„O Lord, bless the nation of Hungary

With your grace and bounty

Extend over it your guarding arm

During strife with its enemies

Long torn by ill fate

Bring upon it a time of relief

This nation has suffered for all sins

Of the past and of the future!”

The original script

•The poem bore the subtitle "A magyar nép zivataros századaiból" it means: From the rough centuries of the Hungarian people. It perfectly emphasizing national troubles in the past and in the present too.

•The full meaning of the poem's text is evident only to those people, who knows the Hungarian history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nBo4Df22dc&feature=related

•Traditionally, anthem is sung at the beginning of ceremonies, and Szózat at the end. This is our ”second anthem”.•The poem was written by Mihály Vörösmarty in 1836 and was composed by Béni Egressy in 1843.

Szózat

Vörösmarty Egressy

•It starts with the words „Hazádnak rendületlenül légy híve, óh magyar” (in english: To your homeland be faithful steadfastly, O Hungarian)

•Vörösmarty's Szózat mentions similar thought as Kölcsey in anthem. The poem about hungarian history, patriotism but it's more optimistic than anthem.

Hungarian symbols

Hungary has so many symbols, I present the most importants of

them.

ground red peppers

grey cattle

scone

The meaning of 3 colours:

Force

Hope

Fidelity

Coat of arms

•On the right side: consists of a silver double cross on red base, situated inside a small golden crown, the crown is placed on the middle heap of three green hills, representing mountain ranges (Tátra, Mátra, Fátra).

•On the left side: there are Árpád stripes, four silver and four red stripes. It is sometimes said that the silver stripes represent four rivers (Duna, Tisza, Dráva, Száva).

•On the top there's a hungarian crown

Hungarian cuisine• The Hungarian cuisine is an outstanding feature

of the Hungarian culture. Traditional dishes such as the world famous Goulash.

•The famous Hungarian hot river fish soup called Fisherman's soup

Desserts include the iconic Dobos cake, Gundel pancake and somlói dumplings.

Traditional drinks:•Pálinka : is a fruit brandy. It is a spirit native to Hungary and comes in a variety of flavours including apricot and cherry. However, plum is the most popular flavour.

•Zwack Unicum: For over 150 years, a blend of 40 Hungarian herbs has been used to create the liqueur Unicum. Unicum is a bitter, dark-coloured liqueur that can be drunk as an apéritif or after a meal for helping the digestion. The recipe is held secret by the Zwack family.

• Wine: As Hugh Johnson says in The History of Wine, the territory of Hungary is ideal for wine-making. The country can be divided to six wine regions: North-Transdanubia,Lake Balaton, South-Pannónia, Duna-region or Alföld, Upper-Hungary and Tokaj-Hegyalja.

The most famous wines from Hungary are Tokaji Aszú and Egri Bikavér.

Famous places

• Hungarian Parliament Building: It lies in Lajos Kossuth Square, on the bank of the Danube, in Budapest. It is currently the largest building in Hungary. This is one of popular tourist destination of Budapest.

•Buda Castle: is the historical castle and palace complex of the Hungarian kings inBudapest, first completed in 1265. In the past, it was also called Royal Palace and Royal Castle

•Heroes’ Square: Hősök tere is one of the major squares of Budapest, Hungary, rich with historic and political connotations. Its iconic statue complex, the Millennium Memorial, was completed in 1900, the same year the square was named "Heroes' Square".

•Liberty Statue of Budapest: The Liberty Statue in Budapest wasfirst erected in 1947 in remembrance of the Soviet liberation of Hungary from Nazi forces during World War II. Its location upon Gellért Hill makes it a prominent feature of Budapest's cityscape. The 14 metre tall bronze statue stands atop a 26 metre pedestal and holds a palm leaf.