Hungary is located in Central Europe and occupies 93,030 square miles, sharing borders to the north with the Slovak Republic, to the northeast with Ukraine, to the east with Romania, to the south with Croatia and Serbia and to the west with Austria and Slovenia. The Great Plain, or Nagyalfold, stretches east from the Danube River to the Carpathian Mountains, to the mountains of Transylvania in Romania, and south to the Fruska Gora Range in Croatia. Lake Balaton is the largest unbroken stretch of inland water in Central Europe and the warmest. The Small Plain lies along the northwest border. The climate is temperate continental, with January being the coldest month, -1 degrees Celsius average and August the warmest at 21.3 degrees Celsius average.
             The total population as of 1999 is 10,091,789 with an average growth rate of negative 0.2%. About 95% of the population are Magyars. The largest minorities include Gypsies, Germans, Slovaks, and a small percentage of Croats, Romanians and Serbs. Nearly one-fifth of the population lives in the Capital City of Budapest (1,838,753), the majority of the country (50%) lives and works in rural areas. Modern Hungarian is the prominent language, with English and French commonly spoken. Religious freedom is guaranteed in the Constitution, but the majority religion is Roman Catholic (65%), Calvinist (20%), Lutheran (5%) and small numbers of other Protestant sects, Uniates, Orthodox, Jews and a small percentage unaffiliated.
             The Capital of Hungary is Budapest, which is the largest overall city. There are 19 counties, 20 towns with country status and another 2904 small villages. The original Constitution was developed in 1949 and amended in 1972, which ensured more individual rights and limiting the power of the Prime Minister. The current President is Ferencz Madl, elected in 2000 and the Prime Minister is Victor Orban, elected 1998. Hungary has a unicameral National Assembly consistin...