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HUNGARY (Hungarian Magyarorszdg)
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See also:HUNGARY (Hungarian Magyarorszdg) , a See also:country in the See also:south-eastern portion of central See also:Europe, bounded E. by See also:Austria (See also:Bukovina) and See also:Rumania; S. by Rumania, See also:Servia, Bosnia and Austria (See also:Dalmatia) ; W. by Austria (See also:Istria, See also:Carniola, See also:Styria and See also:Lower Austria); and N. by Austria (See also:Moravia, See also:Silesia and See also:Galicia). It has an See also:area of 125,402 sq. m., being thus about 4000 sq. m. larger than See also:Great See also:Britain and See also:Ireland.
I. See also:GEOGRAPHY AND See also:STATISTICS
The See also:kingdom of Hungary (Magyarbiradolom) is one of the two states which constitute the See also:monarchy of Austria-Hungary (q.v.), and occupies 51.8% of the See also:total area of the monarchy. Hungary, unlike Austria, presents a remarkable See also:geographical unity. It is almost exclusively See also:continental, having only a See also:short extent of seaboard on the Adriatic (a little less than Too m.). Its See also:land-frontiers are for the most See also:part well defined by natural boundaries: on the N.W., N., E. and S.E. the Carpathian mountains; on the S. the See also:Danube, See also:Save and See also:Unna. On the W. they are not so clearly marked, being formed partly by See also:low ranges of mountains and partly by the See also:rivers See also: In the See also:present See also:article the kingdom is treated mainly as a whole, especially as regards statistics. In some respects Hungary proper has been particularly dealt with, while See also:special See also:information regarding the other regions will be found under CROATIA-SLAVONIA, TRANSYLVANIA and FIUME. Mountains.—Orographically Hungary is composed of an extensive central See also:plain surrounded by high mountains. These mountains belong to the Carpathians and the See also:Alps, which are separated by the valley of the Danube. But by far the greater portion of the Hungarian See also:highlands belongs to the Carpathian mountains, which begin, to the See also:north, on the See also:left See also:bank of the Danube at Deveny near See also:Press-See also:burg (Pozsony), run in a north-easterly and easterly direction, sway See also:round south-eastward and then westward in a vast irregular semicircle, and end near Orsova at the See also:Iron See also:Gates of the Danube, where they meet the See also:Balkan mountains. The greatest elevations are in the Tatra mountains of the north of Hungary proper, in the See also:east and south of Transylvania (the Transylvanian Alps) and in the eastern portion of the See also:Banat. The highest See also:peak, the Gerlsdorf; or Spitze or Gerlachfalva, situated in the Tatra See also:group, has an See also:altitude of 8700 ft. The portion of Hungary situated on the right bank of the Danube is filled by the Alpine See also:system, namely, the eastern outlying See also:groups of the Alps. These groups are the Leitha mountains, the Styrian highlands, the Lower Hungarian highlands, which are a continuation of the former, and the See also:Balcony See also:Forest. The Bakony Forest, which lies entirely within Hungarian territory, extends to the Danube in the neighbourhood of See also:Budapest, the highest peak being KorSshegy (2320 ft.). The south-western portion of this range is specially called Bakony Forest, while the ramifications to the north-east are known as the Vertes group (1575 ft.), and the Pills group (2476 ft.). The Lower Hungarian highlands extend between the Danube, the Mur, and See also:Lake See also:Balaton, and attain in the Mesek hills near See also:Mohacs and See also:Pecs an altitude of 2200 ft. The province of Croatia-Slavonia belongs mostly to the See also:Karst region, and is traversed by the Dinaric Alps. Plains.—The See also:mountain systems enclose two extensive plains, the smaller of which, called the " Little Hungarian Alfold " or " See also:Pressburg See also:Basin," covers an area of about 6000 sq. m., and lies to the See also:west of the Bakony and Matra ranges, which See also:separate it from the " Pest Basin " or " Great Hungarian Alfold." This is the largest plain in Europe, and covers about 37,000 sq. m., with an See also:average See also:elevation above See also:sea-level of from 300 to 350 ft. The Pest Basin extends over the greater portion of central and See also:southern Hungary, and is traversed by the See also:Theiss (See also:Tisza) and its numerous tributaries. This immense See also:tract of low land, though in some parts covered with barren wastes of See also:sand, alternating with marshes, presents in general a very See also:rich and productive See also:soil. The monotonous aspect of the Alfold is in summer See also:time varied by the deli-bdb, or Fats Morgana. Caverns.—The numerous caverns deserve a passing See also:notice. The Aggtelck (q.v.) or Baradla See also:cave, in the See also:county of Gomor, is one of the largest in the See also:world. In it various fossil mammalian remains have been found. The Fonacza cave, in the county of Bihar, has also yielded fossils. No less remarkable are the Okno, Vodi and Demenyfalva caverns in the county of Lipto, the Veterani in the Banat and the See also:ice cave at See also:Dobsina (q.v.) in Gomor county. Of the many interesting caverns in Transylvania the most remarkable are the. sulphurous Biidos in the county of Haromszck, the Almas to the south of Udvarhely and the See also:brook-traversed rocky caverns of Csetate-Boli, Pestere and Ponor in the southern mountains of Hunyad county. Rivers.—The greater part of Hungary is well provided with both rivers and springs, but some trachytic and See also:limestone mountainous districts show a marked deficiency in this respect. The Matra group, e.g., is poorly supplied, while the outliers of the Vertes mountains towards the Danube are almost entirely wanting in streams, and have but few See also:water See also:sources. A relative scarcity in See also:running See also:waters prevails in the whole region between the Danube and the See also:Drave. The greatest proportionate deficiency, however, is observable in the arenaceous region between the Danube and Theiss, where for the most part only periodical floods occur. But in the north and east of the kingdom rivers are numerous. Owing to its orographical configuration the river system of Hungary presents several characteristic features. The first consists in the See also:parallelism in the course of its rivers.. as the Danube and the Theiss, the Drave and the Save, the Waag with the Neutra and the Gran, &c. The second is the direction of the rivers, which converge towards the See also:middle of the country, and are collected either mediately or immediately by the Danube. Only the Zsil, the Aluta and the Bodza or See also:Buzeu See also:pierce the Transylvanian Alps, and flow into the Danube outside Hungary. Another characteristic feature is the uneven See also:distribution of the navigable rivers, of which Upper Hungary and Transylvania are almost completely devoid. But even the navigable rivers, owing to the direction of their course, are not available as a means of See also:external communication. The only river communication with See also:foreign countries is furnished by the Danube, on the one See also:hand towards Austria and See also:Germany, and on the other towards the See also:Black Sea All the rivers belong to the See also:watershed of the Danube, with the exception of the Poprad in the north, which as an affluent of the Dunajec floes into the See also:Vistula, and of a few small streams near the Adriatic. The Danube enters Hungary through the narrow See also:defile called the See also:Porto Hungarica at Deveny near Pressburg, and after a course of 585 m leaves it at Orsova by another narrow defile, the Iron, See also:Gate. Where it enters Hungary the Danube is 400 ft. above sea-level, and where it leaves it is 127 ft.; it has thus a fall within the country of 273 ft It forms several large islands, as the Great Schutt, called in Hungarian Czallokoz or the deceiving See also:island, with at. area of nearly moo sq. m.; the St See also:Andrew's or Szent-Endre island; the Csepel island; and the Margitta island. The See also:principal tributaries of the Danube in Hungary, of which some are amongst the largest rivers in Europe, are, on the right, the Raab, Drave am: Save and, on the left, the Waag, Neutra, Gran, Eipel, Theiss (thc principal affluent, which receives numerous tributaries), Temes and Cserna. The total length of the river system of Hungary is about 88oe m., of which only about one-third is navigable, while of tl.c navigable part only one-See also:half is available for steamers. The Danube is navigable for steamers throughout the whole of its course in Hungary. Regulating See also:works have been undertaken to See also: The Berzava canal ends in the river Temes. The Sid and the Kapos or Zichy canal between Lake Balaton and the Danube is joined by the Sarviz canal, which drains the marshes south of See also:Sopron. The Berettyo canal between the Koros and the Berettyo rivers, and the Koros canal along the See also: The vegetation around them contains See also:plants characteristic of the sea shores. The largest of these lakes is the Fehe. To situated to the north of See also:Szeged. As already mentioned large tracts of land on the banks of the principal rivers are occupied by marshes. Besides the Hansag, the other principal marshes are the Sarret, which covers a considerable portion of the counties of Jasz-Kun-Szolnok, Bekes and Bihar; the Escedi See also:Lap in the county of Szatmar; the Szernye near See also:Munkacs, and the Alibunar in the county of Torontal. Since the last half of the 19th See also:century many thousands of acres have been reclaimed for agricultural purposes. See also:Geology.—The hilly regions of Transylvania and of the See also:northern part of Hungary consist of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic rocks and are closely connected, both in structure and origin, with the Carpathian See also:chain. The great Hungarian plain is covered by See also:Tertiary and See also:Quaternary deposits, through which rise the Bakony-wald and the Mecsek See also:ridge near Pecs (Fiinfkirchen). These are composed chiefly of Triassic beds, but See also:Jurassic and Cretaceous beds take some See also:share in their formation. Amongst the most interesting features of the Bakony-wald are the volcanic and the igneous rocks. The great plain itself is covered for the most part by See also:loess and See also:alluvium, but near its See also:borders the Tertiary deposits rise to the See also:surface. See also:Eocene nummulitic beds occur, but the deposits are mostly of See also:Miocene See also:age. Five subdivisions may be recognised in the Miocene deposits, corresponding with five different stages in the See also:evolution of southern Europe. The first is the First Mediterranean See also:stage of E. See also:Suess, during which the Hungarian plain was covered by the sea, and the deposits were purely marine. The next is the Schlier, a See also:peculiar See also:blue-See also:grey See also:clay, widely spread over southern Europe, and contains extensive deposits of See also:salt and See also:gypsum. During the formation of the Schlier the plain was covered by an inland sea or See also:series of salt lakes, in which evaporation led to the concentration and finally to the deposition of the salts contained in the water. Towards the See also:close of this See also:period great See also:earth movements took See also:place and the See also:gap between the Alps and the Carpathians was formed. The third period is represented by the Second Mediterranean stage of Suess, during which the sea again entered the Hungarian plain and formed true marine deposits. This was followed by the Sarmatian period, when Hungary was covered by extensive lagoons, the See also:fauna being partly marine and partly brackish water. Finally, in the Pontian period, the lagoons became gradually less and less salt, and the deposits are characterized especially by the abundance of shells which live in brackish water, especially Congeria. See also:Climate.—Hungary has a continental climate—See also:cold in See also:winter, hot in summer—but owing to the See also:physical configuration of the country it varies considerably. If Transylvania be excepted, three separate zones are roughly distinguishable: the " highland," comprising the counties in the vicinity of the Northern and Eastern Carpathians, where the winters are very severe and, continue for half the See also:year; the " intermediate " See also:zone, embracing the country stretching northwards from the Drave and Mur, with the Little Hungarian Plain, and the region of the Upper Alfold, extending from Budapest to See also:Nyiregyhaza and Sarospatak; and the " great lowland " zone, including the See also:main portion of the Great Hungarian Plain, and the region of the lower Danube, where the See also:heat during the summer months is almost tropical. In Transylvania the climate bears the extreme characteristics peculiar to mountainous countries interspersed with valleys; whilst the climate of the districts bordering on the Adriatic is modified by the neighbourhood of the sea. The minimum of the temperature is attained in See also:January and the maximum in See also:July. The rainfall in Hungary, except in the mountainous regions, is small in comparison with that of Austria. In these regions the greatest fall is during the summer, though in. some years the autumn showers are heavier. See also:Hail storms are of frequent occurrence in the Carpathians. On the plains See also:rain rarely falls during the heats of summer; and the showers though violent are generally of short duration, whilst the moisture is quickly evaporated owing to the aridity of the See also:atmosphere. The vast sandy wastes mainly contribute to the dryness of the winds on the Great Hungarian Alfold. Occasionally, the whole country suffers much from drought; but disastrous floods not unfrequently occur, particularly in the See also:spring, when the beds of the rivers are inadequate to contain the increased See also:volume of water caused by the rapid melting of the snows on the Carpathians. On the whole Hungary is a healthy country, excepting in the marshy tracts, where intermittent See also:fever and See also:diphtheria sometimes occur with great virulence. The following table gives the mean temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall (including See also:snow) at a series of meteorological stations during the years 1896-1900: Stations, Feet Mean Temperature e y Rainfall above (See also:Fahrenheit). d in Sea. See also:Annual. See also:Jan. July. Inches. See also:Selmeczbanya 2037 46.2 27.9 04'8 79 35'29 Budapest . 502 50.9 30.9 68.8 76 24.02 Keszthely . 436 52'5 30.0 71.4 78 26.67 Zagrab 534 52.3 34'3 70.5 72 34'32 Fiume 16 56.9 43.6 72.7 75 70'39 See also:Debreczen 423 50.2 28.6 70 79 22.26 Szeged 312 51.6 31.1 71•I 80 25.58 See also:Nagyszeben 1357 48.9 25'9 6o•i 79 28.66 Fauna.—The horned See also:cattle of Hungary are amongst the finest in Europe, and large herds of See also:swine are reared in the See also:oak forests. The See also:wild animals are bears, wolves, foxes, lynxes, wild See also:cats, badgers, otters, See also:martens, stoats and weasels. Among the rodents there are See also:hares, marmots, beavers, squirrels, rats and mice, the last in enormous swarms. Of the larger See also:game the See also:chamois and See also:deer are specially noticeable. Among the birds are the See also:vulture, See also:eagle, See also:falcon, See also:buzzard, See also:kite, See also:lark, See also:nightingale, See also:heron, See also:stork and See also:bustard. Domestic and wild See also:fowl are generally abundant. The rivers and lakes yield enormous quantities of See also:fish, and leeches also are plentiful. The Theiss. once better supplied with fish than any other river in Europe, has for many years fallen off in its productiveness. The culture of the silkworm is chiefly carried on in the south, and in Croatia-Slavonia. See also:Flora.—Almost every description of See also:grain is found, especially See also:wheat and See also:maize, besides See also:Turkish See also:pepper or paprika, See also:rape-See also:seed, See also:hemp and See also:flax, beans, potatoes and See also:root crops. Fruits of various descriptions, and more particularly melons and See also: The excess of See also:females over See also:males is great in the western and northern counties, while in the eastern parts and in Croatia-Slavonia there is at slight preponderance of males. The population of the country at the censuses of 1880, 1890 and 1900 was: I 880. I 890. 1900. Hungary proper . . . 13,749,603 15,261,864 16,838,255 Croatia-Slavonia . . . 1,892,499 2,201,927 2,416,304 Total 15,642,102 17,463,791 I 2 9, 54,550 ' See the table in See also:Seton-See also:Watson's Racial Problems in Hungary, Appendix xiii. p. 470, and Drage, Austria-Hungary, p. 289. Of the emigrants in 1906, 52,121 were See also:Magyars, 32,904 See also:Slovaks, 30,551 Germans, 20,859 Rumanians and 16,016 Croats. Racial Problems, p. 202. 1900: From 187o to i88o there was little increase of population, owing to the great See also:cholera epidemic of 1872–1873, and to many epidemic diseases among See also:children towards the end of the period. More normal conditions having prevailed from 188o to 1890, the yearly increase See also:rose from 0'13% to 1.09%, declining in the See also:decade 1890–1900 to 1.03. If compared with the first general See also:census of the country, decreed by See also:Joseph II. in 1785, the population of the kingdom shows an increase of nearly Io8 % during these 116 years. See also:Recent See also:historical See also:research has ascertained that the country was densely peopled in the 15th century. Estimates, based on a census of the tax-paying peasantry in the years 1494 and 1495, give five millions of inhabitants, a very respectable number, which explains fully the predominant position of Hungary in the east of Europe at that See also:epoch. The disastrous invasion of the See also:Turks, incessant See also:civil See also:wars and devastation by foreign armies and pestilence, caused a very heavy loss both of population and of prosperity. In 1715 and 1720, when the land was again See also:free from Turkish hordes and See also:peace was restored, the population did not exceed three millions. Then See also:immigration began to fill the deserted plains once more, and by 1785 the population had trebled itself. But as the immigrants were of very different foreign nationalities, the country became a collection of heterogeneous ethnical elements, amid which the ruling Magyar See also:race formed only a minority. The most serious drain on the population is caused by See also:emigration, due partly to the grinding poverty of the See also:mass of the peasants, partly to the resentment of the subject races against the See also:process of " Magyarization " to which they have See also:long been subjected by the See also:government. This See also:movement reached its height in 1900, when 178,170 See also:people left the country; in 1906 the number had sunk to 169,202, of whom 47,920 were women.' Altogether, since 1896 Hungary has lost about a million of its inhabitants through this cause, a serious source of weakness in a sparsely populated country; in 1907 an See also:attempt was made by the Hungarian See also:parliament to restrict emigration by See also:law. The flow of emigration is mainly to the United States, and a certain number of the emigrants return (27,612 in 1906) bringing with them much See also:wealth, and Americanized views which have a considerable effect on the See also:political situation.' Of political importance also is the steady immigration of Magyar peasants and workmen into Croatia-Slavonia, where they become rapidly absorbed into the Croat population. From the Transylvanian counties there is an emigration to Rumania and the Balkan territories of 4000 or 5000 persons yearly. This great emigration movement is the more serious in view of the very slow increase of the population through excess of births over deaths. The See also:birth-See also:rate is indeed high (40.2 in 1897), but with the spread of culture it is tending to decline (38.4 in 1902), and its effect is counteracted largely by the appalling See also:death-rate, which exceeds that of any other See also:European country except See also:Russia. In this respect, however, matters are improving, the death-rate sinking from 33.1 per thousand in 1881–1885 to 28•I per thousand in 1896–1900. The improvement, which is mainly due to better sanitation and the draining of the pestilential marshes, is most conspicuous in the See also:case of Hungary proper, which shows the following figures: 33'3 per thousand in 1881–1885, and 27.8 per thousand in 1896–1900. At the census of 1900 fifteen towns had more than 40,000 in-habitants, namely: Budapest, 732,322; Szeged 100,270; Szabadka (Maria-Theresiopel), 81,464; Debreczen, 72,351; Pozsony (Pressburg), 61,537; Hodmezo-Vasarhely, 60,824; Zagrab (See also:Agram), 61,002; Kecskemet, 56,786; See also:Arad, 53,903; Temesvar, 53,033; Nagyvarad (Grosswardein), 47,018; See also:Kolozsvar (Klausenburg), 46,670; Pecs (Fiinfkirchen), 42,252; See also:Miskolcz, 40,833; Kassa, 35,856. The number and aggregate population of all towns and boroughs in Hungary proper having in 1890 more than 10,000 inhabitants was at the censuses of 1880, 1890 and 1900: Thus the relative increase of the population living in See also:urban districts of more than to,000 inhabitants amounted in 1900 to nearly 4% of the total population. In Croatia-Slavonia only 5.62% of the population was concentrated in such towns in 1900. Races.—One of the prominent features of Hungary being the great complexity of the races residing in it (see See also:map, ` Distribution of Census. Towns. Inhabitants. Percentage Total population. 1880 93 2,191,878 15.94 1890 io6 2,700,852 17.81 1900 122 3,5225,377 21.58 to a great extent the government and press of the country. Owing to the improvidence of the Hungarian landowners and the poverty of the peasants the soil of the country is also gradually passing into their hands.' The See also:Gipsies, Races," in the article AUSTRIA), the census returns of 1880, 1890 and 1900, exhibiting the numerical strength of the different nationalities, are of great See also:interest. Classifying the population according to the See also:mother-See also:tongue of each individual, there were, in the civil population of Hungary proper, including Fiume: The censuses show a decided tendency of See also:change in favour of the dominating See also:nationality, the Magyar, which reached an See also:absolute See also:majority in the decade 1890-1900. This is also shown by the data See also:relating to the percentage of members of other Hungarian races speaking this See also:language. Thus in 1900 out of a total civil population of 8,132,740, whose mother-tongue is not Magyar, 1,365,764 could speak Magyar. This represents a percentage of 16.8, while in 1890 the percentage was only 13.8. In Croatia-Slavonia the language of instruction and administration being exclusively Croat, the other races tend to be absorbed in this nationality. The Magyars formed but 3.80, the Germans 5.6% of the population according to the census of 1900. The various races of Hungary are distributed either in compact ethnographical groups, in larger or smaller colonies surrounded by other nationalities, or—e.g. in the Banat—so intermingled as to defy exact See also:definition.' The Magyars occupy almost exclusively the great central plain intersected by the Danube and the Theiss, being in an overwhelming majority in 19 counties (99.7% in Hajdu, east of the Theiss). With these may be grouped the kindred population of the three Szekel counties of Transylvania. In 14 other counties, on the linguistic frontier, they are either in a small majority or a considerable minority (61.6% in Szatmar, 18.9 % in Torontal). The Germans differ from the other Hungarian races in that, save in the counties on the borders of Lower Austria and Styria, where they See also:form a compact population in See also:touch with their See also:kin across the frontier, they are scattered in racial islets throughout the country. Excluding the above counties these settlements form three groups: (I) central and northern Hungary, where they form considerable minorities in seven counties (25 % in Szepes, 7 % in See also:Komarom) ; (2) the Swabians of southern Hungary, also fairly numerous in seven counties (35'5 % in Baranya, 32.9% in Temes, 10.5 % in Arad) ; (3) the See also:Saxons of Transylvania, in a considerable minority in five counties (42.7% in Nagy Kiikiiilo, 17.6 % in Kis Ki kiillo). The Germans are most numerous in the towns, and tend to become absorbed in the Magyar population. The Slays, the most numerous race after the Magyars, are divided into several groups: the Slovaks, mainly massed in the mountainous districts of northern Hungary; the Ruthenians, established mainly on the slopes of the Carpathians between Poprad and Maramaros Sziget; the Serbs, settled in the south of Hungary from the See also:bend of the Danube eastwards across the Theiss into the Banat; the Croats, overwhelmingly preponderant in Croatia-Slavonia, with outlying settlements in the counties of Zala, Vas and Sopron along the Croatian and Styrian frontier. Of these the Slovaks are the most important, _having an overwhelming majority in seven counties (94.7% in Arva, 66•i°jo in See also:Saros), a See also:bare majority in three (Szepes, Bars and Poszody) and a consider-able minority in five (40.6% in Gomiir, 22.9% in Abauj-Torna). The Ruthenians are not in a majority in any county, but in four they form a minority of from 36 to 46 % (Maramaros, Bereg, Ugocsa, Ung) and in three others (Saws, 7_emplen, Szepes) a minority of from 8.2 to 19.7%. The Serbs form considerable minorities in the counties of Torontal (31.2 %), Bacs-Bodrog (19.0%) and Temes (21.4%). Next to the Slav races in importance are the Rumanians (See also:Vlachs), who are in an immense majority in ten of the eastern and south-eastern counties (90.2% in Fogaras), in eight others form from 30 to 60% of the population, and in two (Maramaros and Torontal) a respectable minority? The See also:Jews in 1900 numbered 851,378, not counting the very great number who have become Christians, who are reckoned as Magyars. Their importance is out of all proportion to their number, since they monopolize a large portion of the See also:trade; are with the Germans the chief employers of labour, and See also:control not only the finances but ' The colouring of See also:ordinary ethnographical maps is necessarily somewhat misleading. When an attempt is made to represent in See also:colour the actual distribution of the races (as in Dr Chavanne's Geographischer and statistischer Handatlas) the effect is that of occasional blotches of solid colour on a piece of shot See also:silk. 2 The distribution of the races is analysed in greater detail in Mr Seton-Watson's Racial Problems, p. 3 seq. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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