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Hungary's landscape consists mostly of the flat to rolling plains of the Carpathian Basin, with hills and lower mountains to the north along the Slovakian border (highest point: the Kékes at 3,327 ft; 1,014 m). Hungary is divided in two by its main waterway, the Danube (Duna); other large rivers include the Tisza and Dráva, while the western half contains Lake Balaton, a major body of water. The largest thermal lake in the world, Lake Hévíz (Hévíz Spa), is located in Hungary. The second largest lake in the Carpathian Basin is Lake Theiss (Tisza-tó). Climate Hungary has a continental climate, with cold, cloudy, humid winters and warm to hot summers. Average annual temperature is 9.7 °C (49.5 °F). Temperature extremes are about 38 °C (100 °F) in the summer and −29 °C (−20 °F) in the winter. Average temperature in the summer is 27 to 32 °C (81 to 90 °F), and in the winter it is 0 to −15 °C (32 to 5 °F). The average yearly rainfall is approximately 600 millimeters (24 in). A small, southern region of the country near Pécs reputedly enjoys a Mediterranean climate however in reality is just a bit warmer than the rest of the country and still has snow in the winters. The relative isolation of the Carpathian Basin makes it susceptible to droughts and the effects of global warming are already felt. According to popular opinion, and many scientists, in the latest decades the country became drier, as droughts are quite common. Summers became hotter and winters became milder. For these reasons snow has become much rarer than before. Popular opinion also states that the four-season system became a two-season system as spring and autumn are getting shorter and shorter, even vanishing some years. This supposed tendency unexpectedly reversed in 2006 when the two main rivers, the Danube and the Tisza flooded at the same time. It made hundreds of homes uninhabitable despite the hard work of the defenders who reinforced most sections of the rivers with sandbags (with the help of university students and the army of Hungary ("Honvédség")). Most of Hungary is covered by agricultural plains, there are but few remnants of its original forests, mainly in the mountain regions and national parks. |
Hungary Information: Inside
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