Who we are Hungary

Jósár Péter 12/A

Who we are

It is hard to answer this question because Hungarians originally came from Asia in the 9th century, and finally we settled down in the Carpathian basin. St. István I. established our country in 1000.
At first, the capital of Hungary was Pozsony (you can find it in Slovakia now), later 3 towns (Óbuda, Buda and Pest) united to a big city called Budapest which became our capital. Nowadays Budapest is a beautiful big city with a population of about 2 million and this is Hungary’s biggest city by far. The city is situated in the middle of Hungary on the banks of the river Danube. Therefore, you can find many beautiful bridges, in my opinion the most spectacular bridge is the so called Lánchíd which is one of the oldest ones as well.

On the bank of the river Danube you can find the House of Parliament which is more than 100 years old.

And there are many well-known buildings too.
We have two big rivers (Tisza and Danube) which divide the country into three parts.
And we have a big lake called Balaton with its vineyards, it’s worth visiting it, it’s an impressive sight.

On the other hand we have many cultural traditions as well. The most important are 15th March, 20th August and 23rd October.
On 15th March we remember to the Hungarian revolution in 1848 when our country tried to become independent.
On 20th August we celebrate our first king I. St. István and the establishment of our country (as I mentioned it before).
On 23rd October we remember to the war of independence from the Russians in 1956.
In conclusion I think it is worth visiting our country because of the nice building, sight, traditions and people who are very friendly.

Léránt Dóra 11/A

Who we are

We live in Hungary. Hungary is situated in Carpathian Basin (in Central Europe). It’s a quite small country, with a unique language. People speak Hungarian, this is the official language. The country can be divided 6 regions (Great Plan, Little Plan, Sub Alps, Transdanubian Hill Region, Transdanubian Uplands, and Northern Uplands).
Lake Balaton is the largest lake in Central Europe, it’s situated near the Little Plan. It’s a most popular holiday resort. People like sailing, fishing, bathing. The nights of Balaton are very interesting.
Our capital city is Budapest. It’s the cultural, political, commercial centre of the country. There are a lot of attractions (for example: Matthias Church, Parliament). In the evening we can go to a several theatres, cinemas and a lot of restaurants. They serve traditional Hungarian food: goulash, fish soup, and the waiters offer the best Hungarian wines.
We are proud of a lot of famous people who were born in our country. János Neumann physicist, Albert Szentgyörgyi discovered Vitamin C, László Bíró, who invented the ballpoint pen, Ernő Rubik who made Rubik cube.


In Hungary we have a lot of celebrations, for example namedays. It’s a unique tradition in Europe.
Mother’s day is a special day for mothers. This time children make some presents and give it their mothers.
At Easter girls paint some eggs and give it to boys.
On 20th August we celebrate our first King Stephen the First. The towns make beautiful fireworks.
6 December is a special day in Hungary, that time the children clean their shoes and boots and put them into the windows. If children go to bed, the Santa Claus comes and puts presents into the boots.
In Hungary at Christmas, the presents are given by a little Jesus Christ, on Christmas Eve. We give some presents to our relatives. I like Christmas, because I don’t go to school. This time we have winter break.
To some up I like my country (because it’s really wonderful) with nice people and amazing countryside.


Marton Melitta 11/ D
Who we are
I’m Melitta Marton, a Hungarian student. I live in a small town called Pápa in Hungary.
Hungary is a small country in the centre of Europe. Our capital city is Budapest. Budapest has a lot of famous places for example, the Parliament or the House of Terror. These are very popular, so lots of people visit Budapest because of them. In summer the most popular place in Hungary is our biggest lake called Balaton.

It is the most significant tourist centre. Lots of foreign people visit here, because this country is beautiful, Hungarians are very friendly and prices are fairly good.We have been the member of the EU since 2001. It is an advantage for us, because it is easier to the travel between our neighbouring countries.I think Hungarian dishes are very delicious. We have a traditional food called goulash, and we have several costumes too.
We have some national holidays for example March 15 or October 23. Marc 15 is the memorial day of the 1848 revolution. On 15 Marc people wear cockade with our national colours (red, white and green).On 23 October we commemorate the 1956 revolution. On 20 August we celebrate our first king Stephen, who established the state. On 20 August you can see a wonderful fire-works in Budapest.On 6 December we celebrate Santa Claus when little children get some chocolate.On 1 November we go to the cemetery and we commemorate our dead relatives. It called All Soul’s Day.
Hungarians celebrate their names too. My name is Melitta, so I celebrate my nameday on 15 September. Nameday is similar to birthday. You get some little presents, for example a bunch of flowers or some chocolate. Hungary is famous for its thermal baths. We have several famous spa baths for example is Sárvár, in Hévíz or in Hajdúszoboszló and in our town, Pápa.
We don’t have any oceans or seas, but two big rivers flow through Hungary. One of them is the Danube and the other is the Tisza.
We are good at sports especially water-polo. We have been the Olympic champion for 3 times in this sport. I am proud of it, and I think Hungary is a good place.
I like to live here.



Sipőcz András 13/D

Who, we are
Hungary is a small country in Central-Europe. The whole area is 93030 km2. The population is about 10355000. The capital city is Budapest.
Our ancestors are from behind the Ural Mountains and they arrived in the Carpathian basin in 895-96. We have some relatives in Finland. Our first king was I. Stephen (István) who had himself crowned in 1000 with insignia of royalty granted by Pope Sylvester II. and began the state building process. In the next 1000 year we had lot of war with Tatars, Turkeys, Habsburgs and the country’s area sometimes was smaller or bigger. But, our traditions and costumes went from generation to generation.
Three national holidays are celebrated in the Republic of Hungary each year. 15 March, in memory of the outbreak of the 1848-49 revolution and War of Independence. 20 August, official state celebration in memory of founder of the state King Saint Stephen. 23 October, outbreak of the 1956 Revolution and freedom fight, and the day in 1989 when the Republic of Hungary was proclaimed.
We have some national costumes e.g.: Easter sprinkling, may-pole, celebration of nameday, and motherday.
Our national symbols are: The national coat of arms, The national flag, The Holy Crown, The National Anthem.

The national coat of arms:
Act XLIV of 1990 decrees that the coat of arms of the Republic of Hungary is the so-called historical crowned, lesser coat of arms. The Hungarian Holy Crown is on top of the pointed impaled shield.

The national flag:

The flag of the Republic of Hungary is a tricolour comprising three bands of equal width in red, white and green.



The Holy Crown:

The crown, although not an official state symbol, is regarded with particular respect in Hungary. King Stephen I. was crowned with the crown despatched by Pope Sylvester II. In Hungary history only those who are crowned with this symbol of state are considered lawful rulers of the country.

The National Anthem: The text of the Hungarian National Anthem was written in 1823 by Ferenc Kölcsey (1790-1838), one of the great politicians and poets of the Age of Reform. It was first published in I828. A tender for the setting to music of the National Anthem published in 1844 was won by Ferenc Erkel (1810-18939). It has been the legally registered National Anthem of Hungary since 1903.



Szakács Veronika 11/D
Who we are

My name’s Veronika and I live in Hungary. Hungary is a small country in the middle of Europe. We have plains and hills, and a famous lake, lake Balaton. Our capital city is Budapest. It is on the 2 banks of our main river, the Danube. We have another big river, the Tisza.
Hungary is in the European-Union.
Hungary has famous attractions. For example our wine, our pepper and other spices, and our spas. The world has some Hungarian inventions, like the Rubik-cube, ballpoint pen, vitamin C, matches, and the dynamo. The world knows our famous Hungarians, too. Puskás Öcsi (footballer) and Kertész Imre (he has Nobel-prize novel) are world famous, but we have musicians, other sportsmen, etc. Neumann János is famous for his first computer. I think people in the world know one of our famous dishes, the goulash.
Almost every city has an attraction.
We have customs and traditions. In Spring our first celebration is Easter, when families paint eggs together. Boys visit their female friends and relatives and they sprinkle them with perfume or clean water.

1st April is the fools’ day.
We have three national holidays: 15th March, 20th August and 23rd October. We don’t have to go to school then.
On 15th March we wear the three national colours on our coat to commemorate the revolution of 1848-49.
20th August is our first king’s, St. Stephen’s holiday. He established our state.
On 23rd October we commemorate the revolution of 1956.
On the first Sunday of May we celebrate mothers’ day. They get flowers and some touching words.
We haven’t got Halloween, we have souls’ day, when we go to the cemetery and remember our dead relatives.
At Christmas we get our presents from the baby Jesus. But we have Santa, too. He comes at 6th December. We get chocolates and candies from him.
At New Year’s Eve we have a big party to celebrate the new year.
And we have name-day, too. We have presents for it, like for our birthday.
In Hungary we learn in primary school for 8 years, then we go to secondary school, and university. Now I learn in a secondary school.
I like living in Hungary, but I’d like to know some other countries, cultures.