Some of the most surprising and jaw-dropping facts about Hungary

This beautiful little country of fewer than 10 million inhabitants is situated in Central Europe, also called the frontier country between Eastern and Western Europe. Since you are reading these lines, the previous sentence probably gave you no new information. You might know some things about Hungary, maybe more than an average person, but if you feel like being surprised and amazed, keep reading.

Every traveller knows at least one list of the most important facts about Hungary containing such things as pálinka, gulyás, bejgli, the Rubik’s Cube, or not to toast with beer when going out in Budapest. These are some of the most well-known facts and characteristics of our little gem of a country; however, by no means (at least in my opinion) are they the most surprising or astonishing ones. Today, we prepared you an article listing the lesser-known and probably not-at-all-known pieces of information with the objective of making you know more and hopefully to make your jaw drop. I will try not to brag too much, I swear ?

Let’s start with some numbers. For those who have been reading us for a while, it might not come as a surprise that Hungary was founded a very long time ago. More precisely, in the 9th century, in 895, as the Principality of Hungary, following the Hungarian Conquest of the Carpathian Basin. The Principality became the earliest documented Hungarian state in the Carpathian Basin, making the country one of the oldest ones in the whole of Europe, founded even before France or Germany became separate entities. Staying in the past, around 1000, when the Hungarian State was founded by our very first king, Stephen I, the Kingdom was one of the largest states in Europe, even bigger than France. And this was before forming a monarchy with Austria. Amazed yet?

All along its more than 1000 years of history, Hungary has been the first in many things. When it comes to VAT, for instance, little Hungary imposes the highest Value Added Tax on its taxpayers in the European Union, 27% to be exact. Not the most delightful attribute, I know. This is not even our worst fact when it comes to numbers and money. Hungary holds an inflation record with its very short-lived old currency preceding the forint, called pengő. After the Second World War, its value decreased rapidly as there was a 41,900 trillion per cent inflation in the economy for 13 months. To make it more understandable, prices doubled every 12 hours.

To cheer you up a bit, let’s move on to something we hold a record in but is also much more pleasant. Hungary was the first communist bloc country to open its borders to Western Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989. Moreover, 3 years earlier, Hungary became the first country to host a Formula One race behind the Iron Curtain, the 1986 Hungarian Grand Prix. Fortunately, this is a tradition that stayed with us. I probably do not even need to mention that our beloved Hungarian sea, Balaton, is the largest lake in Central Europe.