Hungary

G

Labour

The labour force in 2006 totalled about 4.20 million. Of this number, about 923,700 were employed in mining and manufacturing and about 348,200 in agriculture. Workers are organized in trade unions, which are consolidated into the Central Council of Hungarian Trade Unions; the council has about 4 million members.

H

Transport

The River Danube, which flows from north to south through the centre of the country, serves as a major artery of the Hungarian transport system. With its navigable affluents (totalling some 1,622 km/1,008 mi), it provides low-cost transit for a large portion of the domestic freight and passenger traffic and offers ready access to the markets of central and south-eastern Europe and to the Black Sea. About 7,950 km (4,940 mi) of railway track was in operation in 2005, and the Hungarian road system, in 2003, included about 159,568 km (99,151 mi) of roads. In 2003 there was a ratio of 313 motor vehicles per 1,000 people. Hungary is served by a state-owned airline, Malév, as well as by foreign airlines. Flights are handled by Ferihegy International Airport south-east of Budapest; internal air services resumed in 1993 after an interval of 20 years.

I

Communications

Postal, telegraph, and telephone services are government owned and are controlled by the ministry of commerce. Hungary had four central radio stations and two television services in the early 1990s. In 2000 radios numbered about 7 million and television sets about 4 million; some 1.8 million telephones were in use. The Hungarian constitution guarantees freedom of the press. There were 34 daily newspapers in 2004, with a combined daily circulation of 5 million.

V

Government

Hungary’s constitution, introduced in 1949 and subsequently amended, was substantially revised in 1989. The revisions marked Hungary’s transformation from a Communist-dominated people’s republic to an independent democratic state.

A

Executive and Legislature

The head of state of Hungary is the president, elected in a secret ballot by the National Assembly for a five-year term. The president is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The National Assembly selects, moreover, the prime minister and his Cabinet, the Council of Ministers. The prime minister is the head of government in functional terms.

The unicameral National Assembly consists of 386 members: 176 directly elected from local districts, 152 elected on a proportional representation basis from county and metropolitan lists, and 58 indirectly elected from national lists drawn up by the competing parties. Members are elected to four-year terms.