Hungary

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Hungary is part of:
Eastern Europe · Europe & CIS ·
Water Basins of Hungary:
Danube · Tisza ·

Facts & Figures

edit

Capital

Budapest

Neighbouring Countries

Austria, Croatia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine

Total Area

93,030 km²

- Water

690 km² (0.74%) / 74 m²/ha

- Land

92,340 km²

Coastline

0 km

Population

10,097,730 (109 inhab./km²)

HDI^A

0.877 (2007)

Gini Coefficient^A

26.9 (1995)

Nominal GDP^B

$164,300 million

GDP (PPP) Per Capita^B

$20,500

National UN Presence

FAO, UNDP

Land Use^C

- Cultivated Land

47,684 km² (51.64%)

- Arable

45,782 km² (49.58%)

- Permanent Crops

1,902 km² (2.06%)

- Irrigated

2,300 km²

- Non cultivated

45,377 km² (48.36%)

Average Annual Rainfall^D

589 mm

Renewable Water Resources^E

120 km³

Water Withdrawals^F	7.64 km³/yr
- For Agricultural Use	32%
- For Domestic Use	9%
- For Industrial Use	59%
- Per Capita	747 m³

Population with safe access to
- Improved Water Source	99%
- Urban population	100%
- Rural population	98%
- Improved Sanitation	95%
- Urban population	100%
- Rural population	85%

References & Remarks

^A UNDP Human Development Report

^B CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia

^C CIA World Factbook Country Profiles

^D Aquastat - FAO's Information System on Water and Agriculture

^E CIA World Factbook

^F Earthtrends

Latest 4 maps for / including Hungary (more..):

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1 News
2 Country Profile: Climate, Geography, Socio-Economic Context
3 Country Profile: Water Bodies and Resources
4 Country Profile: Legal and Institutional Environment
5 Country Profile: Water Sector Coordination
6 Country Profile: Trends in Water Use, Management and Sanitation
7 Country Profile: Challenges and Opportunities
8 Articles
9 Projects and Case Studies
10 Publications
11 Who is Who
12 References
13 See also
14 External Resources

News

Type & Date	Short Description	Link
19 Jan 2008	Burgenland/West Hungary Water Supply Network	FIND OUT MORE

Country Profile: Climate, Geography, Socio-Economic Context

Country Profile: Water Bodies and Resources

DID YOU KNOW? Hungary’s borders are crossed by 24 incoming rivers, bringing in 114 km³ of water per year. On exiting the country, the three major rivers (the Danube, Tisza and Dráva) discharge an annual average of 120 km³ water.

The vast majority of Hungary’s waterworks are reliant on groundwater: more than 90% of the population is supplied in this way. Water utilities supply 560 million m³ of drinking water/year and a further 240 million m³ water for economic and other public use. Annual industrial and agricultural abstraction accounts for almost 5000 million m³ and 680 million m³ respectively. 95.48% of industrial use is power generation. 68% of agricultural use is for fishponds; 27% for irrigation.

Major rivers are important for transportation and Hungary contains 1600 km of navigable waterways. The Danube and Tisza are key international routes while the Dráva is used for internal transport. Cargo transport is very small (currently c. 8-10% on the Danube and only 1-2% on the Tisza) and potential is limited by the lack of a connection between the two rivers. The water regime depends highly on the flow regime and has a major impact on the efficiency of shipping transport. Hungary’s rivers also play a vital role in disposing of effluent, being the major recipients of both municipal and industrial wastewater. There is little potential for hydroelectric power (c. 1% of energy production generated by hydropower).

With 21,712km2 of Hungary below river flood level, flood control is a key consideration. Crucially, this area includes 1.8 million ha arable land, 32% of the rail network, 15% of roads and 2000+ industrial plants. The highest flood discharge in the Danube is 20 times low flow; flooding on the major rivers can last several months. In smaller rivers e.g. the Körös system, the ratio is several hundred to one and floods can develop in a few hours. Devastating, fast-rising ice-jam floods are especially dangerous. Flood control over past centuries has resulted in the construction of 4181 km of defences (mainly earthen embankments). Ten emergency lowland flood reservoirs (with a total volume of 360 million m³) provide protection for 97% of the floodplain area. ^[1]

Water Pollution

Of 876 natural and 150 artificial water bodies identified in Hungary, 579 freshwater surface bodies have been classified as being “at risk” from organic, nutrient or priority hazardous substances (according to EU Water Framework Directive definitions). Approximately 70% of artificial lakes (mainly fishponds) are “at risk” from organic and nutrient loads. Organic and nutrient loads from point/diffuse sources are as follows (in 1000 t/year); total nitrogen: 24.8/20.0; total phosphorus: 3.9/3.0; BOD5 (Biochemical Oxygen Demand): 60.0/3.2; COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand): 12.3/20.5. Point source load is mainly from urban discharges (80%-95% depending on pollutant). None of the 108 groundwater bodies identified are considered to be “at risk” due to human intervention, but 46 sites are listed as “possibly at risk” (mostly from nitrate pollution from diffuse sources). Pollution has made phreatic groundwater near the surface unfit for drinking water. (NB 349 water bodies have been identified as “at risk” and 234 “possibly at risk” from hydro-morphological alterations. These represent 42% and 25% of the total length of Hungarian water bodies respectively. In the case of lakes, 47 water bodies are “possibly at risk”, including Lake Balaton.) ^[2]