Hungarian Studies Newsletter, 1975 (3. évfolyam, 6-8. szám)
1975 / 6. szám
A PUBLICATION OF /H________ J „ f** 1 „ ^ THE Country JProliles POPULATION COUNCIL July 1974 HUNGARY Egon Szabady This Profile was prepared by Egon Szabady, doctor of economics, deputy president of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, in cooperation with Péter Józan, M.D., senior research associate of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office. Over the past decade, the net reproduction rate in Hungary has hovered below replacement. Since the 1950s, the government has consistently expanded and increased benefits and services for mothers, working women, infants, and children and families. The goal of these measures has been to improve the quality of life of the family, to increase fertility, and if possible, to eliminate the bias in the age structure. In 1973 a Decision of the Council of Ministers on the Tasks of Population Policy formulated the basic concepts on family planning and birth control that will underlie future population policy. Location and Description The Hungarian People’s Republic is a socialist state in the Middle-Danube basin, bordering upon the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Yugoslavia, and Romania. It covers an area of 93,000 square kilometers (35,919 square miles) in the middle of the Carpathian Basin, surrounded by parts of the Alps, the Carpathian Mountains, and the Dinaric Mountains. More than half of its surface is a plain not higher than 200 meters above sea level; only 2 percent of the country is over 400 meters above sea level. Its regions are the Great Hungarian Plain, the Small Plain, Transdanubia, and the Northern Mountains. The largest region, the Great Hungarian Plain, covers about half the country and is situated east of the Danube, between the Northern Mountains and the eastern and southern country borders. The Small Plain is situated between the Danube, the Hungarian Alps, and the Transdanubian Mountains, in the northwestern part of the country. Transdanubia covers more than one-third of Hungary. The Danube bend separates Transdanubia from the Northern Mountains situated in the northern part of the country. Hungary has a continental temperate climate with mean temperatures in January between —1 and —3°C and in July between 20 and 26°C. The Hungarians conquered the present area of Hungary in 895-896. Until the middle of the sixteenth century Hungary was an independent kingdom. At that time the Turks occupied the larger part of the country for about 150 years, while a smaller part fell under the rule of the Habsburgs. After the reconquest at the end of the seventeenth century, the Habsburgs became the absolute rulers of the country. The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy broke up with its defeat during World War I. An attempt to develop a democratic and socialist social order in 1918-1919 failed, and from 1919 until the end of World War II, first conservative-nationalistic and later fascist forces ruled in Hungary. Hungary was occupied by the Germans in 1944 and liberated by the Army of the Soviet Union in 1945. Subsequently a democratic development took place in the country. In 1948-1949 the rise to power of revolutionary forces made it possible to begin the building of socialism. The socialist transition changed the socioeconomic structure, political life, and culture, all of which developed according to the requirements of socialism. The supreme legislative body of the Hungarian People’s Republic is the National Assembly (Parliament). The Presidential Council of the People’s Republic, elected by Parliament from among its own members, performs the duties of the head of state, and in the period between two National Assembly sessions it substitutes for the National Assembly. At the upper level of state administration is the Council of Ministers, and at the lower level are the local councils. Population Total Population In January 1974, the total population of Hungary numbered 10,449,000. Hungary ranks thirteenth among European countries in population size and is comparable to the Netherlands (13 million), Belgium (9.7 million), and Portugal (9.6 million). In 1870, when the first official census was taken, there were about 5 million inhabitants living on the present area of Hungary. In 100 years the population increased by 106 percent. The population density is 112 persons per square kilometer. Table 1 shows selected demographic data for the period 1870-1970. © THE POPULATION COUNCIL. INC.. 1974 Reprinted in Hungarian Studies Newsletter with permission. 5
