POPULATION
Hungary 10.04 million (Budapest 1.82 million)

LANGUAGE
Hungarian - spoken only in this country! (German and English are widely understood.)

RELIGION
Roman Catholic 65%, Protestant 25%

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS (in 2005)
January 1 - New Year's Day
March 15 - National Holiday
March 27, 28 - Easter Sunday & Monday
May 1 - Labor Day
May 15, 16 - Pentecost (Whitsun)
August 20 - St. Stephen's Day
October 23 - Remembrance Day
November 1 - All Saint`s Day
December 25, 26 - Christmas

CLIMATE
Continental, with the average temperature:
January: -01,66 C
February: +03,88 C
March: +10,00 C
April: +16,66 C
May: +22,22 C
June: +25,50 C
July: +26,66 C
August: +26,66 C
September: +23,33 C
October: +16,11 C
November: +07,77 C
December: +03,88 C

TIME
Greenwich Mean Time + 1 hour

ELECTRICITY
The voltage is 220 V/50Hz with European two-prong plug.
Electrical equipment of 110V/60Hz requires the use of an adapter and/or voltage converter.

CURRENCY
The unit of currency is Hungarian Forint (HUF). In Hungary the abbrevation of Forint is Ft.
Coins: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 HUF.
Bank notes: 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 HUF.

BANKS, CURRENCY CHANGE
Banks are open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. All banks are closed on Saturdays, but some branches are open in the biggest department stores. Money can also be exchanged at exchange offices, hotel reception desks and travel offices. Currency exchange machines and ATMs operate after hours in Budapest and other cities. It is recommended that all money exchange receipts be kept.
Note: Foreign currency should be exchanged for Forints only in authorized exchange offices.

CREDIT CARDS, DEBIT CARDS and CHECKS
Major credit cards (AmEx, Visa, Mastercard, Diners, Cirrus) can be used in the member shops and businesses. Look for the logo displayed at the entrance.
ATMs operate 24 hours a day. Major credit cards and banking cards are accepted.
There is usually a commission of 1% for cashing travelers checks at banks. Please note that most stores will not accept travelers checks.
You can use your bank or credit card to get cash at post offices throughout Hungary. More than 3200 post offices nation-wide provide this service.

TELEPHONE, FAX
Hungary country code 36
Budapest area code 1 (+7-digit number)
International pre-dial
00 + country code + local number
Domestic long distance pre-dial
06 + area code + local number
Cell-phone numbers are 9-digit, after dialing 06, the first two numbers depend on the telephone company: 20, 30 or 70.

TIPPING
Attention! Some restaurants include the 10-12% service charge in the prices! Please check this when entering to any restaurant! But many other restaurant prices in Hungary generally do not include a service charge and it is therefore customary to give a tip, generally equivalent to 10-15% of the bill.