Geography
Hungary is a kidney-shaped country lying in the centre of Europe sharing borders with seven neighbours: Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Yugoslavia, Croatia and Slovenia. There are three basic topographies: the low-lying regions of the Great Plain in the east, centre and south-east, and the Little Plain in the north-west; the northern mountain ranges, which include Hungary's highest peak (the 1015-metre-high Kékesteto); and the hilly regions of Transdanubia in the west and south-west. The biggest rivers are the Danube and the Tisza, which divide the country into thirds, and the Dráva which forms the south-western border with Croatia. The country has over 1000 lakes - the largest, Balaton, is strewn with thermal springs.

Climate
Hungary's climate is temperate, and the country can be divided into three climatic zones: Mediterranean in the south, Continental in the east, and Atlantic in the west. In Southern Transdanubia, summers are long and winters mild and wet. The Great Plain has the most extreme seasonal differences with cold, windy winters and hot, usually dry summers. Summers can be very hot in Budapest and Western Transdanubia, with winters relatively short, often cloudy but sometimes brilliantly sunny. The mean average temperature in Hungary is 11 degrees centigrade. January is the coldest month (minus two degrees Celsius) and July the hottest (28 degrees Celsius).

Flora and fauna
Almost 70% of Hungary is under cultivation and only 14% remains forested. Most of the forests are beech and oak, and there's a small percentage of fir. Common animals include deer, wild hare, boar and otter, and there's also rare species such as wild cat, lake bat and Pannonian lizard. However, the majority of the country's vertebrates are birds, especially waterfowl attracted by the numerous rivers, lakes and wetlands. There are five national parks and almost 1000 protected areas.