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See also: Kingdom of Hungary and Hungary before the Magyars In the time of the Roman Empire, the region west of the Danube river was known as Pannonia. After the Western Roman Empire collapsed under the stress of the migration of Germanic tribes and Carpian pressure, the Migration Period continued bringing many invaders to Europe. Among the first to arrive were the Huns, who built up a powerful empire under Attila. It is presently believed that the origin of the name "Hungary" does not come from the Central Asian nomadic invaders called the Huns, but rather originated from a later, seventh century Bulgar alliance called On-Ogour, which in Old Turkish meant "(the) Ten Arrows"[2][3]. After Hunnish rule faded, the Lombards and the Gepids ruled in Pannonia for about 100 years, during which the Slavic tribes began migrating into the region. In the 560s, the Slavs were supplanted by the Avars, who maintained their supremacy of the land for more than two centuries. The Franks under Charlemagne from the west and the Bulgars from the southeast managed to overthrow the Avars in the early ninth century. However, the Franks soon retreated, and the Slavonic kingdom of Great Moravia and the Balaton Principality assumed control of much of Pannonia until the end of the century. The Magyars migrated to Hungary in the late ninth century. Counties and regions Administratively, Hungary is divided into nineteen counties. The capital city (főváros), Budapest, is independent of any county government. The counties and the capital are the twenty NUTS third-level units of Hungary. Since 1996, these twenty administrative units have been grouped into seven regions for statistical and development purposes. These seven regions constitute NUTS' second-level units of Hungary. There are also twenty-three towns with county rights (singular megyei jogú város), sometimes known as "urban counties" in English (although there is no such term in Hungarian). The local authorities of these towns have extended powers, but these towns belong to the territory of the respective county instead of being independent territorial units. Counties (County Capital): Bács-Kiskun (Kecskemét), Baranya (Pécs), Békés (Békéscsaba), Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén (Miskolc), Csongrád (Szeged), Fejér (Székesfehérvár), Győr-Moson-Sopron (Győr), Hajdú-Bihar (Debrecen), Heves (Eger), Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok (Szolnok), Komárom-Esztergom (Tatabánya), Nógrád (Salgótarján), Pest (Budapest), Somogy (Kaposvár), Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg (Nyíregyháza), Tolna (Szekszárd), Vas (Szombathely), Veszprém (Veszprém), Zala (Zalaegerszeg), Budapest, capital city. Regions: Western Transdanubia, Southern Transdanubia, Central Transdanubia, Central Hungary, Northern Hungary, Northern Great Plain, Southern Great Plain. Geography Approximately slightly more than one half of Hungary's landscape consists of flat to rolling plains of the Carpathian Basin: the most important plain regions include the Little Hungarian Plain in the west, and the Great Hungarian Plain in the southeast. The highest elevation above sea level on the latter is only 183 metres. Transdanubia is a primarily hilly region with a terrain varied by low mountains. These include the very eastern stretch of the Alps, Alpokalja, in the west of the country, the Transdanubian Medium Mountains, in the cental region of Transdanubia, and the Mecsek Mountains and Villány Mountains in the south. The highest point of the area is the Írott-kő in the Alps, at 882 metres. The highest mountains of the country are located in the Carpathians: these lie in the northern parts, in a wide band along the Slovakian border (highest point: the Kékes at 3,327 ft; 1,014 m). Hungary is divided in two by its main waterway, the Danube (Duna); other large rivers include the Tisza and Dráva, while Transdanubia contains Lake Balaton, a major body of water. The largest thermal lake in the world, Lake Hévíz (Hévíz Spa), is located in Hungary. The second largest lake in the Carpathian Basin is the artificial Lake Tisza (Tisza-tó). Hungary has a continental climate, with cold, cloudy, humid winters and warm to hot summers. Average annual temperature is 9.7 °C (49.5 °F). Temperature extremes are about 42 °C (110 °F) in the summer and −29 °C (−20 °F) in the winter. Average temperature in the summer is 27 to 35 °C (81 to 95 °F), and in the winter it is 0 to −15 °C (32 to 5 °F). The average yearly rainfall is approximately 600 millimetres (24 in). A small, southern region of the country near Pécs enjoys a reputation for a Mediterranean climate, but in reality it is only slightly warmer than the rest of the country and still receives snow during the winter. Part of the information are from www.wikipedia.org respecting the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
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