Hungary, officially in English the Republic of Hungary (but to natives it is known as Magyarország, Land of the Magyars), is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary has been a member state of the European Union since May 1, 2004.

Landscape
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. 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 central region of Transdanubia, and the Mecsek Mountains and Villány Mountains in the south. 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, is located in Hungary.

After Iceland, Hungary has the world's largest reserve of surface thermal water: hundreds of springs help thousands in recovering. Lake Balaton, Central Europe's largest lake, is a favourite get-away for families with young children, fans of yachting and lovers of the beach.

Lake Balaton
The "Hungarian Sea", is the people's name for the 50 mile long lake with silky green-yellow water in the middle of Transdanubia. Lake Balaton is one of Hungary's most precious treasures and most frequented resort. It is the largest lake in Central Europe. The southern shores are ideal for small children because of the shallow water. On the north shore the water gets deeper immediately. The summer water temperature of around 26 °C is warmer than the air in the morning and in the evening. The water and the silky mud of the lake are very good remedies for nervous complaints, anemia and nervous fatigue.
Rich vineyards in the region produce an assortment of excellent wines that go very well with the delicious local food. Large numbers of inns and restaurants welcome guests from home and abroad.

Tokaj
Tokaj is a historical town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary, 54 kilometers from county capital Miskolc. It is the centre of the famous Tokaj-Hegyalja wine district which got its name after the town.

Tokaj-Hegyalja is a historic wine region located in present-day Northeastern Hungary. Hegyalja means "Foothills" in Hungarian and was the original name for the region. The region consists of 28 named villages and 7,000 hectares of classified vineyards, of which an estimated 5,000 are currently planted. Tokaj is unique among the world's wine regions in having been declared a World Heritage Site. However, its fame long predates UNESCO recognition as the region is home to the world's oldest botrytis wine: Tokaji Aszú.

The wine-growing area was first mentioned by the name Tokaj in 1067. The town itself was first mentioned in documents in 1353. Its first castle was a motte, which was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of Hungary.