Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/375

361 H U N G AE Y jite II. Isitioii ent. 3eral lijions. I. GEOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS. HUNGARY (Hung., Magyarorszdg ; Ger., Ungarn ; Fr., Hongrie; It., Ongaria), the second factor of the dual Austrian-Hungarian monarchy, is an extensive country in the south-eastern portion of Central Europe, lying between 44 10 and 49 35 N. lat. and between 14 25 and 26 25 E. long. It thus covers about 5 degrees of latitude and 12 of longitude, and contains an area of 124,234 square miles, or more than half of the whole Austrian- Hungarian realm, being larger than the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland by about 3000 square miles. The kingdom of Hungary in its widest extent, or the &quot; Realm of the Crown of St Stephen,&quot; comprises Hungary Proper, with the former grand principality of Transylvania, the town and district of Fiume, Croatia and Slavonia, and the Military Frontier. Dalmatia, which both from its geo graphical position and from historical associations ought also to form part of Hungary, sends its representatives to the Austrian Reichsrath. Area in En#. Miles Hungary Proper and Transylvania 108,263 Finnic 8 Croatia and Slavonia 8,665 Military Frontier 7,298 Total 124,234 In the article AUSTRIA (vol. iii. pp. 115-141) the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy has already been treated of as a whole, and under the heading CROATIA AND SLAVOXIA (vol. vi. pp. 591-592) will be found further special infor mation with reference to that province (see also FIUME, vol. ix. p. 273). In the present article we shall therefore treat generally of the lands belonging to the Hungarian crown, and more particularly of the &quot; mother country,&quot; or Hungary Proper and Transylvania. Ingary The province of Hungary Proper and Transylvania, now Insyl- st y led simply &quot;Hungary,&quot; lies between 44 30 and via. 49 35 1ST. lat. and between 16 and 26 25 E. long., and comprises an area of 108,203 English square miles. It is bounded on the N. by Moravia, Silesia, and Galicia ; on the E. by Bukowina and Moldavia; on the S. by Wal- lachia, Servia, and Croatia and Slavonia ; and on the W. by Styria, Lower Austria, and Moravia. The narrow strip of country known as the Military Frontier, which stretches as a border line between Bosnia and Servia and the south of Croatia and Slavonia, prior to 1873 extended beyond the limits of that province, through Hungary Proper to Transylvania. The whole Military Frontier thus constituted formerly a joint crown land, consisting of the present Croatian-Slavonian frontier, and the so-called Servian-Bnnat frontier, now incorporated into the province of Hungary Proper and Transylvania. The political changes introduced between 1868 and 1876 will be con sidered below. s ural With the exception of the short extent of seaboard on the Adriatic belonging to the Hungarian Littorale, the Hungarian monarchy is entirely surrounded by other countries. Its natural boundaries are for the most part well denned : on the N.W. and N. it is separated from Moravia, Silesia, and Galicia by the Carpathian mountains ; on the E. and S.E. the Eastern Carpathians form a natural barrier between Transylvania and Moldavia and Wallachia ; on the S. it is bounded by the Danube, Save, and Unna, which separate it from Servia and Bosnia ; on the S.W. by Dalmatia and the Adriatic ; and on the W., where its natural boundaries are not so clearly marked, by Carniola, Styria, and Lower Austria. From the rivei Lajta or Leitha, which, like the March, forms a portion of the boundary of the last-mentioned province, originate the terms Cisleithan and Transleithan, sometimes applied to the collective provinces of Austria and of Hungary re spectively. The mountains of Hungary belong to the two great Moun. European systems, the Carpathians and the Alps. The tains - former extend in a semicircular form over the north and east of the monarchy, enclosing the whole of. the left basin of the Danube from Deveny near Pozsony (Pressburg) to Orsova, while spurs of the Styrian Alps traverse the country in the west; to these latter belong also the Bakony and Vertes ranges. The Central Carpathians consist of several groups, among which the Tatra mountains form the most imposing mass, having an average elevation of about 6000 feet, and attaining at some points an altitude of over 8000 feet. To the south of these are the various ranges of the Hungarian Ore-Mountains or Erzgebirge (Lipto, Z61yom, Bars, Hont), and the midland chains which connect the Carpathians with the Styrian Alps. The Eastern Carpa thians and Transylvanian highlands cover the greater part of Transylvania, and the eastern portion of the old Servian- Banat ; the Fogaras is the highest group, some crests of which, as, for instance, the Negoj, Bucsesd, and Vurfu Ourla, attain an elevation of between 8000 and 9000 feet. The low western mountains of Hungary which traverse Croatia and Slavonia belong to the Julian Alps. Taking a general survey, it will be observed that the greatest elevations are in the north of Hungary Proper, in the east and south of Transylvania, and in the eastern portion of the Banat. In the Northern Carpathians large plateaus are not unfre- quent, but in Transylvania the Alpine character pre dominates. The sides of the Carpathians are generally covered with forests to a considerable height, and on some favourable slopes barley, oats, wheat, and rye are cul tivated. The mountainous lands in the south-west of the Hungarian monarchy are in elevation much inferior to those in the north and east, but their greater proximity to the sea and their frequently bare and rugged character cause them to have a considerable influence both on the climate and -commercial relations of the country. The great Carpathian and Alpine mountain systems Plains, enclose two extensive plains, the smaller of which, called the &quot;Little Hungarian Alfold&quot; or &quot;Pressburg Basin,&quot; covers an area of about 6000 square miles, and lies to the west of the Bakony and Matra ranges, which separate it from the &quot; Pest Basin &quot;_or &quot; Great Hungarian Alfold.&quot; This is the largest plain in Europe, and comprises an area of about 37,000 square miles, with an average elevation of from 300 to 350 feet above the level of the sea. The Pest Basin extends over the greater portion of central and southern Hungary, and is traversed by the Theiss and its numerous tributaries. This immense tract of low land, though in some parts covered with barren wastes of sand, alternating with marshes, presents in general a very rich and productive soil. The monotonous aspect of the Alfold is in summer time varied by the dcli-bdb, or Fata Morgana. The geological constitution of the mountains of Hungary Geology, is on the whole similar to that of the Alps. 1 The central axis is in some places composed of granite, on which crystal line schists are superposed ; in other places the rocks are of Mesozoic age, and associated with Tertiary beds. Whilst 1 Of. Dr Max Hantken, in Keleti s Skizze der Landeskvnde Ungarns, p. 13, Budapest, 1874. v T r. f.
 * P er united under one administration, and sometimes officially