a kingdom of Europe, the greatest part of which was anciently called Pannonia. It had the name of Hungary from the Huns, a Scythian or Tartar nation, who subdued it in the ninth century. It lies between the 17th and 25th degrees of east long. and betwixt the 44th and 49th degrees of north lat. being bounded to the north by the Carpathian mountains, which separate it from Poland; to the south by Servia, and the river Drave, which separates it from Sclavonia; to the west by Moravia, Austria, and Stiria; and to the east by Wallachia and Transylvania. It is about 880 miles in length, and 300 in breadth; and is divided into the Upper and Lower Hungary, the former being that part which lies towards the east, and the latter that which lies towards the west.

The northern parts of the kingdom are mountainous and barren, but healthy; the southern, on the contrary, are level, and exceeding fruitful, but not very healthy. The country along the Danube, from Presburg to Belgrade, for upwards of 200 miles, is one continued plain, and no soil can be more fertile; but the air, by reason of the many swamps and marshes, is not so wholesome as on the higher and drier grounds. Here are mines of gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, quicksilver, cinnabar, antimony, yellow orpiment, sulphur, vitriol, marcasite, salt native and fictitious, saltpetre, magnets, asbestos or stone-flax, marble of several colours, alabaster, with diamonds, and all sorts of precious stones. Corn is in such plenty, that it is sold for one-sixth of its price in England. Their grapes are large and luscious; and their wines preferred to any in Europe. They have vast numbers of cattle and horses, the latter mostly mouse-coloured, with buffaloes, deer, wild fowl, game, and fish, and many species of wild-beasts, particularly chamois goats, bears, and lynxes. Of vegetables, besides vines, and the common sorts, here are tobacco, saffron, buck-wheat, millet, melons, and chestnuts. Here also are excellent warm baths, and springs of various kinds and qualities. The chief mountains of Hungary are the Crapack or Carpathian, which is the general name for all those that separate this kingdom from Poland, Moravia, Silesia, and some part of Austria. The sides of most of them are covered with wood, and their tops with snow. The chief rivers are the Danube, the Drave, the Save, the Wag or Waag, the Gran, the Temes, the Raab, and Theiss, all well stocked with fish. There are several lakes among the Carpathian mountains, and some also in the lowlands. The inhabitants are a mixture of the descendants of the ancient Hunns, Slavonians, Camani, Germans, Wallachians, Greeks, Jews, Turks, and a wandering people called Zigduns, said to be of uncertain origin, but probably the same as those we called gypsies. The Hungarians are said to be of a sanguine choleric temper, and somewhat fierce, cruel, proud, and revengeful. They have been always reputed good soldiers, being much more inclined to arms, martial exercises, and hunting, than to arts, learning, trade, or agriculture. The nobility affect great pomp and magnificence, and are much addicted to feasting and carousing. The men in general are strong and well proportioned. They shave their beards, but leave whiskers on the upper lip; wearing fur caps on their heads, a close-bodied coat girt with a sash, with a short cloak or mantle over all, so contrived as to be buckled under the arm, and leave the right hand at liberty. Their horse are called huszars, and their foot heydukes. The former wear a broadsword or scimitar, and carry a hatchet or battle-axe. Their horses are fleet, but not near so large as the German horses, and therefore they stand up on their short stirrups when they strike. The heydukes usually wear feathers in their caps, according to the number of the enemies they pretend to have killed. Both horse and foot are an excellent militia, very good at a pursuit, or ravaging and plundering a country, but not equal to regular troops in a pitched battle. The women, when they go abroad, wear short cloaks and a veil.

There are four languages spoken in this country, viz. the Hungarian, which, like the people, is of Scythian origin, and has little or no affinity with any European tongue; the German, Slavonian, Wallachian, and Latin. The last is spoken, not only by the better sort, but also by the common people, though very corruptly. The people called Zigduns have also a particular jargon.—Christianity was planted in Hungary in the ninth and tenth centuries. In the sixteenth the reformation made a great progress in it; and at present the Roman Catholic religion is predominant, the Protestants enjoying only a bare toleration.

As to the traffic of this country, it is chiefly in the hands of the Greeks and Jews. The exports consist chiefly of wine, horses, cattle, metals, minerals, saffron, wool, and leather. Hungary, in particular, furnishes Austria, and other countries west of it, with vast droves of cattle, as well as a variety of excellent wines, of which those of Tokay are reckoned the best. The principal manufactures are those of copper, brass, iron, and other hard wares. Great quantities of brass and iron are exported, wrought and unwrought.

Hungary at first, like most other countries, was divided into many little principalities and states, which at length were united under one head, who had the title of duke. The last of these dukes was Geysa; who, becoming a proselyte to Christianity, was baptized; after which he resigned the government to his son Stephen, who took the title of king, anno 1000. But as the throne was filled by election, though generally out of the same family, the disposal of the crown was disputed between the Turkish and German emperors for near 200 years: but after the year 1527, when Ferdinand, archduke of Austria, was advanced to the throne, the Austrians found means to influence the elections in such a manner, as to keep the crown in their family till 1687, when it was settled hereditarily on their heirs male; and now, in consequence of an act made by the diet at Presburg in 1723, in case of the failure of heirs-male, it is to descend to females.

The states of the kingdom consist of the prelates, the barons, the gentry, and the royal towns. To the first class belong two archbishops, about a dozen bishops, near as many abbots and provosts, with the Pauline and Premonstratensian Jesuits. To the second, the stadtholder or palatine, who represents the king; the court-judge; the ban or viceroy of Dalmatia, Croatia, and Slavonia; the stadtholder of Transylvania; the great treasurer, the great cup-bearer, the steward of the household, the master of the horse, the lord chamberlain, the captain of the yeomen of the guards, and the grand marshal of the courts, who are styled the great barons. To the third class belong the gentry, some of whom have noble manors, and others only the privileges of nobles. To the fourth class belong the royal free cities, which are not subject to the counts, but hold immediately of the king. The gentry also, who hold of the archbishops and bishops, have the same privileges as the Hungarian nobility. The common people are vassals to the lords on whose lands they live, whether these lands belong to the crown, the clergy, nobility or gentry.

Hungary contained eight millions of inhabitants in 1825, including 13,728 nobles (males only), and 162,495 clergy. Of these 4,627,832 were Catholics, 1,161,138 were of the Greek church, 1,002,490 were Calvinists or Reformed, and 624,776 were Lutherans. The Jews amounted to 72,128. The whole surface of the country amounts to 88,000 square miles, or 39,000,000 of jochs (each equal to 1½ English acres). Of this soil only 23,900,000 acres are computed to be in cultivation or under wood. The total exports in 1822 amounted to 24,000,000 florins, or about 2,400,000 sterling. The imports were about 1,800,000. The revenue is reckoned to be about two millions sterling, of which only a very small portion finds its way to Vienna. The military force of Hungary has long been the chief support of the Austrian monarchy. It consists of 12 complete regiments of infantry of 3857 men each, and 10 complete hussar regiments of 1698 men each, making together 63,364 regulars. But in times of imminent danger this force is increased by a large body of irregulars. Pest, the principal town of Hungary, contained 41,882 inhabitants in 1817. See Hungary, Supplement.