Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarország [ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ] ( listen)) is a country in Central Europe. Spanning 93,030 square kilometres (35,920 sq mi) in the Carpathian Basin, it borders Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Austria to the northwest, Romania to the east, Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, and Slovenia to the west. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a medium-sized member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken Uralic language in the world. Hungary's capital and its largest city and metropolis is Budapest. Other major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr.

The territory of modern Hungary was for centuries inhabited by a succession of peoples, including Celts, Romans, Germanic tribes, Huns, West Slavs and the Avars. The foundations of the Hungarian state was established in the late ninth century AD by the Hungarian grand prince Árpád following the conquest of the Carpathian Basin. His great-grandson Stephen I ascended the throne in 1000, converting his realm to a Christian kingdom. By the 12th century, Hungary became a regional power, reaching its cultural and political height in the 15th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Hungary was partially occupied by the Ottoman Empire (1541–1699). It came under Habsburg rule at the turn of the 18th century, and later joined Austria to form the Austro–Hungarian Empire, a major European power.

The Avas is a hill of volcanic origin in Miskolc, Hungary. Its top (234 m above sea level, 104 m above the city) is the highest point of Miskolc proper (although other parts, annexed to the city later, lie higher up in the Bükk mountains). On the top stands a TV tower with observation deck which is a former symbol of the city and provides a nice panorama.The name of the hill is an archaic Hungarian word meaning "forbidden". It was named that at a time it was forbidden for shepherds to graze their herds there because the old wine cellars threatened with caving in.