1. National background information
The infrastructure of chemical safety in Hungary, and its operation and
regulation are closely linked to Hungary's geographic, political, demographic,
industrial and agricultural characteristics. Hungary is situated in Central
Europe, covering about 1% of Europe's total area (93,000 km2). It shares
frontiers with Slovakia to the north, the Ukraine to the northeast, Romania
to the east, Yugoslavia to the southeast, Croatia to the south, Slovenia
to the southwest, and Austria to the west. It has a temperate climate,
is relatively poor in natural resources, and 70% of its area is arable
land. Its population is a little more than 10 million people, nearly all
of whom speak Hungarian as their mother tongue. Ethnic minorities comprise
approximately 2.2% of the population. Less than 1% of those over 10 years
of age have not received formal schooling. The workforce numbers 3.6 million
people, the rate of unemployment stood at 9.5% in 1996. 1989-1990 saw the
start of far-reaching political and social reforms. Hungary's economy was
in a period of transition to a market-oriented economy between 1989 and
1995; at the moment, the majority of business entities are small enterprises
and are privately owned. The GDP declined over the period between 1989
and 1993; it started growing again in 1994, but the GDP level in 1996 was
still some 14% below levels recorded in the latter years of the 1980s (in
1996, GDP per capita was 4402 USD). 1996 saw a significant reduction in
internal and external imbalances, which was underscored by improved competitiveness
and dynamic export growth. Industry accounted for 28,3 % of GDP in 1995.
Agriculture accounted for 7.1% of GDP, employing a little over 10% of the
total workforce. Industrial productivity in 1996 was approximately 1.5
times that of 1989 levels.
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