Land and Resources, Natural Regions

Hungary is predominantly flat. The Danube River forms part of Hungary’s northwestern border with Slovakia, and then flows south through Budapest, dividing Hungary into two general regions. A low, rolling plain known as the Great Hungarian Plain also called the Great Alfold, covers most of the region east of the Danube extending east to Romania and south to the FRY. Highlands along the northern border of the country extend eastward from the gorge of the Danube at Esztergom and include the Matra mountains, a part of the Carpathian Mountain system. Mount Kekes (1,014 m/ 3,327 ft), in the Matra Mountains, is the highest peak in Hungary. The area west of the Danube, known as Transdanubia, presents a variety of land forms. In the south rise the isolated Mecsek Mountains. In the north are the Bakony Mountains, a forested range in the Transdanubian Highlands, which overlook Lake Balaton. The Little Alfold, or Little Plain, in the extreme northwestern section of Hungary, extends into southern Slovakia.