Hungary Coat of Arms Postcard

Hungary  is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The country's capital and largest city is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and the Schengen Agreement. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe. Following centuries of successive habitation by Celts, Romans, Huns, Slavs, Gepids, and Avars, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian grand prince Árpád in the Honfoglalás ("homeland-conquest"). His great-grandson Stephen I ascended to the throne in 1000 AD, converting the country to a Christian kingdom. By the 12th century, Hungary became a middle power within the Western world. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526,Mediaeval Hungary collapsed and succumbed to 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541–1699). Hungary eventually came under Habsburg rule, and later formed a significant part of the Austro–Hungarian Empire (1867–1918).