Hungary's Absolute Location: Coordinates and Geographic Context

Hungary sits in the heart of the Carpathian Basin, Central Europe. Its absolute location is defined by the following geographic coordinates:

• Latitude: 45°43′N to 48°35′N
• Longitude: 16°09′E to 22°55′E

What This Means

• North-South extent: ~320 km (199 mi) — from the foothills of the Alps (near Sopron) to the southern Great Plain (near Szeged).
• East-West extent: ~530 km (329 mi) — from the Slovak border (west) to the Romanian border (east).
• Capital (Budapest): ~47°30′N, 19°02′E — bisected by the Danube.

Geographic Significance

These coordinates place Hungary:

• In the temperate zone (continental climate: hot summers, cold winters).
• At the crossroads of Europe: Vienna (240 km NW), Belgrade (320 km S), Kraków (300 km N), Bucharest (530 km E).
• Entirely within the Danube Basin—the river enters at 47°58′N, 17°05′E and exits at 45°47′N, 18°58′E.

No coastline. Landlocked. But the coordinates tell a story of a nation bridging West and East, plains and mountains, history and flow.