Hungary

3.5.3. Hungary

Hungary, in comparison to Austria and Slovenia, includes three of the countries NUTS regions in the ‘’Amazon of Europe’’ region. These are the counties Zala, Somogy and Baranya. These counties are also the largest of the respective counties involved.

The Zala County is the smallest of the three respective counties, therefore, it may come to no surprise that in this county only two larger municipalities, by the name Lenti and Letenye (which are visible in the figure below), could be detected. Nevertheless, there are many other settlements. However, they take the form of nucleated villages. and only a few of them represent linear villages.

Figure 16: Own representation. Landscape of Hungarian County– Zala.

However, on the other hand, the county Somogy and Baranya are bigger in size, and also more municipalities of larger scale could be found in these areas. In Somogy, three municipalities, by the name of Csurgo, Nagyatad and Barcs could be identified and in the Baranya County four larger municipalities (Harkany, Siklos, Nagyharsany and Mohacs) were determined.

Figure 17: Own representation. Landscape of the Hungarian County Somogy.

Figure 18: Own representation. Landscape of Hungarian County Baranya.

Additionally, to the larger municipalities, several villages could be determined in both Somogy and Baranya. Most of the determined villages take the form of nucleated villages, nevertheless linear villages could also be identified among them. It is worth noting, that within the borders of the ten kilometre belt several municipalities could be determined in the Hungarian counties. Even more remarkable is the presence of extensive villages and settlements along. This is of remarkable impotence, not only for the aspect of population dispersion, but in the aspect of the bike trail and tourism development. It not only states, that the population is fairly displace within the borders, but furthermore imply the accessibility of infrastructure to other possible aspects of importance in tourism.

These municipalities and villages are fairly good connected with a road system and additionally, two separate highways run through the area. One highway links Letenye (Zala County) with Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, and the other connects Pecs and Mohacs (Baranya County) with the Hungarian capital. The same highway that runs through Zala County also runs through Somogy County, however, due to the fact that it does not connect the area inside the ‘’Amazon of Europe’’ region it is not relevant. What furthermore seems to be very common are the characteristics of the terrain in the ‘’Amazon of Europe’’. The respective counties also lay in Pannonian Basin (European Commission, n.d.), which makes the terrain appear flat with no to little mentionable elevations. The impressive accessibility of the three respective counties represent significance, especially in the aspect of international and national travel. Through the vast highway and road system it is noticeable that travel to and within is of no difficulty. Furthermore, the terrain presents and exceptional importance in the aspect of tourism development regarding the bike trail, as the flat surface presents effortless circumstance for it.

Of greater relevance, however, are the vast wood and arable lands which are represented inside these counties. The counties Zala and Somogy have

considerable amounts of land covered in woodland, which is made up of alluvial forest (European Commission, n.d.; Natura2000, n.d.), in comparison to Baranya County, which has almost none too little amounts of land, which is covered in forests. The majority of the land is however, used for arable land in all of the respective counties mentioned. This is also very clearly visible in the figures above, where the landscapes of the respective counties are displayed.

What is also very clearly visible is the number of smaller farms, which also has its reasons of Hungary being a country of past communist regime. Similar as in Slovenia, Hungary used to produce agricultural crops in collective farms, which were later privatized and divided into many smaller pieces amongst farmers (Petranović, 1988). It remains remarkable haw the dependency and incorporation of nature is seen through all of these counties so far. Not only does the local population depend on the agriculture and their arable land, but it also furthermore portrays a wide range of pristine and spacious nature. This is worth noting as not only does the nature positively affect the tourism, it is also part of the nature conservation framework, which additionally adds value to not only local population but also national and international guests.

Hungary was discovered to include three counties into the ‘’Amazon of Europe’’ region. Within these three counties Zala, Somogy and Baranya, several larger municipalities could be determined, which speaks for the remarkable population dispersion as well as accessibility to infrastructure.

Furthermore, a highway connection to all three counties could be identified, which speaks for the well-established accessibility of the respective counties.

The extraordinary accessibility is remarkable in the aspect of tourism development, as it allows effortless travel to and out of the region.

Furthermore, the influence of the Pannonian Basin is detectable through the flat surface of the counties. On them an array of woodlands as well as arable land can be found, speaking for the connection to nature and its importance to the region. Furthermore, not only does the terrain contributes to the attractiveness of the bike trail, but it also furthermore displays pristine nature

as well as the dependency and connection of the local population towards nature.

In the following the ‘’Amazon of Europe’’ regions most eastern area will be described within the respective NUTS of Serbia.