Hungarian people Totally Explained

Everything about Hungarians totally explained

Hungarians or Magyars are an ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. There are around 9.97 million Magyars in Hungary (as of 2001).
The "H-" prefix in many languages (Hungarians, Hongrois, Hungarus etc.) is a later addition. It was taken over from the name of the "Huns", a semi-nomadic tribe that briefly lived in the area of present-day Hungary and, according to legends originating in the medieval period, was the people from which the Magyars arose. The identification of the "Hungarians" with the "Huns" has often occurred in historiography and literature. Even today, Hun names like Attila, Réka, and Ildikó are popular among Hungarians. This identification began to be disputed in the late nineteenth century, and is still a source of major controversy among scholars who insist that there could be no direct connection between the two.
"Magyar" is the term Hungarians refer to themselves or to their language in their own language. The English equivalent for the word would be "Hungarian". However the word "Magyar" is frequently used in English context. In most of the cases, it's used, when referring to Hungarian nationality, ethnicity, and even more general, when describing the medieval nomadic Hungarian/Magyar tribes. Some sources claim "Magyar" to be the proper form instead of Hungarian, although "Hungarian" is the form that took root in the English language over the centuries.

Many theories exist on the origins and meanings of the word "Magyar"", although the etymology of the word Hungary/Hungarian is accompanied by less debate. In Old slavic texts Hungarians were referred to as Ugors or Ogurs (Ugri), in Byzantine and early Latin texts uniguri, Ungri words were used, presumably from the Turkic word On ogur, meaning ten arrows, for example ten tribes (the traditional Hungarian tribes (Megyer, Jenő, Keszi, Nyék, Kér, Tarján, while Kürt and Gyarmat merged into one tribe making it seven total) joined by three Kabar tribes whose names are not known for sure (with the usual suspects being Ság, Ladány, Berény, Tárkány). Later, from the Unugor form evolved the words Ungarus, Ungar, Venger. In the middle ages the Latin Ungarus, Ungaria words changed to Hungarus, Hungaria, that also referred to the Hungarians being related to the Huns, a common belief until the 19th century. This finally was the base for many languages' word for Hungarian/Hungary.

Ethnic affiliations and origins

The origin of the Hungarians is partly disputed. The most widely-accepted Finno-Ugric theory of origin from the late nineteenth century is based primarily on linguistic and ethnographical arguments. Contesting these, the theory is criticized as relying too much on August Schleicher's Stammbaumtheorie of historical linguistics, and some cite that Finno-Ugric-speaking peoples have a wide range of cultural, ethnic and genetic variation. It should also be noted that though modern-day Hungarians have a predominantly European genetic makeup, one research states that about 13% of the population have retained their Uralic genes, while another sees no genetic continuity. There are also other theories stating that the Magyars are descendants of Scythians, Huns and/or Avars. These other theories tend to be based upon unsound critical methodology, especially in regard to existing linguistic evidence, so most scholars dismiss them as speculation.
Based on linguistic research the closest related Finno-Ugric groups to the Hungarians are the Khanty people and the Mansi people (or Voguls).

Pre-fourth century AD

Sometime during the fourth millennium BC, the Uralic-speaking peoples who were living in the central and southern regions of the Urals split up. The peoples speaking Finno-Ugric languages dispersed primarily towards the west and northwest and came into contact with Iranian speakers who were spreading northwards. From at least 2000 BC onwards, the Ugrian speakers became distinguished from the rest of the Finno-Ugric community. They interacted with the Andronovo Culture, the evidence for that comes from burial mounds and settlement sites Hungarian settlement in the area was approved by the Pope when their leaders accepted Christianity, and Stephen I the Saint (Szent István) was crowned King of Hungary in 1001. The century between the Magyars' arrival from the eastern European plains and the consolidation of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1001 was dominated by pillaging campaigns across Europe, from Dania (Denmark) to the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal).
   At this time, the Hungarian nation numbered between 25,000 and 1,000,000 people. The Slavic population in present-day Hungary were culturally assimilated by the Magyar culture.
   The name "Hungarian" has also a wider meaning, as it once referred to all inhabitants of the Kingdom of Hungary irrespective of their ethnicity.
   The first accurate measurements of the population of the Kingdom of Hungary including ethnic composition were carried out in 1850-51. There is a debate among Magyar and non-Magyar (especially Slovak and Romanian) historians about the possible changes in the ethnic structure throughout history:

Some historians, especially Hungarians, support the theory that the Magyars' percentage in the Carpathian Basin was at an almost constant 80% during the Middle Ages, and began to decrease only at the time of the Ottoman conquest, reaching as low as around 39% (or 29% according to historians from outside Hungary) in the end of the eighteenth century. The decline of the Magyars was due to the constant wars, famines and plagues during the 150 years of Ottoman rule. The main zones of war were the territories inhabited by the Magyars, so the death toll among them was much higher than among other nationalities. In the 18th century their percentage declined further because of the influx of new settlers from Germany, Serbia, and other countries.

Others, particularly Slovak and Romanian historians, tend to emphasise the multi-ethnic nature of the Kingdom even in the Middle Ages and argue that the drastic change in the ethnic structure hypothesized by Hungarian historians in fact didn't occur. Therefore, the Magyars are supposed to have accounted only for about 30-40% of the Kingdom's population since its establishment. In particular, there's a fierce debate among Magyar and Romanian historians about the ethnic composition of Transylvania through the times; see Origin of the Romanians. In the nineteenth century, the percentage of Magyars in the Kingdom of Hungary rose gradually, reaching over 50% by 1900, mostly because of (economic) immigration, and partially because of some magyarization. Spontaneous assimilation was an important factor, especially among the German and Jewish minorities and the citizens of the bigger towns. On the other hand, about 1.5 million people (of whom about two-thirds were non-Hungarian) left the Kingdom of Hungary between 1890-1910 to escape from poverty.
   The years 1918 to 1920 were a turning point in the Magyars' history. By the Treaty of Trianon, the Kingdom had been cut into several parts, leaving only a quarter of its original size. One third of the Magyars became minorities in the neighbouring countries. During the remainder of the twentieth century, the Magyar population of Hungary grew from 7.1 million (1920) to around 10.4 million (1980), in spite of losses during the Second World War and the wave of emigration after the attempted revolution in 1956. The number of Hungarians in the neighbouring countries mostly remained the same or slightly decreased, mostly due to assimilation (sometimes forced; see Slovakization and Romanianization) and emigration to Hungary (in the 1990s, especially from Transylvania and Vojvodina).
   After the "baby boom" of the 1960s, a serious demographic crisis began to develop in Hungary and its neighbours. The Magyar population reached its greatest in 1980, after which it began to decline. This is expected to continue at least until 2050, when the population would number around seven to eight million.
Today, the Magyars represent around 35% of the population of the Carpathian Basin. Their number is around twelve to thirteen million. While other ethnic groups increased their numbers two, three or even more times during the twentieth century, the Magyar population stagnated. Between 1950 and 2000, the increase in Hungary's population was the third slowest in the world, after Bulgaria and St. Kitts and Nevis: 8.6% (from 9,338,000 to 10,137,000).
   There was a referendum in Hungary in December 2004 on whether to grant Hungarian citizenship to Magyars living outside Hungary's borders (for example without requiring a permanent residence in Hungary). The referendum failed due to the insufficient voter turnout.

Later influences

Besides the various peoples mentioned above, the Magyars assimilated or were influenced by subsequent peoples arriving in the Carpathian Basin. Among these are the Cumanians, Pechenegs, Jazones, Germans and other Western European settlers in the Middle Ages. Romanians and Slovaks have lived together and blended with Magyars since early medieval times. Turks, who occupied the central part of present-day Hungary from c.1541 until c.1699, inevitably exerted an influence, as did the various nations (Germans, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats and others) that resettled depopulated territories after their departure. The advanced economic and political conditions of the Slavs, who had preceded the Magyars' arrival but continued to migrate thereafter, and those of the Germans exerted a significant influence; several Hungarian words relating to agriculture, politics, religion and handicrafts were borrowed from Slavic languages. Both Jewish and Roma (Gypsy) minorities have been living in Hungary since the Middle Ages.

Maps and images

Image:Magyars in Austro-Hungarian Empire 1911.gif|Magyars in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1911 Image:Szekelys-in-hungary.png|Migrations of the Székely Hungarians Image:Hungarians in Romania.png|Hungarians in Romania Image:Szekely03.png|Hungarians in Harghita, Covasna, and Mureş counties of Romania (2002 data) Image:Vojvodina ethnic2002.png|Hungarians in Vojvodina, Serbia Image:National costume and dance Csárdás.jpg|Csárdás folk dance in Skorenovac, Vojvodina, Serbia Image:Székely village.jpg|A Székely village in Covasna County, Romania Image:Dist_of_hu_lang_europe.png|Regions where Hungarian is spoken Further Information

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