List of cities and towns of Hungary in the context of "Southern Great Plain"

Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and Slovenia to the southwest, and Austria to the west. Hungary lies within the drainage basin of the Danube River and is dominated by great lowland plains. It has a population of 9.6 million, consisting mostly of ethnic Hungarians (Magyars) and a significant Romani minority. Hungarian is the official language, and among the few in Europe outside the Indo-European family. Budapest is the country's capital and largest city, and the dominant cultural and economic centre.

Prior to the foundation of the Hungarian state, various peoples settled in the territory of present-day Hungary, including the Celts, Romans, Huns, Germanic peoples, Avars and Slavs. Hungarian statehood is traced to the Principality of Hungary, which was established in the late ninth century by Álmos and his son Árpád through the conquest of the Carpathian Basin. King Stephen I ascended the throne in 1000 and converted his realm to a Christian kingdom. The medieval Kingdom of Hungary was a European power, reaching its height in the Late Middle Ages.

Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is Hungary's primate city with 1.7 million inhabitants and its greater metro area has a population of about 3.3 million, representing one-third of the country's population and producing above 40% of the country's economic output. Budapest is the political, economic, and cultural center of the country, among the ten largest cities in the European Union and the second largest urban area in Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest stands on the River Danube and is strategically located at the center of the Pannonian Basin, lying on ancient trade routes linking the hills of Transdanubia with the Great Plain.

Budapest is a global city, consistently ranked among the 50 most important cities in the world, belongs to the narrow group of cities with a GDP over US$100 billion, named a global cultural capital as having high-quality human capital, and is among the 35 most liveable cities in the world. The city is home to over 30 universities with more than 150,000 students, most of them attending large public research universities that are highly ranked worldwide in their fields, such as Eötvös Loránd University in natural sciences, Budapest University of Technology in engineering and technology, MATE in life sciences, and Semmelweis University in medicine. Budapest also hosts various international organizations, including several UN agencies, the WHO Budapest Centre, IOM regional centre, the EU headquarters of EIT and CEPOL, as well as the first foreign office of China Investment Agency. Budapest opened the first underground transit line on the European continent in 1896, which is still in use as M1 Millennium Underground, and today the fixed-track metro and tram network forms the backbone of Budapest's public transport system and transports 2.2 million people daily, making it a significant urban transit system.

Szeged (/ˈsɛɡɛd/ SEG-ed, Hungarian: [ˈsɛɡɛd] ; see also other alternative names) is the third largest city of Hungary, the largest city and regional centre of the Southern Great Plain and the county seat of Csongrád-Csanád county. The University of Szeged is one of the most distinguished universities in Hungary.

The Szeged Open Air (Theatre) Festival (first held in 1931) is one of the main attractions, held every summer and celebrated as the Day of the City on 21 May.

Pécs (/peɪtʃ/ PAYTCH, Hungarian: [ˈpeːt͡ʃ] ; Croatian: Pečuh; Slovak: Päťkostolie; also known by alternative names) is the fifth largest city in Hungary, on the slopes of the Mecsek mountains in the country's southwest, close to the border with Croatia. It is the administrative and economic centre of Baranya County, and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pécs.

A city dating back to ancient times, settled by the Celts and the Romans, it was made an episcopal see in early medieval Hungary. It has the oldest university in the country, and is one of its major cultural centers. Pécs has a rich cultural and architectural heritage stemming from 150 years of Ottoman rule, and it contains the largest number of Turkish Ottoman buildings found in any city in Central Europe. It is historically a multi-ethnic city where many cultures have interacted through 2,000 years of history. In recent times, it has been recognized for its cultural heritage, including being named as one of the European Capital of Culture cities. The Roman-era Christian necropolis in Pécs was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2000.