Khilchevskyi V.K. Features of hydrography and water resources of Hungary
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2306-5680.2025.3.1
Hydrology, Hydrochemistry and Hydroecology. 2025. № 3(77)
Publication language: Ukrainian
Authors:
Khilchevskyi V.K., Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
The article is devoted to the study of hydrography and water resources of the territory of Hungary. The country’s hydrographic conditions are determined by its location in the center of the Carpathian basin, therefore its entire territory belongs to the Danube basin. The river enters the territory of Hungary in transit. Danube (from Slovakia) and Tisza is the largest tributary of the Danube (from Ukraine). Another large river – the Drava (a tributary of the Danube) forms the border between Hungary and Croatia. The annual water balance shows a surplus – about 100 km3 of water flows south from the country through rivers. Only 10% of this volume falls on precipitation, the rest is brought by rivers from the surrounding areas. There are about 9,800 rivers in the country, of which only 1,031 rivers have a catchment area exceeding 10 km2. According to the hydrographic zoning of the territory of Hungary, carried out in accordance with the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive, one area of the river basin is distinguished – the Danube, which includes 4 sub-basins: the Danube itself; Tisza; Drava; lake Balaton.
About 3,500 lakes are included in the list of the country’s lakes. reservoir It includes natural lakes, which account for 25% of all water bodies, and man-made lakes, which account for 75% of the country’s water bodies. Balaton is the largest freshwater lake in the country and in the central part of Europe. The largest reservoir is Lake Tisza on the river Tisza. The average annual volume of total renewable water resources in Hungary is 104 km3/year, of which 6% are internal (local) water resources (6 km3/year), and 94% are external water resources (98 km3/year). The indicator of total water resources per 1 person is 10,697 m3/year, internal water resources per 1 person is 642 m3/year. During 1992-2018 there was a noticeable reduction in the use of water resources in the country. Thus, the total withdrawal of surface water decreased by 1.8 times – from 7137 million m3 (1992) to 4033 million m3 (2018). Structure of surface water use in 2018: industry – 82.2%; agriculture – 9.5%. communal water supply – 6.2%; recreational water use – 1.5%; ecological water use – 0.6%. A modern institutional structure of water resources management has been created in the country.
Keywords: hydrography; water bodies; hydrographic zoning; river; lake; reservoir; water resources; management; Danube; Tisza; Hungary.
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HOW TO CITE
Khilchevskyi, V.K. (2025). Features of hydrography and water resources of Hungary. Hidrolohiia, hidrokhimiia i hidroekolohiia [Hydrology, Hydrochemistry and Hydroecology], 3(77), 6-18 (in Ukrainian, abstr. in English). https://doi.org/10.17721/2306-5680.2025.3.1