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Hungary Land, Climate, and Forests
Arable land, pastures, meadows, vineyards, and gardens
occupy
70 percent of the total land area. Hungary has large
tracts of
fertile black soil, especially in the Great Plain region;
although the climate can be harsh, it is favorable for
agriculture
(see Climate
, ch. 2). Concentrated in
mountainous
areas, the forests occupy about 1.5 million hectares and
contain
mostly deciduous trees of little value except for holding
moisture. The government launched an extensive
reforestation
effort after World War II, but in the late 1980s domestic
timber
still supplied only 10 percent of the country's needs.
Data as of September 1989
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