Great Hungarian Plain

Image:Hortobagy-ziehbrunnen.jpg Puszta, with a stable]]

Its boundaries are the Carpathians in the north and east, the Transdanubian Mountains and the Dinaric Alps in the southwest, and approximately the Sava river in the south.

Image:HU region 1. Alföld.png

Its territory covers approximately {{convert|52000|km2|abbr=on}} of Hungary, approximately 56% of its total area of {{convert|93030|km2|abbr=on}}. The highest point of the plain is Hoportyó ({{convert|183|m|abbr=on}}); the lowest point is the Tisza River. The terrain ranges from flat to rolling plains.

The most important Hungarian writers inspired by and associated with the plain are Ferenc Móra and Zsigmond Móricz, as well as the poets Sándor Petőfi and Gyula Juhász.

Hungarian scientists born on the plain include Zoltán Bay, physicist; János Irinyi, chemist, inventor of the noiseless match; János Kabay, pharmacologist; Gábor Kátai, physician and pharmacist; and Frigyes Korányi, physician and pulmonologist.

The most important river of the plain is the Tisza.

The notable cities and towns with medicinal baths are Debrecen, Berekfürdő, Cserkeszőlő, Gyula, Hajdúszoboszló, Orosháza, Szentes and Szolnok.

Among the cultural festivals and programmes characteristic of the region are the {{lang|hu|Csángófesztivál}} (Csángó Festival) in Jászberény, the {{lang|hu|Cseresznyefesztivál}} (Sweet Cherry Festival) in Nagykörű, the {{lang|hu|Gulyásfesztivál}} (Goulash Festival) in Szolnok, the {{lang|hu|Hídi Vásár}} (Bridge Fair) in Hortobágy National Park, the {{lang|hu|Hunniális}} at Ópusztaszer, the {{lang|hu|Szabadtéri Játékok}} (Open-air Theater) in Szeged, the {{lang|hu|Várjátékok}} (Castle Games) in Gyula, the {{lang|hu|Virágkarnevál}} (Flower Carnival) in Debrecen and the {{lang|hu|Bajai Halászléfőző Népünnepély}} (Fisherman's Soup Boiling Festival) in Baja.

Image:Tanya alfold.jpg]]

Image:Hortobágy.jpg on the Great Hungarian Plain with Racka sheep]]

The part of the plain located in Hungary comprises the following areas:

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• Mezőföld
• Sárrét
• Sárköz
• Drávamellék
• Kiskunság
• Jászság
• Pest Plain
• Heves Plain
• Borsodi-Mezőség
• Bodrogköz
• Tiszahát
• Szatmár Plain
• Maros-Körös köze
• Körös-vidék
• Nagykunság
• Hortobágy National Park
• Hajdúság
• Nyírség

{{div col end}}

The term is used in Serbia to denote the Hungarian portion of the Pannonian plain.

The portion of the Pannonian plain in Serbia is mostly divided into 3 large geographical areas: Bačka, Banat and Srem (Syrmia), most of which are located in the Vojvodina province.

The term is rarely used in Croatia, and is usually associated there with the geography of Hungary.

Parts of Pannonian Croatia can be considered an extension of Alföld, particularly eastern Slavonia and the connected parts of Syrmia.{{cite journal | url = http://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=28729&lang=en | language = hr | journal = Migration and Ethnic Themes | issn = 1848-9184 | publisher = Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies | location = Zagreb | volume = 23 | number = 3 | date = September 2007 | title = Hrvatska etnogeneza: pregled komponentnih etapa i interpretacija (s naglaskom na euroazijske/nomadske sadržaje) |trans-title=Croatian Ethnogenesis: A Review of Component Stages and Interpretations (with Emphasis on Eurasian/Nomadic Elements) | first1 = Emil | last1 = Heršak | first2 = Boris | last2 = Nikšić | page = 255 | quote = U velikoj mađarskoj nizini Alföld zapadno od Karpata tradicionalno su se smještale euroazijske nomadske skupine, a dio panonske Hrvatske može se smatrati ekstenzijom tog područja, osobito istočna Slavonija i s njome povezani dijelovi Srijema.[5]}}

The portion of the plain located in Slovakia is known as the Eastern Slovak Lowland.

The part of the plain located in Ukraine is known as the Transcarpathian Lowland.

In Romania, the plain (Rom. câmp or câmpia, from Lat. campus) includes the regions of Banat and Crişana. It is referred to in Romanian as The Western Plain ({{ill|Câmpia de Vest|ro}}).

File:Hungary 13th cent.png and Jazygia) in the Kingdom of Hungary in late 13th century]]

File:Tornyai Clouding over the Great Hungarian Plain.jpg: Clouding over the Great Hungarian Plain]]

During the prehistoric era, the Great Hungarian Plain was a place of cultural and technological changes, as well as an important meeting point of cultures of Eastern and Western Europe.{{cite book|last1=Milisauskas|first1=S.|title=European Prehistory: a Survey|date=2011|publisher=Springer}} It is a region of great archaeological importance to major European cultural transitions.

Agriculture began in the Great Hungarian Plain with the Early Neolithic Körös culture, located in present-day Serbia, 6000-5500 B.C.E.{{cite book|last1=Whittle|first1=A.|title=Europe in the Neolithic: the Creation of New Worlds|date=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press}} followed 5500 B.C.E. by the Linear Pottery culture (LBK){{cite book|last1=Kalicz|first1=N.|last2=Makkay|first2=J.|title=Die Linienbandkeramik in der Großen Ungarischen|date=1977|publisher=Akadémiai Kiadó}}{{cite book|last1=Sherratt|first1=A.|title=Economy and Society in Prehistoric Europe. Changing Perspectives|date=1997|publisher=Edinburgh University Press}}{{cite journal|last1=Oross|first1=K.|last2=Bánffy|first2=E.|title=Three successive waves of Neolithisation: LBK development in Transdanubia|journal=Doc. Praehist.|date=2009|volume=36|pages=175–189|doi=10.4312/dp.36.11|doi-access=free}} which later became the dominant agricultural culture of Europe. The LBK was followed by the Lengyel culture in the Late Neolithic 5000-3400 BC.

During the Early Bronze Age (2000 - 1800 BC), the growing demand for metal ores in Europe resulted in the new pan-European and intercontinental trade networks.{{cite book|last1=McIntosh|first1=J.|title=Handbook to Life in Prehistoric Europe|date=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press}} During that period cultures of the Great Hungarian Plain incorporated many elements from the other cultures of Bronze Age Near Eastern, Steppe and Central Europe

During the early Iron Age (first millennium BC), a variant of the Central European Hallstatt culture inhabited Transdanubia, while pre-Scythian and later Scythian cultures were found in the eastern region of the Great Hungarian Plain.

In 2014, a major study of DNA from burials in the Great Hungarian Plain was published.{{cite journal|last1=Gamba|first1=Cristina|last2=Jones|first2=Eppie R.|last3=Teasdale|first3=Matthew D.|last4=McLaughlin|first4=Russell L.|last5=Gonzalez-Fortes|first5=Gloria|last6=Mattiangeli|first6=Valeria|last7=Domboróczki|first7=László|last8=Kővári|first8=Ivett|last9=Pap|first9=Ildikó|last10=Anders|first10=Alexandra|last11=Whittle|first11=Alasdair|last12=Dani|first12=János|last13=Raczky|first13=Pál|last14=Higham|first14=Thomas F. G.|last15=Hofreiter|first15=Michael|last16=Bradley|first16=Daniel G.|last17=Pinhasi|first17=Ron|title=Genome flux and stasis in a five millennium transect of European prehistory|journal=Nature Communications|volume=5|year=2014|pages=5257|issn=2041-1723|doi=10.1038/ncomms6257|pmc=4218962|pmid=25334030}} The 5,000-year record indicated significant genomic shifts at the beginning of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, with periods of stability in between. The earliest Neolithic genome was similar to other European hunter-gatherers and surprisingly there was no evidence of lactase persistence at that period. The most recent samples, from the Iron Age, showed an eastern genomic influence contemporary with introduced Steppe burial rites. There was also a transition towards lighter pigmentation.

=== Nomadic migrations and conquests ===

The Hungarian plain became the heartland of the Eurasian nomads, being in its natural environment similar to the Pontic–Caspian steppe. The plain had formed the base for Huns, Avars, Magyars, Cumans, Jasz people and other nomadic tribes from the Eurasian Steppe.{{cite news |title=Y-chromosome haplogroups from Hun, Avar and conquering Hungarian period nomadic people of the Carpathian Basin |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-53105-5 |work=Nature |date=12 November 2019}}{{cite news |title=Hungary – History |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Hungary/History |work=Encyclopædia Britannica}}

• Berehove Raion
• Eurasian Steppe
• Little Hungarian Plain
• Pannonian Basin
• Pannonian Steppe
• Steppe Route
• Vienna Basin

{{commons category-inline|Great Hungarian Plain}}

• {{wikivoyage-inline|Great Hungarian Plain}}
• [http://fieldmuseum.org/explore/krap Körös Regional Archaeological Project]: Neolithic and Copper Age archaeology in the Great Hungarian Plain

{{Hungary geographical regions}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Hungarian Plain}}

Category:Eurasian Steppe

Category:Historical regions in Hungary

Category:Historical regions in the Kingdom of Hungary

Category:Geography of Vojvodina

Category:Plains of Croatia

Category:Plains of Hungary

Category:Plains of Romania

Category:Plains of Serbia

Category:Plains of Slovakia

Category:Plains of Ukraine

Category:Pannonian Plain