Hungarian diaspora
The Hungarian diaspora (Hungarian: magyar diaszpóra) comprises the total ethnic Hungarian population located outside current-day Hungary.
There are two main groups of the diaspora. The first group includes those who are autochthonous to their homeland and live outside Hungary since the border changes of the post-World War I Treaty of Trianon of 1920. The victorious forces redrew the borders of Hungary so that it runs through Hungarian-majority areas. As a consequence, 3.3 million Hungarians found themselves outside the new borders. Although those Hungarians are usually not counted into the term "Hungarian diaspora", they are listed as such in this article. The other main group is the emigrants who left Hungary at various times (such as the Hungarian Revolution of 1956). There has been some emigration since Hungary joined the EU, especially to countries such as Germany, but that has been less drastic than for certain other countries of Central Europe countries like Poland and Slovakia.
Additionally is the Magyarab people, a small ethnic group in Egypt and Sudan.
Distribution by country
Country | Hungarian population | Note | Article |
---|---|---|---|
Neighbor countries of Hungary | |||
Romania | 1,002,151 (2021) (excluding Csángós) | Native to Transylvania, Csángós in Western Moldavia (moved from Transylvania there in the past), and a very small community of Szeklers also in Bukovina (see also Székelys of Bukovina) | Hungarians in Romania |
Slovakia | 456,154 (2021) | Autochthonous | Hungarians in Slovakia |
Serbia | 184,442 (2021) | Autochthonous in Vojvodina | Hungarians in Serbia |
Ukraine | 156,600 (2001) | Autochthonous in Zakarpattia Oblast | Hungarians in Ukraine |
Austria | 107,347 (2024) | Autochthonous in Burgenland | Hungarians in Austria |
Croatia | 10,315 (2021) | Autochthonous in Croatia, except Istria and Dalmatia | Hungarians in Croatia |
Slovenia | 10,500 (2021) | Autochthonous in Prekmurje | Hungarians in Slovenia |
Other countries | |||
United States | 1,563,081 (2006) | Immigrants | Hungarian Americans |
Canada | 348,085 (2016) | Immigrants | Hungarian Canadians |
Germany | 296,000 (2021) | Immigrants | Hungarians in Germany |
Israel | 200,000 to 250,000 (2000s) | Most immigrants are Hungarian Jews | |
United Kingdom | 200,000 to 250,000 (2020) | Immigrants | Hungarians in the United Kingdom |
France | 200,000 to 250,000 (2021) | Immigrants | Hungarians in France |
Brazil | 80,000 (2002) | Immigrants | Hungarian Brazilians |
Russia | 76,500 (2002) | Immigrants | Hungarians in Russia |
Australia | 69,167 (2011) | Immigrants | Hungarian Australians |
Chile | 50,000 (2012) | Immigrants | Hungarians in Chile |
Argentina | 40,000 to 50,000 (2016) | Immigrants | Hungarian Argentines |
Sweden | 33,018 (2018) | Immigrants | Hungarians in Sweden |
Switzerland | 27,000 (2019) | Immigrants | |
Netherlands | 26,172 (2020) | Immigrants | |
Czech Republic | 20,000 (2013) | Immigrants; people of Hungarian descent forcibly relocated from the Slovak part of the Third Czechoslovak Republic | |
Belgium | 15,000 (2013) | Immigrants | |
Italy | 14,000 (2019) | Immigrants | |
Spain | 10,000 (2019) | Immigrants | |
Ireland | 9,000 (2019) | Immigrants | |
Norway | 8,316 (2015) | Immigrants | |
New Zealand | 7,000 (2013) | Immigrants | Hungarian New Zealander |
Turkey | 6,800 (2001) | Immigrants | Hungarians in Turkey |
Denmark | 6,000 (2019) | Immigrants | |
Japan | 5,600 (2022) | Immigrants | |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 4,000[citation needed] | Immigrants | |
South Africa | 4,000 (2013) | Immigrants | |
Venezuela | 4,000 (2013) | Immigrants | Hungarian Venezuelans |
Mexico | 3,500 (2006) | Immigrants | Hungarian Mexicans |
Finland | 3,000 (2019) | Immigrants | Hungarians in Finland |
Uruguay | 3,000 (2013) | Immigrants | Hungarian Uruguayans |
Greece | 2,387 (2018) | Immigrants | |
Luxembourg | 2,000 (2019) | Immigrants | |
Poland | 1,728 (2011) | Immigrants | Hungarians in Poland |
Portugal | 1,059 (2021) | Foreign citizens only; for instance, excludes 85 Luso-Hungarians who have acquired Portuguese citizenship since 2008 | |
Jordan | 1,000 (2019) | Immigrants | |
Cyprus | 620 (2018) | Immigrants | |
Kazakhstan | 500 (2021) | Immigrants | |
Montenegro | 400[citation needed] | Immigrants | |
Latvia | 300[citation needed] | Immigrants | |
Uzbekistan | 300[citation needed] | Immigrants | |
Philippines | 206 (2010) | Immigrants | |
Iceland | 200 (2015) | Immigrants | |
North Macedonia | 200[citation needed] | Immigrants | |
Estonia | 173 (2018) | Immigrants | |
Bulgaria | 153 (2015) | Immigrants | |
Vietnam | 100 (2015) | Immigrants | |
Liechtenstein | 44 (2015) | Immigrants | |
Lithuania | 23 (2015) | Immigrants | |
Total | 5.2–5.5 million | Hungarians |
Hungarian immigration patterns to Western Europe increased in the 1990s and especially since 2004, after Hungary's admission in the European Union. Thousands of Hungarians from Hungary sought available work through guest-worker contracts in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Spain, and Portugal.
Hungarian citizenship
A proposal supported by the DAHR to grant Hungarian citizenship to Hungarians living in Romania but without meeting Hungarian-law residency requirements was narrowly defeated at a 2004 referendum in Hungary. The referendum was invalid because of not enough participants. After the failure of the 2004 referendum, the leaders of the Hungarian ethnic parties in the neighboring countries formed the HTMSZF organization in January 2005, as an instrument lobbying for preferential treatment in the granting of Hungarian citizenship.
In 2010 some amendments were passed in Hungarian law facilitating an accelerated naturalization process for ethnic Hungarians living abroad; among other changes, the residency-in-Hungary requirement was waived. Between 2011 and 2012, 200,000 applicants took advantage of the new, accelerated naturalization process; there were another 100,000 applications pending in the summer of 2012. As of February 2013, the Hungarian government has granted almost 400,000 citizenships to Hungarians ‘beyond the borders’. In June 2013, Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén announced that he expects the number to reach about half a million by the end of the year.
The new citizenship law, which took effect on 1 January 2011, did not grant however the right to vote, even in national elections, to Hungarian citizens unless they also reside in Hungary on a permanent basis. A month later however, the Fidesz government announced that it intended to grant the right to vote to its new citizens. In 2014, the Hungarian citizens from abroad are able to participate in the parliamentary elections without Hungarian residency, however they can not vote for a candidate running for the seat in the single-seat constituency but for a party list.
In May 2010, Slovakia announced it would strip Slovak citizenship from anyone applying for the Hungarian one. Romania's President Traian Băsescu declared in October 2010 that "We have no objections to the adoption by the Hungarian government and parliament of a law making it easier to grant Hungarian citizenship to ethnic Hungarians living abroad."
Famous people of Hungarian descent
Country | Name | Occupation | Source |
---|---|---|---|
France | Gyula Halász (Brassaï) | Photographer, sculptor, medalist, writer, and filmmaker | |
Austria | Ferenc Anisits | Engineer | |
United States | Albert-László Barabási | Scientist scale-free networks | |
United States | Drew Barrymore | Entertainer/actress | |
Austria | Béla Barényi | Inventor: Most patents in Europe +2500 | |
Germany | Josef von Báky | Film director | |
United States | Béla Bartók | Composer | |
United States | Zoltán Bay | Scientist | |
United States | György von Békésy | Scientist-Nobel Prize winner | |
United States | Pal Benko | Chessplayer - won the U.S. Open a record 8 times | |
United States | Adrien Brody | Entertainer/actor: Youngest ever AA winner in his category | |
United States | György Buzsáki | Scientist-"Brain Prize" winner (1st time) | |
United States | Mihály Csíkszentmihályi | Scientist: Concept: Flow (psychology) | |
United States | Larry Csonka | American football fullback | |
United States | Tony Curtis | Entertainer/actor | |
France | György Cziffra | Pianist | |
United States Mexico |
Louis C.K. | Entertainer/comedian | |
United States | Rodney Dangerfield | Entertainer/comedian | |
United States | Frank Darabont | Film-director/screenplaywriter (Shawshank Redemption: IMDb No. 1) | |
United States | Ernst von Dohnányi | Composer/pianist/conductor | |
United States | Bobby Fischer (Neményi) | Chessplayer | |
Germany | Ferenc Fricsay | Conductor | |
United Kingdom | Stephen Fry | Entertainer/comedian | |
United States | Zsa Zsa Gabor | Entertainer/actress | |
United States | Andrew Grove | Business/entrepreneur | |
United States | Peter Carl Goldmark | Scientist/inventor | |
United States | Mickey Hargitay | Artist/bodybuilder | |
United States | Harry Houdini | Escapologist & Magician | |
United States | Tim Howard | Soccer goalkeeper | |
Sweden Germany |
George de Hevesy | Scientist/inventor | |
United States | John George Kemeny | Scientist/inventor | |
United States | Laszlo B. Kish | Scientist | |
Sweden | George Klein (biologist) | Scientist and author | |
Austria | Ferenc Krausz | Scientist-Nobel Prize winner | |
Belgium | Alexandre Lamfalussy | Economist | |
Germany | Philipp Lenard | Scientist-Nobel Prize winner | |
United States | Bela Lugosi | Actor-"Dracula" | |
Mexico | Luis Mandoki | Film director | |
United States | Ilona Massey | Actress | |
United States | Paul Neményi | Scientist/mathematician | |
United States | John von Neumann | Mathematician Father of the Computer. | |
United States | Thomas Peterffy | Engineer/NASDAQ-founder | |
United States | Joaquin Phoenix | Entertainer/actor | |
United States | Joseph Pulitzer | Journalist | |
United Kingdom | Árpád Pusztai | Scientist - Leader on plant lecitins. | |
Slovakia | Ľudovít Rajter | Conductor | |
Austria | Franz Schmidt | Composer | |
United States | Monica Seles | Tennis player | |
United States | Ivan Soltész | Scientist | |
United States | Gene Simmons | Entertainer/musician | |
United States | Jerry Seinfeld | Entertainer/comedian | |
France | Nicolas Sarkozy | 23rd President of the French Republic | |
Canada | Hans Selye | Scientist | |
United States | Charles Simonyi | Scientist | |
United Kingdom | Péter Somogyi | Scientist (1st "Brain" Prize) | |
United States | Victor Szebehely | Scientist | |
United States | Albert Szent-Györgyi | Scientist-Nobel Prize winner | |
United States | Mária Telkes | Scientist | |
United Kingdom | Kálmán Tihanyi | Scientist/Inventor Television | |
France | Victor Vasarely | Artist-Founder of OP-art | |
United States | Gabriel von Wayditch | Composer: 14 Grand operas, the longest ever | |
Germany | Richárd Zsigmondy | Scientist-Nobel Prize winner | |
Czech Republic | Tomáš Ujfaluši | Football player | |
United States | Leó Szilárd | Scientist/inventor "Father of A-bomb" | |
United States | Edward Teller | Scientist/inventor "Father of H-bomb" | |
United States | Katalin Karikó | Scientist/inventor mRNA vaccine-Nobel Prize winner |
Politics
Ever since the Hungarian diaspora can vote in elections in Hungary in 2012, they have supported the ruling Fidesz with major records, in the 2014 Hungarian parliamentary election Fidesz won over 95% of the vote, in the 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election over 96% while in the 2019 European Parliament election in Hungary Fidesz got 96%.
- In Romania, Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania representing the Hungarian minority interests of Romania.
- In Serbia, Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians representing the Hungarian minority interests in Serbia.
- In Slovakia, Hungarian Alliance (Slovak political party) representing the Hungarian minority interests in Slovakia.
- In Croatia, Democratic Union of Hungarians of Croatia representing the Hungarian minority interests in Croatia.
Gallery
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John von Neumann (1903–1957), Hungarian-American mathematician and physicist of Hungarian descent.
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Mickey Hargitay was a Hungarian-American actor and Mr. Universe 1955.