Hungary Fact File

As the World Athletics Championships are taking place in Hungary this year, we thought you might like to know some fab facts about this cool country.

Landlocked

Buda and Pest

The capital of Hungary is Budapest. It’s made up of two parts – Buda and Pest, which are split by a river. People come from all over the world to see the cities’ beautiful sights and to bathe in the famous thermal pools.

Hungary is a country located in central Europe. It’s a landlocked country, which means it has no coastline. It’s surrounded by seven other countries – Slovakia, Austria, Ukraine, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia.

I ncred i ble

I nventors

Lots of famous people were born in Hungary, including Erno Rubik – the inventor of the Rubik’s Cube! While we’re thinking about inventions, the ballpoint pen was also invented by a Hungarian named Laszlo Biro.

Delightful Danube

The River Danube ows through the middle of Hungary, including Budapest. This epic river ows through ten nations on its way to the Black Sea. No other river in the world passes through so many countries.

Forty-Four Letters

Flag It!

Hungary’s ag is red, white and green. The colours are believed to represent different things – white for Hungary’s rivers, green for the mountains and red to remember the blood shed in many battles.

Á Cs Zs Sz

Learning Hungarian is not easy. It’s very different to other European languages –it even has 44 letters in the alphabet!

´´ U

Dz Dzs Í Gy Ly Ny Ty Ó Ö O ´´ É É Ú

M mm… Yeehaw!

The national dish of Hungary is gulyas (goulash). It’s a beef stew cooked with peppers, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, carrots and paprika. Paprika is a favourite spice in Hungarian cooking.

Did you know there are cowboys in Hungary? The Great Hungarian Plain is home to Magyar cowboys. Their traditional clothing is a blue or white linen shirt, black trousers and a black wide-brimmed hat with a feather.

Living a healthy and an active lifestyle and caring for your physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

Healthy Habits

Athletes have to be so t and healthy to do the job they do. As the World Athletics Championships start this week, it’s the perfect time to think about how important it is to keep our bodies and minds healthy. The rst part of a healthy lifestyle involves being active and getting enough exercise.

Why is Exercise So Important?

Exercise helps make our bodies tter, stronger and healthier. It’s particularly good for our heart, lungs, bones and muscles. It can even help us avoid getting ill! But did you know that exercise can also increase how happy we feel, improve our moods and make us feel more relaxed? Physical activity releases chemicals in our brains and bodies which help us deal with stress and reduce anxious feelings. Exercise can even boost brainpower to help with concentration at school.

Get Active

Experts say that children should do two types of physical activity every week. The rst type is aerobic exercise and the second type is exercises to strengthen muscles and bones.

Aerobic Exercise

Everybody is different so, thankfully, there are loads of different ways to exercise. Aerobic exercise is basically anything that raises your heart rate, makes you breathe faster and feel warmer. The aim is to try to complete around 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous activity a day. The 60 minutes don’t have to be in one go – spread them across the day to avoid sitting or not moving for too long.

Here are some awesome activities that can help to clock up the 60 minutes…

Muscles and Bones Jumping

Activities that strengthen muscles and bones are important too. These include things, such as…

Martial Arts Football Press-ups Sit-ups Gymnastics

Club Together

Exercising on your own is great, but it’s also lots of fun to be active with friends or family. This could be a family bike ride, footie in the park with friends or physical education lessons at school. It’s also really fun to join a club or group, and it can be a really good way to meet new friends. Team sports, such as football, rugby, netball or basketball are great for practising working together, sharing skills and learning how to deal with winning or losing.

If you fancy a bit of ‘me time’, some types of exercise are great ways to enjoy some time alone. Horse riding, running, swimming, sur ng or skateboarding are all activities that can be done alone or in a group. The best of both worlds!

Other activities, such as dancing or martial arts allow people to express themselves and learn new skills. Whether it’s individually or alongside others, there are so many choices to keep moving and active.

Check out next week’s KA! World to read about the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet