Hun·ga·ry /ˈhʌŋɡəri/ a country in central Europe, east of Austria and west of Romania. Population: 9,939,470 (2014). Capital: Budapest. From 1945 to 1989, Hungary was one of the Communist countries of Eastern Europe. In 1956, people all over the world were shocked when the army of the former Soviet Union invaded Hungary, preventing the government's attempts to become more democratic. The Hungarian people's fight against this is called the Hungarian Uprising. Hungary became a member of the EU in 2004. The people of Hungary are sometimes called Magyars.