Its territory covers approximately of Hungary, approximately 56% of its total area of. The highest point of the plain is Hoportyó ; 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 Tisza. The notable cities and towns with medicinal baths are Debrecen, Berekfürdő, Cserkeszőlő, Gyula, Hajdúszoboszló, Szentes and Szolnok. Among the cultural festivals and programmes characteristic of the region are the Csángófesztivál in Jászberény, the Cseresznyefesztivál in Nagykörű, the Gulyásfesztivál in Szolnok, the Hídi Vásár in Hortobágy National Park, the Hunniális at Ópusztaszer, the Szabadtéri Játékok in Szeged, the Várjátékok in Gyula, the Virágkarnevál in Debrecen and the Bajai Halászléfőző Népünnepély in Baja. on the Great Hungarian Plain with Racka sheep The part of the plain located in Hungary comprises the following areas:
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, most of which are located in the Vojvodina province.
Plain in Croatia
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.
In Romania, the plain includes the regions of Banat and Crişana. It is referred to in Romanian as The Western Plain.
Prehistoric culture
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. It is a region of great archaeological importance to major European cultural transitions. Agriculture began in the Great Hungarian Plain with the Early NeolithicKörös culture, located in present-day Serbia, 6.000-5.500 B.C.E. followed 5.500 B.C.E. by the Linear Pottery culture 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, the growing demand for metal ores in Europe resulted in the new pan-European and intercontinental trade networks. During that period cultures of the Great Hungarian Plain incorporated many elements from the other cultures of Bronze AgeNear Eastern, Steppe and Central Europe During the early Iron Age, a variant of the Central EuropeanHallstatt culture inhabited Transdanubia, while pre-Scythian and later Scythian cultures were found in the eastern region of the Great Hungarian Plain.
Genomic analysis of prehistoric populations
In 2014, a major study of DNA from burials in the Great Hungarian Plain was published. 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.
