The history of Hungary is referred to as a roller coaster due to its period of extreme prosperity, followed immediately by devastation. This paragraph will briefly cover centuries of Hungarian history, pre-16th century, to give an insight into the Hungarian mindset for resilience. Hungary, as a country, is referred to by two names: Hungary, or Magyarország in Hungarian. The people are called Hungarians or the Magyars in Hungarian. The difference stems from the original people of Hungary, the Magyar tribes from Siberia. As was very common in the mid-first century, many nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes moved between Asia and Europe, settling for periods of time and then moving on. The Magyars came and settled in the Carpathian Basin (the geographic location of Hungary in the European continent). After several fights between the Holy Roman Empire and a near eradication of the Magyar people, the leader of the Magyars dictated a conversion to Christianity for all the people and was baptized as Istvan (or Stephen). The kingdom of Hungary officially came into being in 1000 AD.
