The Great Hungarian Plain is generally considered as the typical Hungarian region. The best known Hungarian words all over the world – puszta, csárda, betyár, gulyás, paprika – are also connected here. Specific natural formations of this territory are the bleak flatland with its alkaline soil, the mirage, the sand drift, or the shallow waters and thick reeds providing home for a colourful avifauna.

Upland is the historical name for the territory of the northern mountain range. The market towns, emerging in the region between the rivers Ipoly and Bodrog are the characteristic settlements of the area. Their privileged position (rights for having markets, electing magistrates, free options to move and inherit) differentiated them from the serfs of the neighbouring villages.