Location
Each FISU World University Championship is more than just a sporting event — it’s a unique opportunity to discover a new culture, explore a region, and connect with a vibrant academic community.
This page introduces you to the host country and city for this edition, highlighting their history, key features, and commitment to sport and youth.
Hungary
Population: 10.2 million
Area: 93.036 km2
Capital: Budapest (Territory: 525 km2)
Time zone: GMT +1 hour
Official language: Hungarian
State form: republic
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe surrounded by Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. The Danube River forms part of Hungary’s north-western border with Slovakia, and then flows south through Budapest, dividing Hungary into two general regions. A low, rolling plain known as the Great Hungarian Plain, covers most of the region east of the Danube extending east to Romania and south to Serbia. Hungary has a continental climate with cold, cloudy, humid winters and warm to hot summers.
Szeged
Entitled as the capital of sprint canoeing, Szeged is the seat of Csongrád County and the fourth largest city in Hungary. It is situated near the south-eastern border of Hungary right by the Tisza River. A large part of the town lies on the right bank, while Újszeged (New Szeged), a suburban district of residential homes and parks is on the left bank of the Tisza.
Szeged is the cultural and economic centre of South-Eastern Hungary and a thriving university town, which is also famous for its open-air theatre. The city centre is marked by the medieval Tower of St. Demetrius and the stately twin spires of the Votive Church. This cathedral was built in the first decades of the 20th century to commemorate the revival of the city after the devastating flood of the river in 1879.
By Hungarian standards, Szeged is a large city, with a population of 177 000. The climate is very favourable of canoeing; the annual mean temperature being about 11 °C (52F), somewhat higher than in the rest of the country. Szeged is sometimes called the City of Sunshine as there is an average of 2 000 hours of sunshine annually.
