Siófok (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈʃijoːfok]; German: Fock; Latin: Fuk) is a town in Somogy County, Hungary on the southern bank of Lake Balaton.

Lying at the firth of the Sió Channel, it serves as the most important logistic station for goods between Lake Balaton and the River Danube.

The town is Hungary's second most popular holiday destination (after Budapest)[4] due to its 17-kilometre-long (11 miles) coast,[5] over 1,000 hotels, and plenty of bars, restaurants and nightclubs.

Hungarians often call the town "the capital of Lake Balaton", as it is the largest town on its shores and acts as the financial, cultural, media, commercial and tourist hub of the northern part of Somogy County and the southern shore of Lake Balaton.

[7] At the time of Rákóczi's War of Independence, the famous Sió Defence Line of János Bottyán ended at the Fortress of Siófok.

1705 Francis II Rákóczi, Prince of Transylvania, donated a seal to the village which serves today as the coat of arms of Siófok.

[6] The establishment of the Balatoni Gőzhajózási Részvénytársaság ("Balaton Steam Shipping Company") in 1846 brought a significant change in the life of the settlement.

Lajos Kossuth, who personally wrote the charter of the business association, and István Széchenyi as the president of the company played a huge role in it.

The settlement was awarded the rank of market town in 1865, which meant a permit for holding national fair.

[6] In Siófok, or as many people called it at that time, Zsidófok (zsidó meaning "Jew" in Hungarian, according to sources, it was more a descriptive than a pejorative expression) once lived a large number of Jewish community.

[8] At the beginning of the 1860s, their number was 347, with 70 merchants living here, who played a major role in making the city an attractive resort in Europe.

Ignác Vég' tenant made a 12-year bathing lease contract with the Chapter of Veszprém, which has been extended for another 12 years.

Built in 1878, the Magyar Tenger ("Hungarian Sea") bathhouse, created according to the plans of the Neuschlass construction company, in Swiss style, with an ornate façade, a hundred-person lounge, large windows that looked at the water, a double-deck viewing room, eighty bath cabins.

In 1888 Gábor Baross granted state aid for the reorganization of the Balatoni Gőzhajózási Részvénytársaság ("Balaton Steam Shipping Company").

From 1884 to 1905, the leader of the company was Henrik Glatz, founder of Franklin Irodalmi és Nyomdai Rt.

[11] In 1947, within the framework of the construction works of the Sió Channel, the new sluice was completed, which made it possible for ships to move through.

The Norwegian cable producer Kongsberg Automotive[23] and the Hungarian gas transport infrastructure manufacturer OV Industries[24] have production facilities here.

[25] Siófok is home to the headquarter of Bahart (Balatoni Hajózási Zrt, English: Balaton Shipping Company) which is the owner and operator of 11 sailing ports around Lake Balaton (Balatonföldvár, Balatonszemes, Balatonlelle, Balatonboglár, Fonyód, Szigliget, Badacsony, Balatonfüred, Csopak, Alsóörs and Siófok), as well as provider of scheduled cruise ship voyages, ferries, water taxis and organizer of regattas.

[26] Siófok is reachable by train through the main Railway station or by regional buses operated by DDKK.

The most well-known examples are the novels Hosszúhajú veszedelem by Géza Gárdonyi and Sajkások serege by Gábor Lipták.