The Fundamental Law of Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarország Alaptörvénye), the country's constitution, was adopted on 18 April 2011, promulgated a week later and entered into force on 1 January 2012. It is Hungary's first constitution adopted within a democratic framework and following free elections. The document succeeded the 1949 Constitution, originally adopted at the creation of the Hungarian People's Republic on 20 August 1949 and heavily amended on 23 October 1989. The 1949 Constitution was Hungary's first permanent written constitution, and until its replacement, the country was the only former Eastern Bloc nation that did not adopt an entirely new constitution after the fall of Communism.