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For other uses, see Budapest (disambiguation).
Budapest
Flag of Budapest
Flag
Official seal of Budapest
Seal
Nickname(s): 
"Pearl of the Danube"
or "Queen of the Danube", "Heart of Europe", "Capital of Freedom"
Location of Budapest in Hungary
Location of Budapest in Hungary
CountryHungary
CountyBudapest, Capital City
Government
 • MayorGábor Demszky (SZDSZ)
Area
 • City525.16 km2 (202.77 sq mi)
Population
 (2007)
 • City1,696,128
 • Density3,232/km2 (8,370/sq mi)
 • Metro
2,451,418
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Websitebudapest.hu

Budapest (Template:PronEng (AE), also /ˈbju:-/ (BE) or /ˈbʊ-/; Hungarian IPA: ['budɒpɛʃt]) is the capital city of Hungary and the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial and transportation centre[1]. In 2007 Budapest had 1,696,128 inhabitants[2] with an official agglomeration of 2,451,418 [2], down from a mid-1980s peak of 2.1 million. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube (Hungarians call it the Duna river) with the amalgamation on 17 November 1873 of right-bank (west) Buda and Óbuda (Old Buda) together with Pest on the left (east) bank.

Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement, was the direct ancestor of Budapest, becoming the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia. Magyars arrived in the territory around 900. Their first settlement was pillaged by the Tatars in 1241-42[3]. The re-established town became one of the global centers of Renaissance humanist culture in the 15th century. Following nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, development of the region entered a new age of prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Budapest became a global city after the 1873 unification[4] of its three constituents. It also became the second capital of Austria-Hungary, a great power that dissolved in 1918.

Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world[5][6], Budapest is considered an important Central European hub[7] for business, culture and tourism. Its World Heritage Sites include the banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, Andrássy Avenue and the Millennium Underground railway, the first on the European continent[5][8]. Budapest attracts over 20 million visitors a year[9], making it one of the top destinations in Europe. The city ranks 74th on Mercer Consulting's 'World's Top 100 Most Livable Cities' list[10].

Residents of the city are called either Budapesters or Budapestians.

History

Main article: History of Budapest
File:Hungary Budapest Panorama.jpg
Left to right:Matthias Church,Castle Quarter,Széchenyi Chain Bridge,Danube Promenade,Parliament Building,Saint Stephen's Basilica


Geography

Budapest lies in central Hungary. The Danube is nearly 1 km (0.6 mi) wide when entering the city. The river later encircles two islands, Óbuda Island and Margaret Island[4]. The river that separates the two parts of the city is only 230 m (750 ft) wide at its narrowest point in Budapest. Pest lies on the flat terrain of the Great Plain while Buda is rather hilly[4].

Climate

Budapest has a temperate, transitional climate - somewhere between the mild, rainy weather of Transdanubia and the variable climate of the flat and open Great Plain to the east[11].

Climate data for Budapest
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Source: weather.com[12]

Districts

File:Population of Budapest.jpg
Population change of Budapest (1870-2007)


Main article: List of districts in Budapest

Originally Budapest had 10 districts after coming into existence upon the unification of the three cities in 1873. On 1 January 1950 Budapest was united with several neighboring towns and the number of its districts was raised to 22. At that time there were changes both in the order of districts and in their sizes. Now there are 23 districts, 6 in Buda, 16 in Pest and 1 on Csepel island between them. Each district can be associated with one or more city parts named after former towns within Budapest.

Islands

Seven islands can be found on the Danube: Hajógyári sziget (literal translation: Shipyard Island), Margit-sziget (Margaret Island), and Csepel sziget (the northernmost part of this island belonging to Budapest is a separate district of the city, the XXI., while the other islands are parts of other districts, the III. and XIII. respectively), Palotai-sziget (in fact, it's a peninsula today), Népsziget (connected to the above, but mostly surrounded by water), Háros-sziget and Molnár-sziget.

Notable islands:

  • Margit-sziget is a 2.5 km (1.6 mi) long island and 0.965 square kilometres (238 acres) in area. The island mostly consists of a park and is a popular recreational area for tourists and locals alike. The island lies between bridges Margaret Bridge (south) and Árpád Bridge (north). Dance clubs, Swimming pools, an Aqua park, athletic and fitness centers, bicycle and running tracks can be found around the Island. During the day the island is occupied by people doing sports, or just resting. In the summer (generally on the weekends) mostly young people go to the island at night to party in its terraces, or to recreate with a bottle of alcohol on a bench or on a grass (this form of entertainment is sometimes referred to as bench-partying)
  • Csepel-sziget [ˈtʃɛpɛlsigɛt] or Csepel Island is the largest island of the River Danube in Hungary. It is 48 km (30 mi) long; its width is 6-8 km (3.75–5 mi) and its area comprises 257 km2 (99 sq mi), whereas only the northern tip is inside the city limits.
  • Hajógyári-sziget [ˈhɒjo:ɟa:ri sigɛt] (or Óbudai-sziget) is a man built island, located in the third district. This island hosts many activities such as: wake-boarding, jet-skiing during the day, and dance clubs during the night. This is the island where the famous Sziget Festival takes place, hosting hundreds of performances per year and now around 400,000 visitors in its last edition. Many building projects are taking place to make this island into one of the biggest entertainment centers of Europe, the plan is to build Apartment buildings, hotels, casinos and a marina.
  • Luppa-sziget is the smallest island of Budapest, located in the north region.

Landmarks and monuments

The city is home to the largest synagogue in Europe (Great Synagogue), the largest medicinal bath in Europe (Széchenyi Medicinal Bath) and the third largest Parliament building in the world, once the largest in the world. The third largest church in Europe (Esztergom Basilica) and the second largest Baroque castle in the world (Gödöllő) are in the vicinity.

Panoramic view points

Sights and historic places

File:03hősök tere.JPG
Heroes' Square
Szt. István Bazilika
(The below sights are grouped by location.)
   Hunry's Olympic Stadium

Media portrayals

Films

Shopping

Váci utca, the main shopping street catering to tourists
File:Budapest deak palota.jpg
Deák-mansion in Fashion Street

Unique traditional folk art to look for in the Inner City and the Castle Quarter[16]: ceramics, embroideries, painted eggs, dolls in folk costume, hand-painted Herend and Zsolnay porcelain, crystal and Halas lace. Food: red paprika in gift boxes, goose liver, traditional salami. Spirits: apricot and plum brandy, Hungarian liqueur, famous regional wines (Tokaji, Badacsonyi, Egri). Other: cosmetic products and art books. Shops are usually open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Shopping centers on weekdays are open till 8 p.m. and most of them are also open on Sundays.

The Castle Quarter (or District) is the place to buy antiques and folk art items at the small shops and on the streets. The House of Hungarian Wines has an enormous selection of wine from the historical Hungarian wine regions[17].

The Great Market Hall is a large and rich indoor market, and a major tourist attraction. Built in 1890, it is the city's "pantry", a vast repository of Hungaricums such as paprika, brandy (pálinka), goose-liver (libamáj) and a wide variety of traditional sausages and salamis seasoned with paprika.

One part of the main pedestrian shopping street, Váci utca (street) begins on the opposite side of the Great Market Hall, at the foot of Liberty (Szabadság) bridge. The other part continues through the underpass at the entrance of Elisabeth Bridge and leads to Vörösmarty tér (Square). Several antique and folklore shops, galleries, designer boutiques, foreign-language book-shops, jewelry and wine-shops, restaurants, and cafés can be found on the neighboring streets. On Kígyó utca the two finest porcelain shops face each other. The Herend and the Zsolnay porcelain shops sell Hungary's most precious hand painted porcelain vases figures and dinner services.

The antique shopping street, Falk Miksa utca, runs from Szt. Istvan Blvd. to the Parliament. The shops offer the richest collection of antiques in Central Europe.

The Ecseri Flea Market in the 9th district has many treasures for collectors, browsers and anyone looking for an unusual souvenir to take home.

There are several shopping malls located close by major intersections and metro stations throughout the city. The WestEnd City Center, next to the Western Railway Station, is one of the largest shopping centers in Central and Eastern Europe containing 400 shops, a 14-screen cinema complex, entertainment centers, and a huge food-court. The Hilton Budapest Westend, which is the second Hilton hotel in Hungary, is integrated into the mega-complex. On the roof, a tethered balloon gives a view of the city. The newest shopping center in Budapest is the Arena Plaza (opened November 2007). It is located next to the Keleti Railway station.

On the Buda side, two new shopping complexes were opened consequently: MAMMUT shopping center at Széna square (along Margaret Blvd.) has more than 300 shops on 7 levels in two buildings connected with a covered bridge. The center also houses several restaurants, an entertainment center, fitness facilities and a health center. The other is MOM PARK with 70 shops, a restaurant and cinema (12th district, Alkotás út).

Transportation

Airport

Budapest Airport Terminal 2B

Budapest Ferihegy International Airport, which has 3 different passenger terminals: Ferihegy 1, which tends to serve the many discount airlines now flying to and from Budapest, Ferihegy 2/A and Ferihegy 2/B. Terminal 2/C is planned to be built. The airport is located to the east of the centre in the XVIII. district in Pestszentlőrinc. Malév (Hungarian Airlines) began to change its aircraft in 2003, and by 2005 owned the most modern fleet in Europe.

Roads

Budapest is the most important Hungarian road terminus; all the major highways end there. Between, the city Street names were reverted from the names given under Soviet occupation back to their late-19th century names. Budapest is also a major railway terminus.

Ring road M0 around Budapest is currently under construction.

Commuting with public transport

Map of the Budapest Metro
Map of the Budapest Metro

Budapest public transport is provided by BKV[17], the company operates buses, trolleybuses, trams, suburban railway lines, the metro, a boat service, a cogwheel railway and a chairlift, called Libegő.

Budapest's tram network is extensive, and reliable despite poor track infrastructure and an ageing fleet. Routes 4 and 6 combined form the busiest traditional city tram line in the world, with the world's longest passenger trams (54-metre (177 ft) long Siemens Combino) running at 60 to 90 second intervals at peak time and 3-4 minutes off-peak and usually packed with people.

Day services operate from 4:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. each day. Night traffic (a reduced overnight service) is outstandingly good.

There are three metro lines and a fourth is currently under construction. The Yellow line, built in 1896, is one of the oldest subway lines in the world, following only the early lines of the London Underground.

Special vehicles

Beside metros, suburban rails, buses, trams and boats, there are a couple of less usual vehicles in Budapest:

The latter three vehicles run among Buda hills.

Railway

Nyugati Railway Terminal
Main articles: MÁV and HÉV

Hungarian main-line railways are operated by MÁV. There are three main railway termini in Budapest, Keleti (eastern), Nyugati (westbound), and Déli (southbound), operating both domestic and international rail services. Budapest was one of the main stops of the Orient Express until 2001, when the service was cut back to Paris-Vienna.

There is also a suburban rail service in and around Budapest, operated under the name HÉV.

Waterways

The river Danube flows through Budapest on its way to the Black Sea. The river is easily navigable and so Budapest has historically been a major commercial port (at Csepel). In the summer months a scheduled hydrofoil service operates up the Danube to Vienna.

International schools

Many embassies and transnational companies are located in Budapest. They bring many expatriate foreigners and their families to town, creating demand for private and international schools. These schools are usually quite expensive and are attended by the expatriates as well as some richer Hungarians.

International schools:

Sister cities

These are the official sister cities of Budapest[18][19]:
Country City County / District / Region / State Date
Austria Austria Vienna Vienna 1990
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo Sarajevo Canton 1995
Croatia Croatia Zagreb Zagreb 1994
Germany Germany Berlin Berlin Berlin Berlin 1992
Germany Germany Frankfurt am Main Hesse Hesse 1990
Israel Israel File:Tel Aviv coatofarms.jpg Tel Aviv Tel Aviv District 1989
Portugal Portugal Lisbon District of Lisbon 1992
United States United States File:Flag of Fort Worth, Texas.svg Fort Worth Texas Texas 1990
United States United States New York City New York (state) New York 1991

Some of the city's districts are also twinned to small cities or districts of other big cities, for details see the article List of districts and towns in Budapest.


References

  1. ^ "Budapest". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2008-01-30. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ a b "Social and economic parameters of Budapest" (PDF) (in Hungarian). Hungarian Central Statistical Office. ISBN 978-963-235-151-3. Retrieved 2007-07-13. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Budapest". 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition. Retrieved 2008-01-30. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ a b c d "Budapest". Encarta. Retrieved 2008-04-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ a b "Nomination of the banks of the Danube and the district of the Buda Castle" (PDF). International Council on Monuments and Sites. Retrieved 2008-01-31. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Budapest Is Stealing Some of Prague's Spotlight". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "Doing Business : Budapest, the soul of Central Europe". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2008-01-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "World Heritage Committee Inscribes 9 New Sites on the World Heritage List". Unesco World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2008-01-31. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  9. ^ "Budapest City Guide". European Rail Guide. Retrieved 2008-02-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "World's Top 100 Most Livable Cities". Business Week. Retrieved 2008-01-31. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Budapest:When to go". Lonely Planet. Retrieved 2008-04-06. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "Monthly Averages for Budapest, Hungary". The Weather Channel. Retrieved 2008-02-28. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  13. ^ "Beauty of opera in Budapest". The Times. Retrieved 2008-02-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "Budapest As a City Of Museums". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-30. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Out of Darkness, New Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-03-12. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ "Shopping in Budapest". Hungarian National Tourist Office in New York. Retrieved 2008-01-31. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ a b c "36 Hours in Budapest". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ "Sister cities of Budapest" (in Hungarian). Official Website of Budapest. Retrieved 2008-01-31. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ "Who knows less about Budapest? A quiz with mayor candidates" (in Hungarian). Index. Retrieved 2008-01-31. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

Bibliography

  • DK Publishing, Budapest: Eyewitness Travel Guildes. DK Travel, 2007. ISBN 978-0756624354
  • Annabel Barber, Visible Cities Budapest: A City Guide. Somerset, Ltd., 2004. ISBN 978-9632129860
  • Krisztian Ungvary (Author), John Lukacs (Foreword), The Siege of Budapest: One Hundred Days in World War II. Yale University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0300119855

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Budapest.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Budapest".


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