Budapest

Sister cities

• Kraków

History

The first settlement on the territory of Budapest was built by Celts before 1 AD. It was later occupied by the Romans. The Roman settlement – Aquincum – became the main city of Pannonia Inferior in 106 AD. The Romans constructed roads, amphitheatres, baths and houses with heated floors in this fortified military camp. The Roman city of Aquincum is the best-conserved of the Roman sites in Hungary. The archaeological site was turned into a museum with indoor and open-air sections. Meanwhile, settlement in the area east of the Danube, which was not part of the Roman Empire, remained Germanic and Sarmatian in character. The Magyar tribes led by Árpád, forced out of their original homeland north of Bulgaria by Tsar Simeon after the Battle of Southern Buh, settled in the territory at the end of the 9th century displacing the founding Bulgarian settlers of the towns of Buda and Pest, and a century later officially founded the Kingdom of Hungary. The Mongol invasion in the 13th century quickly proved it was difficult to defend a plain. In 1361 it became the capital of Hungary. The first Hungarian book was printed in Buda in 1473. Buda had about 5,000 inhabitants around the year 1500. The Ottomans conquered Buda in 1526, as well as in 1529, and finally occupied it in 1541. The Ottoman Rule lasted for more than 150 years. and in 1873 Buda and Pest were officially merged with the third part, Óbuda (Old Buda), thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest. The dynamic Pest grew into the country's administrative, political, economic, trade and cultural hub. Ethnic Hungarians overtook Germans in the second half of the 19th century due to mass migration from the overpopulated rural Transdanubia and Great Hungarian Plain. Between 1851 and 1910 the proportion of Hungarians…

Geography

Budapest, strategically placed at the centre of the Pannonian Basin, lies on an ancient route linking the hills of Transdanubia with the Great Plain. By car, it is southeast of Vienna, Austria; south of Warsaw, Poland; southwest of Moscow, Russia; north of Athens, Greece; northeast of Rome, Italy; northeast of Milan, Italy; southeast of Prague, Czech Republic; northeast of Zagreb, Croatia; northeast of Split, Croatia; and northwest of Istanbul, Turkey. The area of Budapest lies in Central Hungary, surrounded by settlements of the agglomeration in Pest county. The capital extends in the north–south, east–west direction respectively. The Danube enters the city from the north; later it encircles two islands, Óbuda Island and Margaret Island. Pest's terrain rises with a slight eastward gradient, so the easternmost parts of the city lie at the same elevation as Buda's smallest hills, notably Gellért Hill and Castle Hill. The Buda hills consist mainly of limestone and dolomite, the water created speleothems, the most famous ones being the Pálvölgyi cave (total length ) and the Szemlőhegyi cave (total length ). The hills were formed in the Triassic Period. The highest point of the hills and of Budapest is János Hill, at above sea level. The lowest point is the line of the Danube which is above sea level. Budapest is also rich in green areas. Of the occupied by the city, is green area, park and forest. The forests of Buda hills are environmentally protected. The city's importance in terms of traffic is very central, because many major European roads and European railway lines lead to Budapest. Budapest is one of only three capital cities in the world which has thermal springs (the others being Reykjavík in Iceland and Sofia in Bulgaria). Some 125 springs…

Most-observed species

• Hooded Crow

  Corvus cornix Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,619
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,102
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,145
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,501
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,198
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  3,118
• Great Spotted Woodpecker

  Dendrocopos major (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,562
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,401

Most recent

• M 4 — 2014-01-19
  4 km ESE of Balassagyarmat, Hungary
• M 4.1 — 2013-06-05
  4 km NE of Érsekvadkert, Hungary
• M 4.4 — 2013-04-22
  5 km WNW of Heves, Hungary
• M 4.3 — 2011-01-29
  1 km E of Kecskéd, Hungary
• M 2.9 — 2007-11-18
  6 km SSE of Rimóc, Hungary
• M 4.1 — 2006-12-31
  1 km ENE of Ecser, Hungary