Bucharest

Bucharest (Romanian: București) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.71 million residents within a greater metropolitan area of 2.31 million residents, which makes Bucharest the 9th most-populous city by population within city limits in the European Union. The city has an area of 240 km (93 sq mi), while the metropolitan area covers 1,811 km (699 sq mi). The city proper is administratively known as the "Municipality of Bucharest" (Romanian: Municipiul București), and has the same administrative level as that of a national county, being further subdivided into six sectors, each governed by a local mayor. Bucharest is a major cultural, political and economic hub, the country's seat of government, and the capital of the Muntenia region. It is an enclave completely surrounded by Ilfov County.

Bucharest was first mentioned in 1459, and became a centre of Wallachian commerce and governance in the 16th and 17th centuries. The city became the capital of the Romanian United Principalities in 1862, and boomed after the 1881 founding of the Romanian Kingdom. In the following decades, the city became known for its cosmopolitanism and eclectic architecture, being nicknamed "Paris of the East". However, it was severely damaged in the Second World War. Under the Socialist Republic of Romania, the city again grew massively in population and area, and new developments were characterised by socialist architecture and planning, particularly Nicolae Ceaușescu's program of systematization. In recent years, the city has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom. It is one of the fastest-growing high-tech cities in Europe. In 2016, the historical city centre was listed as "endangered" by the World Monuments Watch.

Bucharest is by far the most populous city of Romania, having reached one million inhabitants in the 1940s. In 2017, Bucharest was the European city with the highest growth of tourists who stay over night, according to the Mastercard Global Index of Urban Destinations. In 2018 and 2019, Bucharest ranked as the European destination with the highest potential for development according to the same study.

Economically, Bucharest is the most prosperous city in Romania and the richest capital and city in the region, having surpassed Budapest since 2017. The city has a number of large convention facilities, educational institutes, cultural venues, traditional "shopping arcades" and recreational areas.