Budapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is Hungary's primate city with 1.7 million inhabitants and its greater metro area has a population of about 3.3 million, representing one-third of the country's population and producing more than 40% of the country's economic output. Budapest is the political, economic, and cultural center of the country, among the ten largest cities in the European Union and the second largest urban area in Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest stands on the River Danube and is strategically located at the center of the Pannonian Basin, lying on ancient trade routes linking the hills of Transdanubia with the Great Plain.
Budapest is a global city, consistently ranked among the 50 most important cities in the world, belongs to the narrow group of cities with a GDP over US$120 billion, was named a global cultural capital as having high-quality human capital, and is among the 35 most liveable cities in the world. The city is home to over 30 universities with more than 150,000 students, most of them attending large public research universities that are highly ranked worldwide in their fields, such as Eötvös Loránd University in natural sciences, Budapest University of Technology in engineering and technology, MATE in life sciences, and Semmelweis University in medicine. Budapest also hosts various international organizations, including several UN agencies, the WHO Budapest Centre, IOM regional centre, the EU headquarters of EIT and CEPOL,European Union Document Nos. 2013/0812 (COD), ENFOPOL 395 CODEC 2773 PARLNAT 307 as well as the first foreign office of China Investment Agency. Budapest opened the first underground transit line on the European continent in 1896, which is still in use as M1 Millennium Underground, and today the fixed-track metro and tram network forms the backbone of Budapest's public transport system and transports 2.2 million people daily, making it a significant urban transit system.
The history of Budapest began with an early Celtic settlement transformed by the Romans into the town of Aquincum, capital of Lower Pannonia in the 1st century. Following the foundation of Hungary in the late 9th century, the area was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241. It became the royal seat in 1361, with Buda becoming one of the European centers of renaissance culture by the 15th century under Matthias Corvinus. The siege of Buda in 1541 was followed by nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule,Molnar, A Concise History of Hungary, Chronology pp. 15 and after the reconquest of Buda in 1686, the region entered a new age of prosperity, with Pest-Buda becoming a global city after the unification of Buda, Pest and Óbuda in 1873.Molnar, A Concise History of Hungary, Chronology pp. 15. By this time, Budapest had become the co-capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire,Alexander Watson, Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary at War, 1914–1918 (2014). pp 536–40.: In the capital cities of Vienna and Budapest, the leftist and liberal movements and opposition parties strengthened and supported the separatism of ethnic minorities. a great power that dissolved in 1918 following World War I. The city was also the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, Battle of Budapest in 1945, and Hungarian Revolution of 1956.UN General Assembly Special Committee on the Problem of Hungary (1957)
The historic center of Budapest along the Danube is classified as a World Heritage Site due to its numerous notable monuments of classical architecture, from the 13th-century Matthias Church and Buda Castle to 19th-century landmarks such as the Hungarian Parliament, the State Opera House, the Museum of Fine Arts and St. Stephen's Basilica. Budapest has been a popular spa destination since Roman times and is considered the spa capital of Europe, with more than 100 medicinal geothermal springs and the largest thermal water cave system. The city is home to the second-largest synagogue and third-largest parliament building in the world, over 40 museums and galleries, nearly ten Michelin-starred restaurants, and named among the 50 best food cities globally for its focus on distinctive Hungarian cuisine. Budapest is also renowned for its nightlife, with ruin bars playing a significant role in it; moreover, the city has become a center for Hollywood film production in recent years. Budapest regularly hosts major global sporting events, with the nearly 70,000-seat Puskás Aréna serving as one of the venues, which most recently hosted four matches at UEFA Euro 2020, the 2023 UEFA Europa League final, the 2020 UEFA Super Cup, and the 2026 UEFA Champions League final. The city also hosted the 2023 World Athletics Championships and the 2017 and 2022 World Aquatics Championships. Budapest attracted 7 million international overnight visitors in 2025, making it one of the most popular destinations in Europe.
Etymology and pronunciation The previously separate cities of Buda, Óbuda, and Pest were officially unified in 1873 and given the new name Budapest. Before this, the towns together had sometimes been referred to colloquially as "Pest-Buda". Pest is often used pars pro toto for the entire city in contemporary colloquial Hungarian, although it is also used to refer to all parts of the city east of the Danube. Conversely, Buda colloquially means all districts to the Danube's west—including the former Óbuda. The Danube islands—including Csepel, the city's XXI. district—are part of neither Buda nor Pest.
All varieties of English pronounce the -s- as in the English word pest. The -u in Buda- is pronounced either /u/ like food (as in ) or /ju/ like cue (as in ). In Hungarian, the -s- is pronounced /ʃ/ as in wash; in IPA: .
The origins of the names "Buda" and "Pest" are obscure. Buda was probably the name of the first constable of the fortress built on the Castle Hill in the 11th century or a derivative of Bod or Bud, a personal name of Turkic origin, meaning 'twig'."Dictionary of American Family Names"(Volume A–F), by Patrick Hanks, Oxford University Press, 2003, pages 179, 245. or a Slavic personal name, Buda, the short form of Budimír, Budivoj.
Linguistically, however, a German origin through the Slavic derivative вода (voda, water) is not possible, and there is no certainty that a Turkic word really comes from the word buta ~ buda 'branch, twig'.
According to a legend recorded in chronicles from the Middle Ages, "Buda" comes from the name of its founder, Bleda, brother of Hunnic ruler Attila.
There are several theories about Pest. One states that the name derives from Roman times, since there was a local fortress (Contra-Aquincum) called by Ptolemy "Pession" ("Πέσσιον", iii.7.§ 2).Laszlo Gerevich, A pesti es a budai var, Budapest Regisegei 24/1, 1976, p. 47 Another has it that Pest originates in the Slavic word for cave, пещера, or peštera. A third cites пещ, or pešt, referencing a cave where fires burned or a limekiln.
History
Early 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. At first, it was a military settlement, and gradually the city rose around it, making it the focal point of the city's commercial life. Today, this area corresponds to the Óbuda district within Budapest. 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.Nagy, Margit (2023). Das jüngerkaiserzeitliche Gräberfeld von Budapest-Rákoscsaba, Péceli út (2.–4. Jahrhundert). Ein grenznaher Fundort im Barbaricum gegenüber Aquincum [The Late Imperial cemetery of Budapest-Rákoscsaba, Péceli út (2nd-4th century). A site close to the border in Barbaricum opposite Aquincum] (volume 1, volume 2). Budapest, , especially vol. 1, pp. 15–24.
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,Molnar, A Concise History of Hungary, Chronology pp. 12 and a century later officially founded the Kingdom of Hungary. Research places the probable residence of the Árpáds as an early place of central power near what became Budapest.Molnar, A Concise History of Hungary, p. 14 The Mongol invasion in the 13th century quickly proved it was difficult to defend a plain. King Béla IV of Hungary, therefore, ordered the construction of reinforced stone walls around the towns and set his own royal palace on the top of the protecting hills of Buda. German settlers were invited to rebuild and inhabit both Buda and Pest. In 1361 it became the capital of Hungary.
The cultural role of Buda was particularly significant during the reign of King Matthias Corvinus. The Italian Renaissance had a great influence on the city. His library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, was Europe's greatest collection of historical chronicles and philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century, and second in size only to the Vatican Library. After the foundation of the first Hungarian university in Pécs in 1367 (University of Pécs), the second one was established in Óbuda in 1395 (University of Óbuda). The first Hungarian book was printed in Buda in 1473. Buda had about 5,000 inhabitants around the year 1500.Southeastern Europe under Ottoman rule, 1354–1804, Peter F. Sugar, page 88
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. The Ottoman Turks constructed many prominent bathing facilities within the city. Some of the baths that the Turks erected during their rule are still in use 500 years later, including Rudas Baths and Király Baths. By 1547 the number of Christians was down to about a thousand, and by 1647 it had fallen to only about seventy.
Contemporary history after Unification
The 19th century was dominated by the Hungarian struggle for independence and modernisation. The national insurrection against the Habsburgs began in the Hungarian capital in 1848 and was defeated one and a half years later, with the help of the Russian Empire. 1867 was the year of Reconciliation that brought about the birth of Austria-Hungary. This made Budapest the twin capital of a dual monarchy. It was this compromise which opened the second great phase of development in the history of Budapest, lasting until World War I. In 1849, the Chain Bridge linking Buda with Pest was opened as the first permanent bridge across the Danube 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.