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Seal Nickname: "Pearl of the Danube" or "Queen of the Danube", "Heart of Europe", "Capital of Freedom"

Location of Budapest in Hungary Coordinates: 47°28'19?N 19°03'01?E? / ?47.47194, 19.05028 Country Hungary County Budapest, Capital City Government  - Mayor Gábor Demszky (SZDSZ) Area  - City 525.16 km² (202.8 sq mi) Population (2007)  - City 1,696,128  - Density 3,232/km² (8,370.8/sq mi)  - Metro 2,451,418 Time zone CET (UTC+1)  - Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2) Website: budapest.hu Budapest (pronounced /'bu:d??p??t/ (AE), also /'bju:-/ (BE) or /'b?-/; Hungarian IPA: ['bud?p??t]) is the capital. As the largest city of Hungary it serves as 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 Mongols in 1241-42[3]. The re-established town became one of the global centres 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. Budapest was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944, the Battle of Budapest of 1945, and the Revolution of 1956. 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.