Bucharest is situated on the banks of the
Dambovita River (a tributary of the Danube), approximately 64 km (40 mi)
north of the Danube. The city lies on a generally level plain and, including
suburban districts, occupies an area of about 300 sq km (117 sq mi).
The history of Bucharest can be traced back to the 15th century. Following
the revolt of the vassal principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia against
their Turkish conquerors, the Turks burned the city in 1595. The Turkish
sultan Mustafa II made Bucharest the seat of government of Wallachia in
1698. Between 1711 and 1829 seven wars were fought among the neighbouring
great powers (Turkey, Austria, and Russia), some of which led occasionally
to the occupation and destruction of Bucharest. Additional disasters included
fires, earthquakes, and epidemics of bubonic plague.
Founded in 1459, on the banks of the Dambovita River, by ruler Viad
Tepes, Bucharest become later the capital city of the Princely Court. The
tradition connects the founding of Bucharest with the name of Bucur who
was either a princely person, an outlaw, a fisher or a shepherd according
to different legends. But a fact doubtless: the name of Bucur is of a Thracian-Geto-Dacian
origin. The name of Bucharest (Bucuresti) remembers the Romanian word "bucurie"
(gladness), and this town had, like many European metropoles, decades of
gladness, greatness, and sorrow too.
In 1859 Bucharest became the administrative centre of the United Principalities
of Wallachia and Moldavia, under Turkish suzerainty. By the decisions of
the Congress of Berlin, providing for a general settlement of the Balkan
situation after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, Romania (name adopted
in 1862) was recognized as an independent country with Bucharest as its
capital. During World War I, German troops occupied Bucharest from December
6, 1916 until mid-1918. On October 10, 1940, Ion Antonescu (then ruler
of the country), admitted German troops to Romania. Bucharest was occupied
until August 26, 1944, when German troops surrendered, following Allied
bombing and Romanian insurrection. On August 31, 1944 the Red Army marched
into the city. Direct military occupation of the country lasted until 1958.
Before World War II (1939–1945), Bucharest was a bustling and gracious
city often called the “The Little Paris”, but many of its finer features
were lost during the Communist era. This was mostly the result of self-glorifying
building projects such as the government palace of the president (1967–1989)
Nicolae Ceausescu.
During wars in the 18th and early 19th centuries, Bucharest was often
the scene of severe fighting. During the 1980s much of the old city was
demolished on the orders of Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, making
way for new state buildings such as the Museum of Romanian History, in
which his body was to be entombed.
In 1977, a Richter 6.5 earthquake caused extensive damage and the loss
of more than 1,500 lives in Bucharest. Another Richter 6.0 earthquake occurred
in 1990, but produced only minor damage. Earthquakes originate from the
fault at the curve of the Carpathian mountains. Population (1992) 2,064,
474.
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