Budapest, the capital of Hungary, is a unique and beautiful city, with a long and interesting history all her own. The city of Budapest came into being in 1872, when the areas of Buda, Pest, and, Obuda unified, forming one cohesive city. A series of eight bridges now link together Buda and Pest, which lie on opposite sides of the very important Danube River. Budapest has long played a key role in European history, which has shaped every aspect of the city. Hungary was a monarchy for nearly 1000 years, dominated much of Central Europe, was conquered by the Turks, and still had time to become part of the dual monarchy of the Austria-Hungarian Empire.
Budapest is the capital and predominant city of Hungary. With 2 million inhabitants, more than 20% of the Hungarian population call Budapest home. Formerly part of the Communist Block, Budapest now houses a democratic republic. Budapest is the cultural nucleaus of Hungary, as well as most of Central and Eastern Europe. Budapest's cultural life encompasses opera houses, symphonies, and theatre houses. Budapest produces literary and musical classics and houses many museums, galleries, and universities. Budapest has become a favorite spot for tourists, and American ex-patriots. Budapest is unique in many other ways, ranging from the famous Turkish baths (remaining from the days of Turkish occupation), to its strange Magyar language, and the fact that the average life expectancy for men is decreasing!
| ETHNIC COMPOSITION | % | DIVISION OF LABOR | % | RELIGIOUS AFILIATION | % | ||
| Magyar(Hungarians) | 96% | Industry | 30.1% | Roman Catholics | 49% | ||
| Germans | 1.6% | Agriculture, Forestry, Water Management | 22.7% | Reformed Calvinists | 19% | ||
| Slovaks | 1.1% | Trade | 10.4% | Lutherans | 5% | ||
| Serbs and Croats | 0.3% | Transportation | 8.1% | Jewish | *** | ||
| Romanians | 0.2% | Construction | 7.2% | ||||
| Others | 0.2% | ||||||
| Gypsies | ** |
*Data Source: The Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. New York: Worldmark Press Ltd., 1988.
**The exact percentage of gypsies living in Budapest is unknown because they are not recognized by the state census as an official minority. The number of gypsises is approximately 5-7% of the population.
***The exact percentage of Jews living in Budapest has been difficult to measure since World War II due to lack of reporting caused by fear of persecution. The estimated number of Jewish people is approximately 65,000 to 100,000.
The Budapest Rockin' Home Page was created by Kaycee Wimbis, Kelly Lesser, Raphael Jiles, Amanda Brinkman, and Patrick Reynolds. We would like to extend a heartfelt "thank you" to the great sites to which we have provided links on our site: Interwork Hungary, Inc., The Weather Channel, Andras Torok of 2000, and the Technical University of Budapest.
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