Capital and largest city of Romania;
population (1985) 1,976,000, the conurbation
of Bucharest district having an area of 1,520
sq km/587 sq mi and a population of
2,273,000. Originally a citadel built by Vlad
the Impaler (see Dracula) to stop the advance
of the Ottoman invasion in the 14th century.
It became the capital of the princes of
Wallachia 1698 and of Romania 1861. Savage
fighting took place in the city during
Romania's 1989 revolution.