
In the valleys of the rivers Colentina and Dâmbovița, there were settlements during this period.

The oldest traces of human settlement in what is today Bucharest and the Ilfov district date back to the Paleolithic. The Romanian Gentile of the inhabitants of Bucharest is bucureștean. According to a book published in Vienna in the early 19th century, the name derives from bukovie ( beech forest ). In 1781, the Austrian historian Franz Sulzer suggested that the name was related to bucurie (alegria), bucuros (alegre) or to se bucura (to become alegre). The traveler Ottoman the seventeenth century Evliya Çelebi wrote that Bucharest had the name of a certain Abu-Karis, of the tribe of Bani-Kureiş. Past scholars have suggested other etymologies. In Albanian, a language that has historical connections with Thracian languages, bukur means “beautiful”. The name Bucur (derived from bucurie, which means “joy”) and is probably of Dacian origin. According to tradition, the city would have been founded by someone named Bucur, who according to different legends, was a shepherd, a boyar, a prince, an outlaw, a fisherman or a hunter. The Romanian name București has an uncertain origin. In administrative terms, Municipiul București (Municipality of Bucharest) is equated with a district, which is divided into six “sectors”, each governed by a local mayor. The city has large spaces for holding conventions and other events, namely cultural, educational institutes, shops and recreational areas. īucharest is the most economically prosperous city in Romania and is one of the main industrial and transport centers in Eastern Europe.

In 2016, the historic center of Bucharest was classified as “endangered” by the World Monuments Fund. Since the end of the 20th centurythat the city is experiencing a period of marked cultural and economic development. The architecture and urbanism of the historic center suffered serious damage due to wars, earthquakes and, above all, to the “systematization” program of communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, a megalomaniacal urbanization project that basically involved the demolition of existing neighborhood buildings and their replacement with new ones. In the period between the two world wars, Bucharest’s elegant architecture, heavily influenced by French architecture and urbanism, and the sophistication of its elites earned it the nickname “Little Paris of the East” ( Micul Paris ). The city’s architecture has a diversity of styles, ranging from the neoclassical to the most modern ones, including those from the interwar period ( Art Deco and Bauhaus ) and those from the communist era. It became the capital of the United Principalities of Romania, resulting from the union of the principalities of Wallachia and Moldova, consolidating its position as the political, cultural, artistic center of what is currently Romania. īy European standards, Bucharest is not an ancient city, since the first historical mention of its existence dates back to 1459. In terms of population within the city limits, Bucharest is the sixth most populous city in the European Union, after London, Berlin, Madrid, Rome and Paris. The urban area extends beyond the administrative limits of the municipality and in 2017 it had more than two million inhabitants. The municipality of Bucharest has 228 km² and in 2011 it had 1,883,425 inhabitants ( density : 8 260.6 inhab./km² ).

It is located in the southeastern part of Romania, in the historic region of Muntenia (part of Wallachia ), on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, about 60 km north of the Danube River and the border with Bulgaria. In addition to official capital, it is also the cultural, industrial and financial capital of the country.

