Bucharest is the capital and largest city of Romania. It lies on the River Dâmbovița in the south-east of the country, on the Wallachian plain between the Carpathians and the Danube, and the 2021 census counted 1,716,961 people within city limits, with about 2.3 million in the metropolitan area. It became the capital of the newly united Romanian state in 1862, but it had to win that role twice: first against Târgoviște, the older seat of the princes of Wallachia, and then against Iași, the capital of Moldavia. The story of how it won explains a good deal about the city it is today.
Vlad III's Dâmbovița Citadel and the Long Contest with Târgoviște, 1459–1716
Bucharest appears in writing for the first time on 20 September 1459, in a document issued by Prince Vlad III of Wallachia, better known as Vlad the Impaler or Dracula. At the time it was one of several princely residences. A later legend says the town was founded by a shepherd called Bucur, but archaeology suggests the site was almost empty in the 14th century, so the town is probably not much older than its first mention.
For almost two centuries Bucharest was the second capital of Wallachia. The princes' traditional seat was Târgoviște, about 80 kilometres to the north-west in the foothills of the Carpathians. Bucharest became the favoured summer residence and, according to contemporaries, the strongest fortress in the country. Its site on the open plain had strengths and weaknesses. It was easy to supply and close to the main trade routes south to the Danube, but it was also easy to reach for an army. In 1475, during the Moldavian–Ottoman war, Prince Stephen the Great of Moldavia razed it.
What tipped the balance was the Ottoman Empire, Wallachia's overlord. As Ottoman demands grew and trade with the Balkans became more important, Wallachia's political and commercial centre moved south, towards the Danube crossings and away from the mountains. Prince Mircea Ciobanul built a palace and church at the Curtea Veche, the Old Princely Court, in the 1550s, surrounded the town with a stockade and organised its water supply. The Curtea Veche church still stands in the old centre.
From 1565, for about two centuries, rulers alternated the capital between the two towns, often for political reasons: princes friendlier to Transylvania and Hungary tended to prefer Târgoviște. Under Radu Mihnea, in the early 1620s, Bucharest emerged as a serious rival to Târgoviște. Matei Basarab split his reign between the two and restored the court buildings in Bucharest in 1640. Constantin Șerban built the Metropolitan Church in 1658, and in 1668 the seat of the Wallachian church moved there from Târgoviște. By the end of the 17th century Bucharest was the largest city in Wallachia and one of the largest in the region.
The capital was finally settled in Bucharest under Constantin Brâncoveanu, who ruled from 1688 to 1714, and the city's golden age came under him and his predecessor Șerban Cantacuzino. The city expanded to take in Cotroceni, gained its first school of higher learning, the princely Saint Sava College in 1694, and got the palace of Mogoșoaia on its edge. The road that became Calea Victoriei was cut through the forest of Codrii Vlăsiei at this time. After 1716, when the Ottomans installed Phanariote Greek princes to govern Wallachia, Bucharest was the unrivalled capital, and Târgoviște declined economically as its population fell. Princely government concentrated on the court, and a noble's rank came to depend on holding an office there.
The 18th and early 19th centuries were violent for the city. It was occupied by Russian and Habsburg armies several times, hit by plague and damaged by an earthquake in 1802. Caragea's plague in 1813–1814 killed between 25,000 and 40,000 people. Under the Russian governor Pavel Kiselyov, from 1829 to 1834, Bucharest got its first real urban planning: paved streets, drained swamps along the Dâmbovița, public fountains and a fixed city boundary about 19 kilometres long. Kiselyov also oversaw the Regulamentul Organic, the first constitution-like document for the principalities, negotiated in Bucharest. The Great Fire of 23 March 1847 then destroyed about 2,000 buildings, a third of the city.
1859–1862: How Bucharest Took the Capital from Iași
Bucharest's second contest came with the union of the Romanian principalities. After Russia's defeat in the Crimean War, the Treaty of Paris of 1856 allowed Wallachia and Moldavia to hold assemblies to decide their future. In January 1859 Moldavia's assembly in Iași elected Colonel Alexandru Ioan Cuza as its prince. In Bucharest, the conservative majority in the Wallachian assembly did not want him. Street protests changed their minds, and on 24 January 1859 (Old Style) they voted for Cuza too. Two principalities now shared one ruler.
For three years the new state had two capitals. From 1859 to 1862 Iași and Bucharest both served as de facto seats of government, each with its own administration. The formal union came on 22 January 1862 (Old Style), and the single capital of the new Romania was fixed at Bucharest.
Iași was left to bear the cost. The constituent assembly voted to pay the city 148,150 lei in ten yearly instalments to make up for the loss of the government, which had moved in 1861. The money was never paid. Iași has its revenge in names: it is known as Romania's cultural capital, and in 2018 it was officially declared the country's historical capital.
Bucharest's position was then made permanent in stages. Carol of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen entered Bucharest as prince on 22 May 1866, Romania declared independence in 1877, and in 1881 it became a kingdom with Bucharest as its capital. The contest with Iași had one more round. When the Central Powers occupied Bucharest on 6 December 1916, during the First World War, the government retreated to Iași, which served as the capital until the Germans left in late 1918. After the war Bucharest became the capital of Greater Romania, enlarged by Transylvania and other territories.
Little Paris, the 1977 Earthquake and Ceaușescu's Civic Centre
Being the capital of a new kingdom transformed the city. Between the 1860s and 1914 it gained gas lighting, the Gara de Nord (1872), horse trams, the headquarters of the National Bank of Romania and, in 1883, a channelled Dâmbovița that ended the floods that had repeatedly hit the city. The Romanian Athenaeum was built in this period, and grand boulevards were laid out across the old street pattern. Calea Victoriei became the city's version of the Champs-Élysées, and the city's French-influenced architecture and elite earned it the nickname Micul Paris, "Little Paris", or the Paris of the East.
Growth continued between the wars: after 1928 the city added about 30,000 residents a year and its area reached 78 square kilometres by 1939. The Arcul de Triumf and the Palatul Telefoanelor date from this period. Allied bombing in 1944 and German air raids after Romania changed sides that August did heavy damage, and communist rule followed from 1947.
Under Nicolae Ceaușescu, who led Romania from 1965 to 1989, being the capital meant being rebuilt to the leader's plan. On 4 March 1977 a magnitude 7.2 earthquake centred in the Vrancea region killed 1,578 people in Romania, 1,424 of them in Bucharest, where about 33 large buildings collapsed. In the 1980s Ceaușescu's programme of "systematization" cleared a large part of the historic city, including old churches, for the Centrul Civic. Its centrepiece was the House of the Republic, now the Palace of the Parliament. Designed by Anca Petrescu with a team of about 700 architects and built from 1984 to 1997, it is 84 metres high, reaches 92 metres underground and has 365,000 square metres of floor space. It is the largest civilian administrative building in the world and, at about 4.1 million tonnes, the heaviest. Ceaușescu never saw it finished: the revolution that overthrew him played out in Bucharest between 20 and 22 December 1989.
Six Sectors, One Palace: What Being Capital Means for Bucharest Now
Today the palace Ceaușescu commissioned houses both chambers of the Romanian Parliament, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, along with the Constitutional Court and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, though about 70 per cent of the building stands empty. The city is also home to the High Court of Cassation and Justice, the government and the patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church.
Bucharest's status is written into how it is run. It is the only municipality in Romania that belongs to no county. It is an enclave surrounded by Ilfov County, and it has the same administrative rank as a county. A general mayor and a 55-member General Council run citywide services such as water, public transport and the main boulevards; since 19 December 2025 the general mayor has been Ciprian Ciucu. Below them, the city is divided into six sectors, numbered clockwise and arranged like slices so that each includes part of the centre. Every sector has its own mayor and a 27-seat council that handles schools, parks and local streets. A prefect appointed by the national government represents the state in the city.
The capital also dominates the economy. With about 9 per cent of the country's people, it produced around 24 per cent of Romania's GDP in 2017 and pays almost a third of the national taxes. In 2017 living standards in the Bucharest–Ilfov region, measured as GDP per head at purchasing power parity, were 145 per cent of the EU average. Growth has been spilling over the city line. The population inside the boundary fell from 1,926,334 in 2002 to 1,716,961 in 2021, while Ilfov County, which rings the capital, was Romania's fastest-growing county between 2011 and 2021 and reached 542,686 people. Towns such as Voluntari, Popești-Leordeni and Chiajna now function as suburbs.
The city that took the capital from Târgoviște and then from Iași is now so far ahead that no rival comes close; our list of the largest cities in Romania shows how big the gap to Cluj-Napoca, Iași and Timișoara has become. To see how Parliament in Ceaușescu's palace shares power with the president and the government, read our guide to the government of Romania.
Quick Facts About Bucharest
- Country: Romania
- Continent: Europe (Eastern Europe)
- Country population: approximately 18.8 million
- Capital city status: Bucharest is the capital of Romania, the seat of national government, and the location of foreign embassies, parliament, and the head of state's official residence.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the capital of Romania?
The capital of Romania is Bucharest. Bucharest is the seat of national government, hosts most foreign embassies and consulates, and is typically where the head of state and parliament are located.
What continent is Bucharest in?
Bucharest, the capital of Romania, is located in Europe, in the Eastern Europe region. As Romania's capital, Bucharest serves as the country's primary connection to the broader Europen political, economic, and cultural sphere.
Why is Bucharest the capital of Romania?
Bucharest was chosen as the capital of Romania for reasons that typically combine geography, history, and politics. Capital city selections often reflect a desire for centrality (being accessible from across the country), historical importance (being a longstanding seat of government or culture), or neutrality (being acceptable to multiple regions or ethnic groups within the country). The specific reasons for Bucharest's designation are detailed in the city's history above.
What is Bucharest known for?
As the capital of Romania, Bucharest is best known for housing the country's central government institutions — parliament, presidential or royal residences, supreme court, and key ministries. It is also typically a major cultural and economic center within Romania, hosting national museums, embassies, and signature monuments. The introduction and history sections above provide detailed coverage of the city's specific notable institutions and landmarks.
Related Pages
- Romania Country Guide — full geography, climate, economy, and culture overview
- Flag of Romania — meaning, history, and design of Romania's national flag