110-457: Bucharest ( UK : / ˌ b uː k ə ˈ r ɛ s t / BOO -kə- REST , US : / ˈ b uː k ə r ɛ s t / -rest ; Romanian : București [bukuˈreʃtʲ] ) is the capital and largest city of Romania . The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within
220-576: A West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the northern Netherlands. The resident population at this time was generally speaking Common Brittonic —the insular variety of Continental Celtic , which was influenced by the Roman occupation. This group of languages ( Welsh , Cornish , Cumbric ) cohabited alongside English into
330-510: A humid continental climate ( Dfa by the 0 °C isotherm), or a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen : Cfa by the -3 °C isotherm), with hot, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. Owing to its position on the Romanian Plain, the city's winters can get windy, though some of the winds are mitigated due to urbanisation. Winter temperatures often dip below 0 °C (32 °F), sometimes even to −10 °C (14 °F). In summer,
440-559: A century as Received Pronunciation (RP). However, due to language evolution and changing social trends, some linguists argue that RP is losing prestige or has been replaced by another accent, one that the linguist Geoff Lindsey for instance calls Standard Southern British English. Others suggest that more regionally-oriented standard accents are emerging in England. Even in Scotland and Northern Ireland, RP exerts little influence in
550-508: A community police force ( Poliția Comunitară ), dealing with local community issues. Bucharest also houses the general inspectorates of the Gendarmerie and the national police . Bucharest's crime rate is rather low in comparison to other European capital cities, with the number of total offences declining by 51% between 2000 and 2004, and by 7% between 2012 and 2013. Bucharest, along with Cluj-Napoca , Timișoara , Brașov and Iași ,
660-590: A failed attempt by German troops to regain the city. After the establishment of communism in Romania , the city continued growing. New districts were constructed, most of them dominated by tower blocks . During Nicolae Ceaușescu 's leadership (1965–89), a part of the historic city was demolished and replaced by ' Socialist realism ' style development: (1) the Centrul Civic (the Civic Centre) and (2)
770-455: A fisherman, a shepherd or a hunter, according to different legends. In Romanian , the word stem bucurie means 'joy' ('happiness'), hence the city Bucharest means 'city of joy'. Other etymologies are given by early scholars, including the one of an Ottoman traveller, Evliya Çelebi , who claimed that Bucharest was named after a certain 'Abu-Kariș', from the tribe of ' Bani-Kureiș '. In 1781, Austrian historian Franz Sulzer claimed that it
880-495: A greater metropolitan area of 2.3 million residents, which makes Bucharest the 8th most-populous city in the European Union . The city area measures 240 km (93 sq mi) and comprises 6 districts ( Sectoare ), while the metropolitan area covers 1,811 km (699 sq mi). Bucharest is a beta global city , a major cultural, political and economic hub, and the country's seat of government. Bucharest
990-508: A greater movement, normally [əʊ], [əʉ] or [əɨ]. Dropping a morphological grammatical number , in collective nouns , is stronger in British English than North American English. This is to treat them as plural when once grammatically singular, a perceived natural number prevails, especially when applying to institutional nouns and groups of people. The noun 'police', for example, undergoes this treatment: Police are investigating
1100-406: A lesser class or social status and often discounted or considered of a low intelligence. Another contribution to the standardisation of British English was the introduction of the printing press to England in the mid-15th century. In doing so, William Caxton enabled a common language and spelling to be dispersed among the entirety of England at a much faster rate. Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of
1210-659: A process called T-glottalisation . National media, being based in London, have seen the glottal stop spreading more widely than it once was in word endings, not being heard as "no [ʔ] " and bottle of water being heard as "bo [ʔ] le of wa [ʔ] er". It is still stigmatised when used at the beginning and central positions, such as later , while often has all but regained /t/ . Other consonants subject to this usage in Cockney English are p , as in pa [ʔ] er and k as in ba [ʔ] er. In most areas of England and Wales, outside
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#17327662564011320-520: A regional accent or dialect. However, about 2% of Britons speak with an accent called Received Pronunciation (also called "the King's English", "Oxford English" and " BBC English" ), that is essentially region-less. It derives from a mixture of the Midlands and Southern dialects spoken in London in the early modern period. It is frequently used as a model for teaching English to foreign learners. In
1430-522: A roughly round shape, with the centre situated in the cross-way of the main north–south/east-west axes at University Square . The milestone for Romania's Kilometre Zero is placed just south of University Square in front of the New St. George Church (Sfântul Gheorghe Nou) at St. George Square (Piața Sfântul Gheorghe). Bucharest's radius, from University Square to the city limits in all directions, varies from 10 to 12 km (6 to 7 mi). Until recently,
1540-528: A socially disadvantaged area. Although the presence of street children was a problem in Bucharest in the 1990s, their numbers have declined in recent years, now lying at or below the average of major European capital cities. As stated by the Mercer international surveys for quality of life in cities around the world, Bucharest occupied the 94th place in 2001 and slipped lower, to the 108th place in 2009 and
1650-615: A study published by the United Nations, Bucharest placed 19th among 28 cities that recorded sharp declines in population from 1990 to the mid-2010s. In particular, the population fell by 3.77%. The city's population, according to the 2002 census, was 1,926,334 inhabitants, or 8.9% of the total population of Romania. A significant number of people commute to the city every day, mostly from the surrounding Ilfov County, but official statistics regarding their numbers do not exist. Bucharest's population experienced two phases of rapid growth,
1760-543: A unique habitat. In May 2016, the lake was declared a national park, the Văcărești Nature Park . Dubbed the 'Delta of Bucharest', the area is protected. Bucharest is situated in the center of the Romanian Plain, in an area once covered by the Vlăsiei Forest, which after it was cleared, gave way for a fertile flatland. As with many cities, Bucharest is traditionally considered to be built upon seven hills, similar to
1870-546: A unique status in Romanian administration, since it is the only municipal area that is not part of a county . Its population, however, is larger than that of any other Romanian county , hence the power of the Bucharest General Municipality ( Primăria Generală ), which is the capital's local government body, is the same as any other Romanian county council. The Municipality of Bucharest, along with
1980-559: Is a city of high population density : 8,260/km (21,400/sq mi), as most of the population lives in high-density communist era apartment blocks ( blocuri ). However, this also depends on the part of the city: the southern boroughs have a higher density than the northern ones. Of the European Union country capital-cities, only Paris and Athens have a higher population density (see List of European Union cities proper by population density ). In addition to blocks of flats built during
2090-410: Is administratively known as the 'Municipality of Bucharest' ( Romanian : Municipiul București ), and has the same administrative level as that of a national county , being further subdivided into six sectors , each governed by a local mayor. The Romanian name București has an unverified origin. Tradition connects the founding of Bucharest with the name of Bucur , who was a prince, an outlaw,
2200-725: Is also due to London-centric influences. Examples of R-dropping are car and sugar , where the R is not pronounced. British dialects differ on the extent of diphthongisation of long vowels, with southern varieties extensively turning them into diphthongs, and with northern dialects normally preserving many of them. As a comparison, North American varieties could be said to be in-between. Long vowels /iː/ and /uː/ are usually preserved, and in several areas also /oː/ and /eː/, as in go and say (unlike other varieties of English, that change them to [oʊ] and [eɪ] respectively). Some areas go as far as not diphthongising medieval /iː/ and /uː/, that give rise to modern /aɪ/ and /aʊ/; that is, for example, in
2310-440: Is based on British English, but has more influence from American English , often grouped together due to their close proximity. British English, for example, is the closest English to Indian English, but Indian English has extra vocabulary and some English words are assigned different meanings. Counties of Romania A total of 41 counties ( Romanian : județe ), along with the municipality of Bucharest , constitute
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#17327662564012420-420: Is governed by a local mayor, as follows: Sector 1 – Clotilde Armand ( USR , since 2020), Sector 2 – Radu Mihaiu ( USR , since 2020), Sector 3 – Robert Negoiță (PRO B, since 2012), Sector 4 – Daniel Băluță ( PSD , since 2016), Sector 5 – Vlad Popescu Piedone (former mayor Cristian Popescu Piedone's son) (PUSL, since 2024), Sector 6 – Ciprian Ciucu ( PNL , since 2020). Like all other local councils in Romania,
2530-586: Is headed by a general mayor ( Primar General ). Since 29 October 2020 onwards, it is Nicușor Dan , currently an independent politician previously backed by the PNL - USR PLUS centre-right alliance at the 2020 Romanian local elections . Decisions are approved and discussed by the capital's General Council ( Consiliu General ) made up of 55 elected councilors. Furthermore, the city is divided into six administrative sectors ( sectoare ), each of which has its own 27-seat sectoral council, town hall, and mayor. The powers of
2640-795: Is included in style guides issued by various publishers including The Times newspaper, the Oxford University Press and the Cambridge University Press . The Oxford University Press guidelines were originally drafted as a single broadsheet page by Horace Henry Hart, and were at the time (1893) the first guide of their type in English; they were gradually expanded and eventually published, first as Hart's Rules , and in 2002 as part of The Oxford Manual of Style . Comparable in authority and stature to The Chicago Manual of Style for published American English ,
2750-548: Is listed as 'endangered' by the World Monuments Watch (as of 2016). Although many neighbourhoods, particularly in the southern part of the city, lack sufficient green space, being formed of cramped, high-density blocks of flats, Bucharest also has many parks . In 2024, Bucharest was ranked by the digital publication Freaking Nomads as the 9th best city in the world for digital nomads , due to its elaborate and diverse architecture, an arts scene featuring some of
2860-405: Is located in the southern part of the city. Over 190 hectares, including 90 hectares of water, host 97 species of birds, half of them protected by law, and at least seven species of mammals. The lake is surrounded by buildings of flats and is an odd result of human intervention and nature taking its course. The area was a small village that Ceaușescu attempted to convert into a lake. After demolishing
2970-462: Is more common, particularly in the form of pickpocketing , which occurs mainly on the city's public transport network. Confidence tricks were common in the 1990s, especially in regards to tourists, but the frequency of these incidents has since declined. Theft was reduced by 13.6% in 2013 compared to 2012. Levels of crime are higher in the southern districts of the city, particularly in Ferentari ,
3080-547: The Chambers Dictionary , and the Collins Dictionary record actual usage rather than attempting to prescribe it. In addition, vocabulary and usage change with time; words are freely borrowed from other languages and other varieties of English, and neologisms are frequent. For historical reasons dating back to the rise of London in the ninth century, the form of language spoken in London and
3190-609: The Afro-Romanians ), Iranians, Vietnamese, Filipinos, Nepalis, Afghans, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and Indians. 226,943 people did not declare their ethnicity. British English British English (abbreviations: BrE , en-GB , and BE ) is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . More narrowly, it can refer specifically to
3300-558: The Constitutional Court of Romania . Bucharest has a municipal police force, the Bucharest Police ( Poliția București ), which is responsible for policing crime within the whole city, and operates a number of divisions. The Bucharest Police are headquartered on Ștefan cel Mare Blvd. in the city centre, and at precincts throughout the city. From 2004 onwards, each sector city hall also has under its administration
3410-658: The East Midlands became standard English within the Court, and ultimately became the basis for generally accepted use in the law, government, literature and education in Britain. The standardisation of British English is thought to be from both dialect levelling and a thought of social superiority. Speaking in the Standard dialect created class distinctions; those who did not speak the standard English would be considered of
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3520-522: The English language in England , or, more broadly, to the collective dialects of English throughout the British Isles taken as a single umbrella variety, for instance additionally incorporating Scottish English , Welsh English , and Northern Irish English . Tom McArthur in the Oxford Guide to World English acknowledges that British English shares "all the ambiguities and tensions [with]
3630-671: The Mastercard Global Index of Urban Destinations. As for the past two consecutive years, 2018 and 2019, Bucharest ranked as the European destination with the highest potential for development according to the same study. Economically, Bucharest is the most prosperous city in Romania and the richest capital and city in the region, having surpassed Budapest since 2017. The city has a number of large convention facilities, educational institutes, cultural venues, traditional 'shopping arcades' and recreational areas. The city proper
3740-625: The Monarch . The ținuturi represented another layer of administration between counties and the country, as the county borders were not erased. Due to the territorial changes during World War II, this style of administration did not last, and the administration at the județ level was reintroduced after the war. Between 1941 and 1944, Romania administered the territory between the Dniester and Southern Bug rivers known as Transnistria , which consisted of 13 separate counties. After taking over
3850-495: The NUTS-3 geocode statistical subdivision scheme of Romania within the European Union . Each of the counties is further divided into cities (some of which have municipality status) and communes . The prefect and his administration have executive prerogatives within the county limits, while limited legislative powers are assigned to a County Council elected every four years during local elections. The territorial districts of
3960-712: The Palace of the Parliament , for which an entire historic quarter was razed to make way for Ceaușescu's megalomaniac plans. On 4 March 1977, an earthquake centred in Vrancea , about 135 km (83.89 mi) away, claimed 1,500 lives and caused further damage to the historic centre. The Romanian Revolution of 1989 began with massive anti-Ceaușescu protests in Timișoara in December 1989 and continued in Bucharest, leading to
4070-519: The Romanian Old Kingdom . County borders were kept largely intact, with few adjustments, and the total number of counties was raised to 71; this lasted until the beginning of World War II . In 1938, King Carol II modified the law on the administration of the Romanian territory according to the fascist model. Ten ținuturi (approx. translation "lands") were created, ruled by Rezidenți Regali (Royal Residents), appointed directly by
4180-493: The Royal Spanish Academy with Spanish. Standard British English differs notably in certain vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation features from standard American English and certain other standard English varieties around the world. British and American spelling also differ in minor ways. The accent, or pronunciation system, of standard British English, based in southeastern England, has been known for over
4290-490: The Scots language or Scottish Gaelic ). Each group includes a range of dialects, some markedly different from others. The various British dialects also differ in the words that they have borrowed from other languages. Around the middle of the 15th century, there were points where within the 5 major dialects there were almost 500 ways to spell the word though . Following its last major survey of English Dialects (1949–1950),
4400-573: The University of Leeds has started work on a new project. In May 2007 the Arts and Humanities Research Council awarded a grant to Leeds to study British regional dialects. The team are sifting through a large collection of examples of regional slang words and phrases turned up by the "Voices project" run by the BBC , in which they invited the public to send in examples of English still spoken throughout
4510-610: The West Country and other near-by counties of the UK, the consonant R is not pronounced if not followed by a vowel, lengthening the preceding vowel instead. This phenomenon is known as non-rhoticity . In these same areas, a tendency exists to insert an R between a word ending in a vowel and a next word beginning with a vowel. This is called the intrusive R . It could be understood as a merger, in that words that once ended in an R and words that did not are no longer treated differently. This
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4620-608: The homicide rate of Bucharest was 0,8 per 100,000 people. Crime in Bucharest is combated by national forces, such as the Romanian Police and Romanian Gendarmerie , and by local forces, such as the Local Police of Bucharest. Although in the 2000s, a number of police crackdowns on organised crime gangs occurred, such as the Cămătaru clan, organised crime generally has little impact on public life. Petty crime, however,
4730-512: The union of Wallachia and the rump of Moldavia , the administrative division was modernized using the French administrative system as a model, with județ as the basic administrative unit. Aside from the 1950–1968 period, this system has remained in place until today. Since 1864, for each județ there exists a prefect , a subordinate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and representative of
4840-409: The urban area , the proposed metropolitan area of Bucharest would have a population of 2.3 million people. In 2020, the government used 2.5 million people as the basis for pandemic reports. Bucharest is the eighth largest city in the European Union by population within city limits. In 2017, Bucharest was the European city with the highest growth of tourists who stay over night, according to
4950-463: The 107th place in 2010. Compared to it, Vienna occupied number one worldwide in 2011 and 2009. Warsaw ranked 84th, Istanbul 112th, and neighbours Sofia 114th and Belgrade 136th (in the 2010 rankings). Mercer Human Resource Consulting issues yearly a global ranking of the world's most livable cities based on 39 key quality-of-life issues. Among them: political stability, currency-exchange regulations, political and media censorship, school quality, housing,
5060-629: The 21st century. RP, while long established as the standard English accent around the globe due to the spread of the British Empire , is distinct from the standard English pronunciation in some parts of the world; most prominently, RP notably contrasts with standard North American accents. In the 21st century, dictionaries like the Oxford English Dictionary , the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English ,
5170-549: The Bucharest Tribunal ( Tribunalul Bucureşti ), the city's municipal court. The Bucharest Court of Appeal ( Curtea de Apel Bucureşti ) judges appeals against decisions taken by first-instance courts and tribunals in Bucharest and in five surrounding counties (Teleorman, Ialomița, Giurgiu, Călărași, and Ilfov). Bucharest is also home to Romania's supreme court, the High Court of Cassation and Justice , as well as to
5280-417: The Bucharest sectoral councils, the capital's general council , and the mayors are elected every four years by the population. Additionally, Bucharest has a prefect , who is appointed by Romania's national government. The prefect is not allowed to be a member of a political party and his role is to represent the national government at the municipal level. The prefect is acting as a liaison official facilitating
5390-836: The English Language (1755) was a large step in the English-language spelling reform , where the purification of language focused on standardising both speech and spelling. By the early 20th century, British authors had produced numerous books intended as guides to English grammar and usage, a few of which achieved sufficient acclaim to have remained in print for long periods and to have been reissued in new editions after some decades. These include, most notably of all, Fowler's Modern English Usage and The Complete Plain Words by Sir Ernest Gowers . Detailed guidance on many aspects of writing British English for publication
5500-613: The Germanic schwein ) is the animal in the field bred by the occupied Anglo-Saxons and pork (like the French porc ) is the animal at the table eaten by the occupying Normans. Another example is the Anglo-Saxon cu meaning cow, and the French bœuf meaning beef. Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification and lexical enrichment of the Anglo-Frisian core of English;
5610-922: The Oxford Manual is a fairly exhaustive standard for published British English that writers can turn to in the absence of specific guidance from their publishing house. British English is the basis of, and very similar to, Commonwealth English . Commonwealth English is English as spoken and written in the Commonwealth countries , though often with some local variation. This includes English spoken in Australia , Malta , New Zealand , Nigeria , and South Africa . It also includes South Asian English used in South Asia, in English varieties in Southeast Asia , and in parts of Africa. Canadian English
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#17327662564015720-676: The Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia (where they were termed ținuturi ) dates back to at least the late 14th century. For most of the time since modern Romania was formed in 1859 , the administrative division system has been similar to that of the French departments . The system has since changed several times and the number of counties has varied over time, from the 71 județe that existed before World War II to only 39 after 1968. The current format has largely been in place since 1968 as only small changes have been made since then,
5830-524: The Russian departure (remaining in the city until March 1857). On 23 March 1847, a fire consumed about 2,000 buildings, destroying a third of the city. In 1862, after Wallachia and Moldavia were united to form the Principality of Romania , Bucharest became the new nation's capital city. In 1881, it became the political centre of the newly proclaimed Kingdom of Romania under King Carol I . During
5940-712: The South East, there are significantly different accents; the Cockney accent spoken by some East Londoners is strikingly different from Received Pronunciation (RP). Cockney rhyming slang can be (and was initially intended to be) difficult for outsiders to understand, although the extent of its use is often somewhat exaggerated. Londoners speak with a mixture of accents, depending on ethnicity, neighbourhood, class, age, upbringing, and sundry other factors. Estuary English has been gaining prominence in recent decades: it has some features of RP and some of Cockney. Immigrants to
6050-550: The UK in recent decades have brought many more languages to the country and particularly to London. Surveys started in 1979 by the Inner London Education Authority discovered over 125 languages being spoken domestically by the families of the inner city's schoolchildren. Notably Multicultural London English , a sociolect that emerged in the late 20th century spoken mainly by young, working-class people in multicultural parts of London . Since
6160-640: The United Kingdom , as well as within the countries themselves. The major divisions are normally classified as English English (or English as spoken in England (which is itself broadly grouped into Southern English , West Country , East and West Midlands English and Northern English ), Northern Irish English (in Northern Ireland), Welsh English (not to be confused with the Welsh language ), and Scottish English (not to be confused with
6270-465: The West Scottish accent. Phonological features characteristic of British English revolve around the pronunciation of the letter R, as well as the dental plosive T and some diphthongs specific to this dialect. Once regarded as a Cockney feature, in a number of forms of spoken British English, /t/ has become commonly realised as a glottal stop [ʔ] when it is in the intervocalic position, in
6380-410: The adjective little is predominant elsewhere. Nevertheless, there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in written English within the United Kingdom, and this could be described by the term British English . The forms of spoken English, however, vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken and so a uniform concept of British English is more difficult to apply to
6490-557: The administration of the country in 1945, the Communist Party changed the administrative model to that of the Soviet Union ( regions and raions ) in 1950, but changed it back in 1968. Nevertheless, the county borders set then were quite different from those present during the interbellum , as only 39 counties were formed from the 56 remaining after the war. In 1981, Giurgiu and Călărași were split from Ialomița and
6600-510: The average high temperature is 29.8 °C (85.6 °F) (the average for July and August). Temperatures frequently reach 35 to 40 °C (95 to 104 °F) in midsummer in the city centre. Although average precipitation in summer is moderate, occasional heavy storms occur. During spring and autumn, daytime temperatures vary between 17 and 22 °C (63 and 72 °F), and precipitation during spring tends to be higher than in summer, with more frequent yet milder periods of rain. Bucharest has
6710-488: The award of the grant in 2007, Leeds University stated: that they were "very pleased"—and indeed, "well chuffed"—at receiving their generous grant. He could, of course, have been "bostin" if he had come from the Black Country , or if he was a Scouser he would have been well "made up" over so many spondoolicks, because as a Geordie might say, £460,000 is a "canny load of chink". Most people in Britain speak with
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#17327662564016820-528: The city has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom. It is one of the fastest-growing high-tech cities in Europe, according to the Financial Times , CBRE , TechCrunch , and others. In 2016, the historical city centre was listed as 'endangered' by the World Monuments Watch . In January 2023, there were 1.74 million inhabitants living within the city limits, and adding the satellite towns around
6930-614: The city was hit by Caragea's plague . The city was wrested from Ottoman influence and occupied at several intervals by the Habsburg monarchy (1716, 1737, 1789) and Imperial Russia (three times between 1768 and 1806). It was placed under Russian administration between 1828 and the Crimean War , with an interlude during the Bucharest-centred 1848 Wallachian revolution . Later, an Austrian garrison took possession after
7040-653: The communist era, there are also older interwar ones, as well as newer ones built in the 1990s and in the 21st century. Although apartment buildings are strongly associated with the communist era, such housing schemes were first introduced in Bucharest in the 1920s. About 97.3% of the population of Bucharest for whom data are available is Romanian . Other significant ethnic groups are Romani , Hungarians, Turks, Jews , Germans (mostly Regat Germans ), Chinese, Russians, Ukrainians, and Italians. A relatively small number of Bucharesters are also Greeks , Armenians, Kurds, Bulgarians, Albanians, Poles, French, Arabs, Africans (including
7150-514: The country. The BBC Voices project also collected hundreds of news articles about how the British speak English from swearing through to items on language schools. This information will also be collated and analysed by Johnson's team both for content and for where it was reported. "Perhaps the most remarkable finding in the Voices study is that the English language is as diverse as ever, despite our increased mobility and constant exposure to other accents and dialects through TV and radio". When discussing
7260-415: The early settlements in antiquity until its consolidation as the national capital of Romania late in the 19th century. First mentioned as the ' Citadel of București' in 1459, it became the residence of the ruler of Wallachia, Voivode Vlad the Impaler . The Old Princely Court ( Curtea Veche ) was erected by Mircea Ciobanul in the mid-16th century. Under subsequent rulers, Bucharest was established as
7370-631: The environment, and public safety. Mercer collects data worldwide, in 215 cities. The difficult situation of the quality of life in Bucharest is confirmed also by a vast urbanism study, done by the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism . In 2016, Bucharest's urban situation was described as 'critical' by a Romanian Order of Architects (OAR) report that criticised the city's weak, incoherent and arbitrary public management policies, its elected officials' lack of transparency and public engagement, as well as its inadequate and unsustainable use of essential urban resources. Bucharest's historical city centre
7480-432: The first beginning in the late 19th century when the city was consolidated as the national capital and lasting until the Second World War, and the second during the Ceaușescu years (1965–1989), when a massive urbanization campaign was launched and many people migrated from rural areas to the capital. At this time, due to Ceaușescu's decision to ban abortion and contraception, natural increase was also significant. Bucharest
7590-437: The former county of Ilfov, while in 1997, Ilfov County , which had been a dependency of the municipality of Bucharest for nearly two decades, was reinstated. The county borders set in 1968 are still largely in place today, but the functions of different authorities have changed due to administrative reforms in the 1990s. At present, Romania is divided into 41 counties and one municipality (Bucharest); these are assigned as
7700-450: The gardens are the main recreational facility in the city centre. Bucharest parks and gardens also include Herăstrău Park , Tineretului Park and the Botanical Garden . Herăstrău Park is located in the northern part of the city, around Lake Herăstrău, and includes the site the Village Museum . Grigore Antipa Museum is also near in the Victoriei Square. One of its best known locations are Hard Rock Cafe Bucharest and Berăria H (one of
7810-443: The government inside the county; he is also the head of local administration for areas not delegated to local authorities. Until 1948, each județ was further divided into several plăși , each administered by a pretor . After the adoption of a new Constitution in 1923, the traditional local administrative systems of the newly acquired regions of Transylvania , Bukovina and Bessarabia were made uniform in 1925 with that of
7920-414: The houses and building the concrete basin, the plan was abandoned following the 1989 revolution. For nearly two decades, the area shifted from being an abandoned green space where children could play and sunbathe, to being contested by previous owners of the land there, to being closed for redevelopment into a sports centre. The redevelopment deal failed, and over the following years, the green space grew into
8030-458: The idea of two different morphemes, one that causes the double negation, and one that is used for the point or the verb. Standard English in the United Kingdom, as in other English-speaking nations, is widely enforced in schools and by social norms for formal contexts but not by any singular authority; for instance, there is no institution equivalent to the Académie française with French or
8140-468: The implementation of national development plans and governing programs at local level. The prefect of Bucharest (as of 2024) is Mihai Mugur Toader. The city's general council has the following political composition, based on the results of the 2024 local elections : Bucharest's judicial system is similar to that of the Romanian counties. Each of the six sectors has its own local first-instance court ( judecătorie ), while more serious cases are directed to
8250-528: The interwar years, Bucharest's urban development continued, with the city gaining an average of 30,000 new residents each year. Also, some of the city's main landmarks were built in this period, including Arcul de Triumf and Palatul Telefoanelor . However, the Great Depression in Romania took its toll on Bucharest's citizens, culminating in the Grivița Strike of 1933 . In January 1941, the city
8360-431: The largest and Ilfov County (1,583 square kilometres (611 sq mi)) the smallest. The municipality of Bucharest, which has the same administrative level as that of a county, is both more populous and much smaller than any county, with 1,716,983 people and 228 square kilometres (88 sq mi). The earliest organization into județe (for Wallachia ), and ținuturi (for Moldavia ), dates back at least to
8470-518: The largest beer halls in Europe). Tineretului Park was created in 1965 and designed as the main recreational space for southern Bucharest. It contains a Mini Town which is a play area for kids. The Botanical Garden, located in the Cotroceni neighbourhood a bit west of the city centre, is the largest of its kind in Romania and contains over 10,000 species of plants (many of them exotic); it originated as
8580-489: The last of which was in 1997. According to the 2021 census data from the National Institute of Statistics , the average population of Romania's 41 counties is about 423,000, with Iași County as the most populous (760,000) and Tulcea County (193,000) the least. The average county's land area is 5,809 square kilometres (2,243 sq mi), with Timiș County (8,697 square kilometres (3,358 sq mi))
8690-523: The last southern Midlands accent to use the broad "a" in words like bath or grass (i.e. barth or grarss ). Conversely crass or plastic use a slender "a". A few miles northwest in Leicestershire the slender "a" becomes more widespread generally. In the town of Corby , five miles (8 km) north, one can find Corbyite which, unlike the Kettering accent, is largely influenced by
8800-411: The late 14th century. Inspired from the organization of the late Byzantine Empire , each județ was ruled by a jude (or pârcălab for a ținut ), a person officially appointed with administrative and judicial functions. Transylvania was divided into royal counties headed by comes (royal counts) with administrative and judicial functions. After modern Romania was formed in 1859 through
8910-462: The later Norman occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core of a more elaborate layer of words from the Romance branch of the European languages. This Norman influence entered English largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing" language of great flexibility and with a huge vocabulary . Dialects and accents vary amongst the four countries of
9020-428: The local government over a certain area are, therefore, shared both by the Bucharest municipality and the local sectoral councils with little or no overlapping of authority. The general rule is that the main capital municipality is responsible for citywide utilities such as the water and sewage system, the overall transport system, and the main boulevards, while sectoral town halls manage the contact between individuals and
9130-425: The local government, secondary streets and parks maintenance, schools administration, and cleaning services. The six sectors are numbered from one to six and are disposed radially so that each one has under its administration a certain area of the city centre. They are numbered clockwise and are further divided into sectoral quarters ( cartiere ) which are not part of the official administrative division: Each sector
9240-457: The mass internal migration to Northamptonshire in the 1940s and given its position between several major accent regions, it has become a source of various accent developments. In Northampton the older accent has been influenced by overspill Londoners. There is an accent known locally as the Kettering accent, which is a transitional accent between the East Midlands and East Anglian . It is
9350-778: The mid-2000s. In 2015, 64 people were killed in the Colectiv nightclub fire . Later the Romanian capital saw the 2017–2019 Romanian protests against the judicial reforms, with a 2018 protest ending with 450 people injured. The following treaties were signed in the city: The city is situated on the banks of the Dâmbovița River , which flows into the Argeș River, a tributary of the Danube. Several lakes – the most important of which are Lake Herăstrău, Lake Floreasca, Lake Tei, and Lake Colentina – stretch across
9460-463: The modern period, but due to their remoteness from the Germanic languages , influence on English was notably limited . However, the degree of influence remains debated, and it has recently been argued that its grammatical influence accounts for the substantial innovations noted between English and the other West Germanic languages. Initially, Old English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting
9570-631: The nickname of 'Paris of the East' ( Parisul Estului ), with the Calea Victoriei as its Champs-Élysées . Between 6 December 1916 and November 1918, the city was occupied by German forces as a result of the Battle of Bucharest , with the official capital temporarily moved to Iași (also called Jassy), in the Moldavia region. After World War I, Bucharest became the capital of Greater Romania . In
9680-574: The northern parts of the city, along the Colentina River , a tributary of the Dâmbovița. In addition, in the centre of the capital is a small artificial lake – Lake Cișmigiu – surrounded by the Cișmigiu Gardens . These gardens have a rich history, having been frequented by poets and writers. Opened in 1847 and based on the plans of German architect Carl F.W. Meyer,
9790-456: The official administrative divisions of Romania . They represent the country 's NUTS-3 ( Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics – Level 3) statistical subdivisions within the European Union and each of them serves as the local level of government within its borders. Most counties are named after a major river , while some are named after notable cities within them, such as the county seat. The earliest organization into județe of
9900-599: The overthrow of the Communist regime . Dissatisfied with the postrevolutionary leadership of the National Salvation Front , some student leagues and opposition groups organised anti-Communist rallies in early 1990, which caused the political change. Since 2000, the city has been continuously modernised. Residential and commercial developments are underway, particularly in the northern districts; Bucharest's old historic centre has undergone restoration since
10010-410: The pleasure park of the royal family. Besides them, there are many other smaller parks that should be visited, some of them being still large. Alexandru Ioan Cuza Park, Kiseleff Park, Carol Park , Izvor Park, Grădina Icoanei , Circului Park and Moghioroș Park are a few of them. Other large parks in Bucharest are: National Park, Tei Park, Eroilor Park and Crângași Park with Morii Lake . Lake Văcărești
10120-542: The regions surrounding Bucharest were largely rural, but after 1989, suburbs started to be built around Bucharest, in the surrounding Ilfov County . This county , which has experienced rapid demographic growth in the 21st century, being the fastest growing Romanian county between 2011 and 2021, had a population of 542,686 people at the 2021 Romanian census . In the 21st century, many of Ilfov county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns , which act like suburbs or satellites of Bucharest. Bucharest has
10230-512: The second half of the 19th century, the city's population increased dramatically, and a new period of urban development began. During this period, gas lighting , horse-drawn trams , and limited electrification were introduced. The Dâmbovița River was also massively channelled in 1883, thus putting a stop to previously endemic floods like the 1865 flooding of Bucharest . The Fortifications of Bucharest were built. The extravagant architecture and cosmopolitan high culture of this period won Bucharest
10340-512: The seven hills of Rome. Bucharest's seven hills are: Mihai Vodă, Dealul Mitropoliei , Radu Vodă, Cotroceni , Dealul Spirii , Văcărești , and Sfântu Gheorghe Nou. The city has an area of 226 km (87 sq mi). The altitude varies from 55.8 m (183.1 ft) at the Dâmbovița bridge in Cățelu, southeastern Bucharest and 91.5 m (300.2 ft) at the Militari church. The city has
10450-399: The sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nicknames of Little Paris ( Romanian : Micul Paris ) or Paris of the East ( Romanian : Parisul Estului ). Although buildings and districts in the historic city centre were heavily damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes, and even Nicolae Ceaușescu 's program of systematization , many survived and have been renovated. In recent years,
10560-401: The spoken language. Globally, countries that are former British colonies or members of the Commonwealth tend to follow British English, as is the case for English used by European Union institutions. In China, both British English and American English are taught. The UK government actively teaches and promotes English around the world and operates in over 200 countries . English is
10670-595: The summer residence of the royal court. During the years to come, it competed with Târgoviște on the status of capital city after an increase in the importance of Southern Muntenia brought about by the demands of the suzerain power – the Ottoman Empire . Bucharest finally became the permanent location of the Wallachian court after 1698 (starting with the reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu ). The city
10780-521: The surrounding Ilfov County, is part of the București – Ilfov development region project, which is equivalent to NUTS-II regions in the European Union and is used both by the EU and the Romanian government for statistical analysis, and to co-ordinate regional development projects and manage funds from the EU. The Bucharest-Ilfov development region is not, however, an administrative entity yet. The city government
10890-603: The theft of work tools worth £500 from a van at the Sprucefield park and ride car park in Lisburn. A football team can be treated likewise: Arsenal have lost just one of 20 home Premier League matches against Manchester City. This tendency can be observed in texts produced already in the 19th century. For example, Jane Austen , a British author, writes in Chapter 4 of Pride and Prejudice , published in 1813: All
11000-403: The traditional accent of Newcastle upon Tyne , 'out' will sound as 'oot', and in parts of Scotland and North-West England, 'my' will be pronounced as 'me'. Long vowels /iː/ and /uː/ are diphthongised to [ɪi] and [ʊu] respectively (or, more technically, [ʏʉ], with a raised tongue), so that ee and oo in feed and food are pronounced with a movement. The diphthong [oʊ] is also pronounced with
11110-750: The varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. One of these dialects, Late West Saxon , eventually came to dominate. The original Old English was then influenced by two waves of invasion: the first was by speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family, who settled in parts of Britain in the eighth and ninth centuries; the second was the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately developed an English variety of this called Anglo-Norman . These two invasions caused English to become "mixed" to some degree (though it
11220-402: The word 'British' and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways, more broadly or more narrowly, within a range of blurring and ambiguity". Variations exist in formal (both written and spoken) English in the United Kingdom. For example, the adjective wee is almost exclusively used in parts of Scotland, north-east England, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally Yorkshire , whereas
11330-568: The world are good and agreeable in your eyes. However, in Chapter 16, the grammatical number is used. The world is blinded by his fortune and consequence. Some dialects of British English use negative concords, also known as double negatives . Rather than changing a word or using a positive, words like nobody, not, nothing, and never would be used in the same sentence. While this does not occur in Standard English, it does occur in non-standard dialects. The double negation follows
11440-450: The world’s best galleries, museums, and theatres, and its tranquil parks. As per the 2021 census , 1,716,961 inhabitants lived within the city limits, a decrease from the figure recorded at the 2011 census. This decrease is due to low natural increase, but also to a shift in population from the city itself to its smaller satellite towns such as Popești-Leordeni , Voluntari , Chiajna , Bragadiru , Pantelimon , Buftea and Otopeni . In
11550-421: Was first mentioned in documents in 1459. The city became the capital in 1862 and is the centre of Romanian media, culture, and art. Its architecture is a mix of historical (mostly Eclectic , but also Neoclassical and Art Nouveau ), interbellum ( Bauhaus , Art Deco , and Romanian Revival architecture ), socialist era , and modern . In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and
11660-422: Was never a truly mixed language in the strictest sense of the word; mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication). The more idiomatic, concrete and descriptive English is, the more it is from Anglo-Saxon origins. The more intellectual and abstract English is, the more it contains Latin and French influences, e.g. swine (like
11770-407: Was partly destroyed by natural disasters and rebuilt several times during the following 200 years. The Ottomans appointed Greek administrators ( Phanariotes ) to run the town ( Ottoman Turkish : بكرش , romanized : Bukreş ) from the 18th century. The 1821 Wallachian uprising initiated by Tudor Vladimirescu led to the end of the rule of Constantinople Greeks in Bucharest. In 1813–14
11880-403: Was ranked among the top 100 safest cities in the world in a list compiled by Numbeo. The study found Bucharest to be very safe with regard to aspects such walking alone, home invasions, muggings, cars being stolen, assault, insults, assault due to skin color, ethnic origin, or gender, drug dealing, and armed robberies, with the only crimes in the high category being corruption and bribery. In 2015,
11990-486: Was related to bucurie (joy), bucuros (joyful), or a se bucura (to be joyful), while an early 19th-century book published in Vienna assumed its name to be derived from 'Bukovie', a beech forest. In English , the city's name was formerly rendered as Bukarest . A native or resident of Bucharest is called a 'Bucharester' (Romanian: bucureștean ). Bucharest's history alternated periods of development and decline from
12100-613: Was the scene of the Legionnaires' rebellion and Bucharest pogrom . As the capital of an Axis country and a major transit point for Axis troops en route to the Eastern Front , Bucharest suffered heavy damage during World War II due to Allied bombings . On 23 August 1944, Bucharest was the site of the royal coup which brought Romania into the Allied camp. The city suffered a short period of Nazi Luftwaffe bombings, as well as
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