Budapest is the capital and the largest city of Hungary, located on both banks of the Danube River in the northern part of the country.

Home to about 20 percent of Hungary’s population, Budapest is the country’s cultural and industrial center. Three towns — Pest, Buda, and Óbuda — combined in 1873 to form the capital of newly autonomous Hungary.

Hungarians use the nickname Pest to refer to the city.

Budapest, within city limits, covers 525 sq km (203 sq mi). Buda, now a section of Budapest located on the western side of the Danube, occupies one-third of the city’s area, while Pest, the city section on the eastern side of the river, occupies the remaining two-thirds.

The metropolitan area, which spans 2,250 sq km (869 sq mi), encompasses eight other cities and 70 villages, some of which have recently become popular suburbs for affluent people moving out of Budapest. The most prominent suburbs include Vác and Gödöllõ on the east side of the Danube, and Budaörs and Budakeszi on the west side.

The Danube is nearly 1 km (0.6 mi) wide at Budapest’s northern limit. A little farther south, the river encircles two islands, Óbuda Island and Margaret Island. At its narrowest point in the city, the river is only 230 m (750 ft) wide.

The two sections of the city separated by the river are markedly different. Pest sprawls across flat terrain while Buda is very hilly. The hills of Buda are between 150 and 500 m (500 and 1,600 ft) high.

Historically the seat of government, Buda has an elegance derived from its beautiful Gothic churches and public buildings and its exclusive residential neighborhoods.

Pest possesses monumental government buildings and the city’s most popular shopping thoroughfare, Váci Avenue. Pest is generally more industrial than Buda.

Residential and industrial neighborhoods sprawl beyond the historic central areas of Buda and Pest in all directions.