Budapest is the capital of Hungary. It is situated on the banks of the River Danube. The area is approx. 525 square kilometres. Buda, the western part of the city, is the hilly side: and Pest, the eastern part, is flat and twice as big as Buda. There are 9 bridges over the river, two of which carry railway lines

The population of the city is just under 2 million, so one of every five Hungarians lives in the capital city.

Buda, Old Buda and Pest had been three different towns for centuries and they became one city in 1873. The city has got 23 districts. Five situated in Buda, seventeen in Pest and one on the Csepel Island.

The highest peak of the city is János-hill (529m), the height of the Castle Hill is 167 m, and the Gellért hill is 235 m high.

The Danube, the second largest river in Europe, is approx. 96 m above sea level. The narrowest point of the river is 285 m at the Elisabeth Bridge; the widest is approx. 600 m at Árpád Bridge.

There are three islands in Budapest: the Óbuda (Old Buda) Island, the Margaret Island and the Csepel Island, which is the biggest.

In Budapest there is only one natural standing water, the Mill Lake at Lukács bath. Our artificial lakes are: the lake in the City Park, the lake of the Japanese garden on Margaret Island, the lake next to the Kosztolányi Dezső square in Buda, and the lake of the Orczy garden. There are 123 natural springs of thermal water and these that supply the city’s main thermal baths.

Budapest has a continental climate, the hottest months are June, July and August (average temperature is 22°C), the coldest is January (average temperature is just below zero).

The mean yearly rainfall is average 611 mm.