Bucharest
From Vlad the Impaler's fortress to "Paris of the East" to Europe's fastest-growing tech hub, generating 24% of Romania's GDP.
Bucharest exists because Vlad the Impaler needed a fortress against the Turks. First documented in 1459 when Vlad III signed a document here, the fortress on the Dambovita River grew into Wallachia's economic center under Ottoman suzerainty, becoming capital in 1659. When Wallachia and Moldavia unified in 1862, Bucharest became the new nation's capital; the 1881 proclamation of the Kingdom made it the political center. Extravagant Belle Epoque architecture won the nickname "Paris of the East," with Calea Victoriei as its Champs-Elysees. The 1883 channeling of the Dambovita ended endemic flooding. Today Bucharest is the region's richest capital (surpassing Budapest since 2017), generating 24% of Romania's GDP and one-quarter of industrial output. The 1.71 million city-proper population (2.31 million metro) makes it the EU's 8th most populous city by limits. Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM operate IT centers in one of Europe's fastest-growing high-tech cities. Ceausescu's Palace of Parliament remains the world's largest administrative building. By 2026, IT services will continue expanding while the Belle Epoque heritage draws cultural tourism.