Budapest: Hungary

Budapest: Hungary
Budapest (pronounced BOO-dah-pesht, IPA /’budapɛʃt/), the capital city of Hungary and the country’s principal political, industrial, commercial and transportation centre, has more than 1.7 million inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s peak of 2.07 million. It became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with the amalgamation in 1873 of right-bank Buda (Ofen in German) and Óbuda (Old Buda or Alt-Ofen) together with Pest on the left (east) bank. It is the sixth largest city in the European Union.
Districts of Budapest
Budapest’s districts are numbered basically clockwise, in widening circles, and are organized similarly to the ‘arrondisments’ in Metropolitan Paris.
District I is a small area in central Buda (the western side), including the historic Castle. District II is in Buda again, in the northwest, and District III streches along in the northernmost part of Buda.
To reach District IV, we must cross the Danube to find it in Pest (the eastern side), also at north. With District V, we begin another circle: it is located in the absolute centre of Pest. Districts VI, VII, VIII and IX are the neighbouring areas to the east, going southwards, one after the other.
District X is another, more external circle also in Pest, while we must jump to the Buda side again to find Districts XI and XII, going northwards. No more districts remaining in Buda in this circle, we must turn our steps to Pest again to find Districts XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XIX and XX (mostly external city parts), almost regularly in a semi-circle, going southwards again.
District XXI is the extension of the above route over a branch of the Danube, the northern tip of a long island (Csepel-sziget) south from Budapest. District XXII is still on the same route in southwest Buda, and finally District XXIII is again in southernmost Pest, irregular only because it was added afterwards to the capital.
Each district can be associated with one or more city parts named after former towns within Budapest. The districts in red are in Buda, those in blue in Pest, and the one in yellow is an island between them. (Note: two further islands are parts of District III and District XIII.)