Municipality of Bucharest - Geography and history
The municipality of Bucharest is located at the intersection of parallel 44° 26' north latitude and meridian 26° 6' east longitude, in the middle of Ilfov county, with an area of 238 km2. Administratively speaking, Bucharest is divided into six sectors.
The geography is exclusively plain and belongs to the Vlasiei Plain (the entire Bucharest Plain). The city elevation is 70-80 m as compared to Black Sea level.
The climate is temperate-continental, influenced by the contact of the east continental air with the west and south air. The predominant east air generates hot summers and harsh winters. Bucharest has a steppe-like climate and usually has a moisture deficit.
The hydrographical network of Bucharest includes Dâmbovita and Colentina rivers. The latter formed many meanders at the entrance in Bucharest, resulting in a picturesque lace of natural lakes (Mogosoaia, Straulesti, Baneasa, Herastrau, Floreasca, Tei, Fundeni, and Pantelimon).
The first document stating the name of "Bucharest" is dated 20 September 1459, in which Vlad Tepes sanctioned the possessions of some local nobles in Mehedinti county
The city was founded in 1459 by voivode Vlad Tepes, on the shore of the Dâmbovita river. Later, the city became the principality's capital city. The legends say that the name of the city come from Bucur, a shepherd, or noble, or outlaw.
The documents issued by the Court between 1459 and 1625 speak of 41 settlements on the current territory of Bucharest, mainly located by the rivers of Colentina and Dâmbovita.
Starting from the 15th century, the city land area doubled. The landscape included wood and stone buildings, with neighbourhoods specific to the professional guilds.
The main trading and commercial place was the Big Street, nowadays known as the Lipscani Street, mentioned in a document dated 5 June 1589.
The St. Savva Academy is founded in 1694, with 200 students and courses in philosophy, classic literature, grammar and orthography, geography, and medicine.
The first white wax manufacturer is established in 1764. The Felt Factory is founded in 1766 in Afumati, followed in 1767 by the Paper Factory of Fundeni, and in 1783 by the ones of Dâmbovita and Ciorogârla.
The first after-union Romanian government was formed on 22 January 1862 by Barbu Catargiu, and the first Parliament opens on 24 January 1862. Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza proclaimed the "Definite Union of the Principalities" and the city of Bucharest is declared capital of modern Romania.
Economy
Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, has some distinct features from any other city or region of the country (high social and professional structure, business potential, institutional and cultural activity at the international standards). The polarisation power of the capital goes beyond the administrative borders of the region and practically reaches the entire country, as the central public administration is in Bucharest. The geographical and administrative position helped the development of major communication routes. Eight national roads and a highway depart from Bucharest, which also has 4 double railway routes that make it the main railway hub of the country. In fact, the entire Romanian infrastructure is so built that Bucharest is the centre of the country. The polarisation exercised by the city made that most of the big companies operating in Romania, multinational or domestic companies, being based in Bucharest. The business environment is attractive for both Romanian and foreign investors because of the existing institutions, high-skilled labour force and developed communication system. Considering the main indexes of 2000, the city has 9% of the stable population, 8.4% of the occupied population, 7.9% of the active civil population, 4.3% of the total unemployed, and 6.3% of the total investments.
In 2000 the total number of companies was 63 499, most of them - 40 643 - dealing in trading, 9 363 in real estate transactions and services for other companies, 6 133 in industrial activities.
Currently, Bucharest is the first at production of grinding equipment, cotton fabrics, and meat products, and the second for beer, paints and varnishes.
The 2000 aggregate turnover of the Bucharest-based companies was 523 129 billion lei. The main activities that contributed this figure are trading, hotels and restaurants (37.3%), transportation, storage, mailing and telecommunications (12.7%), processing industry (13.4%), and electricity, heat, gas and water distribution (13.1%). Considering the company size, 16.1% of aggregate turnover was generated by the companies with less than 9 employees, 16.7% by small companies with 10 to 49 employees, 16.1% by companies with 50 to 249 employees and 51.1% by big companies with more than 250 employees.
Agriculture plays a less important role in the economy of Bucharest.
The transportation system of 2000 included 610 trams, 1 454 buses, 274 trolley-buses and 502 subway cars. The subway length was added in 2000 by 34 km and two new stations. The accommodation capacity of the current facilities, as of 31 July 2000, was 7 422 places, with 7 284 places in hotels.
Population and social environment
The population of the city developed under the joint influence of the economic, political and social factors that manifested with various trends and intensities in time.
Between 1996 and 2000, as well as during the previous years, the population decreased mainly due to the economic instability and free abortion policies, which also resulted in a lower population density.
Because of the low birth rate, the recent years faced an aging trend. In the last 5 years, the population aged 65 and above increased by 1.05% on an annual basis, and the population aged 0-9 decreased by 11.3% on the same basis.
The average life expectancy for females is 7 years above the figure for males. Between 1998 and 2000, the life expectancy was 68.9 for males and 76 for females.
The activity rate of the labour force was 61.8% (more than 10 percentage points under the national average). At the end of 2000, the labour force totalled 1,239.4 thousand persons.
Bucharest concentrates 8.4% of the total employed civil population of Romania, most of them working in the processing industry. The city was the first in 2000 regarding the civil population employed in industry - 204.8 thousand. The employment rate was 58.3%.
The employed population has a decreasing trend from 800.6 thousand in 1996 to 722.1 thousand in 2000.
The unemployment rate is lower than the national average, being 5.7% in 2000, compared to 10.5% at a national level. The unemployment mainly affects the female population.
In 2000, the city had 190 kindergartens, 178 primary and secondary schools, 106 high schools, 5 vocational schools, 9 apprentice schools and 44 higher-education institutions, with about 30 in the private educational system.
The municipality of Bucharest is the largest centre for higher education in the country, with 35% of all educational institutions and professors and more than 33% of total students.
The health system includes 54 hospitals, 55 clinics, 21 nurseries, 543 pharmacies, 14 medical consultation centres and more than 3 300 specialised units, all operated by 10 422 physicians (18.9% dentists), 1 062 pharmacists and 16 517 medical staff with medium training level.
The city is the main cultural centre of Romania, having 45 museums including: The National Art Museum opened in 1948, The Bucharest Museum of Art and History reopened in 1959, The Village Museum opened in 1936 by Prof. Dimitrie Gusti, The Romanian Peasantry Museum opened in 1990, The National Museum of Natural History Grigore Antipa opened in 1908, The National Military Museum opened in 1914, The Cotroceni Museum and others.
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