Budapest later, with the help of the Russian Empire. 1867 was the year of Reconciliation that brought about the birth of Austria-Hungary. This made Budapest the twin capital of a dual monarchy. It was this compromise which opened the second great phase of development in the history of Budapest, lasting until World War I. In 1849 the Chain Bridge linking Buda with Pest was opened as the first permanent bridge across the Danube and in 1873 Buda and Pest were officially merged with the third part, Óbuda (Old Buda), thus creating the new metropolis of Budapest. The dynamic Pest grew into
Budapest Budapest Budapest is the capital and the most populous city of Hungary, and the tenth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits. The city had an estimated population of 1,752,704 in 2016 distributed over a land area of about . Budapest is both a city and county, and forms the centre of the Budapest metropolitan area, which has an area of and a population of 3,303,786, comprising 33 percent of the population of Hungary. The history of Budapest began when an early Celtic settlement transformed into a Roman town of Aquincum, the capital of Lower Pannonia. The