Abuja | |
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State | Federal Capital Territory |
Country | Nigeria |
Capital | |
Population | 776298 |
Postcode | 900001 |
Abuja () is the capital city of Nigeria situated in the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It's a planned city and was built mainly from the 1980s, replacing the nation's most populous city of Lagos as the capital on 12 December 1991. Abuja's geography is characterized by Aso Rock, a 400-metre (1,300 feet ) monolith left by water erosion. The Presidential Complex, National Assembly, Supreme Court and much of the city extend into the south of the rock. Zuma Rock, a 792-metre (2,598 feet ) monolith, lies just north of the city on the expressway to Kaduna.
At the 2006 census, the city of Abuja had a population of 776,298 which makes it among the ten most populous cities in Nigeria. According to the United Nations, Abuja climbed by 139.7% between 2000 and 2010, which makes it the fastest growing city in the world.
As of 2015, the town is experiencing an annual growth of 35%, retaining its position as the weakest city on the African continent and among the fastest-growing in the world.
Belo Horizonte | |
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State | Minas Gerais |
Country | Brazil |
Capital | |
Population | 0 |
Belo Horizonte (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈbɛlu oɾiˈzõtʃi], locally [ˌbɛloɾiˈzõtʃi] (listen); "Beautiful Horizon") is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropolis is anchor to the Belo Horizonte metropolitan area, ranked as the third-most populous metropolitan area in Brazil and the 17th-most populous in the Americas. Belo Horizonte is the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil's second-most populous state. It is the first planned modern city in Brazil.
The region was first settled in the early 18th century, but the city as it is known today was planned and constructed in the 1890s, to replace Ouro Preto as the capital of Minas Gerais. The city features a mixture of contemporary and classical buildings, and is home to several modern Brazilian architectural icons, most notably the Pampulha Complex. In planning the city, Aarão Reis and Francisco Bicalho sought inspiration in the urban planning of Washington, D.