Abuja vs Mashhad

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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.

As of 2016, the metropolitan area of Abuja is estimated at six million individuals, placing it behind only Lagos as the most populous metro area in Nigeria.Major religious websites include the Nigerian National Mosque and the Nigerian National Christian Centre. The town is served by the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. Abuja is known for being among the few purpose-built capital cities in Africa, in addition to being among those wealthiest.Abuja is Nigeria's political and administrative centre. It is also an integral capital on the African continent due to Nigeria's geo-political influence in regional affairs. Abuja is also a conference centre and hosts various meetings annually, like the 2003 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting and the 2014 World Economic Forum (Africa) meetings.

Source: Wikipedia

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Mashhad (Persian: مشهد‎, romanized: Mašhad [mæʃˈhæd] (listen)), also spelled Mashad or Meshad, is the second-most-populous city in Iran and the capital of Razavi Khorasan Province. It is located in the northeast of the country. It has a population of 3,001,184 (2016 census), which includes the areas of Mashhad Taman and Torqabeh. It was a major oasis along the ancient Silk Road connecting with Merv to the east. The city is named after the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth Shia Imam. The Imam was buried in a village in Khorasan, which afterward gained the name Mashhad, meaning the place of martyrdom. Every year, millions of pilgrims visit the Imam Reza shrine. The Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid is also buried within the same shrine. Mashhad has been governed by different ethnic groups over the course of its history.

The city enjoyed relative prosperity in the Mongol period. Mashhad is also known colloquially as the city of Ferdowsi, after the Iranian poet who composed the Shahnameh. The city is the hometown of some of the most significant Iranian literary figures and artists, such as the poet Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, and Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, the traditional Iranian singer and composer. Ferdowsi and Akhavan-Sales are both buried in Tus, an ancient city that is considered to be the main origin of the current city of Mashhad. On 30 October 2009 (the anniversary of Imam Reza's martyrdom), Iran's then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Mashhad to be "Iran's spiritual capital".

Source: Wikipedia