Amsterdam vs Annecy

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Amsterdam (, UK also; Dutch: [ɑmstɛrˈdɑm] (listen)) is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands with a population of 872,680 within the city proper, 1,558,755 from the metropolitan region and 2,480,394 from the metropolitan area. Located within the province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the"Venice of the North", attributed by the large number of canals that form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Amsterdam's name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the town's origin around a dam in the river Amstel. Originating as a small fishing village in the late 12th century, Amsterdam became one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, and became the leading centre for trade and finance. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the city expanded and many new neighbourhoods and suburbs were planned and built. The 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19--20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Sloten, annexed in 1921 from the municipality of Amsterdam, is the oldest part of town, dating to the 9th century. Amsterdam's main attractions include its historic canals, the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum, Hermitage Amsterdam, the Concertgebouw, the Anne Frank House, the Scheepvaartmuseum, the Amsterdam Museum, the Heineken Experience, the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, Natura Artis Magistra, Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam, NEMO, the red-light district and Several cannabis coffee shops. It drew over 5 million international visitors in 2014. The city is also well known for its nightlife and festival activity; with several of its clubs (Melkweg, Paradiso) among the world's most famous. Primarily known for its artistic heritage, elaborate canal system and narrow houses with gabled façades; well-preserved legacies of the town's 17th-century Golden Age.

These attributes are arguably responsible for bringing millions of Amsterdam's visitors yearly. Cycling is vital to the city's character, and there are a lot of bike paths. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is considered the earliest"modern" securities market stock exchange in the world. As the industrial capital of the Netherlands and among the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) research group. The city is also the cultural capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters in the city, such as: the Philips conglomerate, AkzoNobel, Booking.com, TomTom, and ING. Moreover, many of the world's biggest companies are located in Amsterdam or have established their European headquarters in the city, such as leading technology companies Uber, Netflix and Tesla. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and 12th globally on quality of living for infrastructure and environment by Mercer. The city was ranked 4th place globally as top tech hub in the Savills Tech Cities 2019 report (2nd in Europe), and 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Port of Amsterdam is the fifth largest in Europe. The KLM hub and Amsterdam's key airport: Schiphol, is the Netherlands' busiest airport in addition to the third largest in Europe and 11th busiest airport in the world. The Dutch capital is considered one of the most multicultural cities in the world, with at least 177 nationalities represented.A few of Amsterdam's notable residents throughout history include: painters Rembrandt and Van Gogh, the diarist Anne Frank, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza.

Source: Wikipedia

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Annecy (US: AN-ə-SEE, ahn-SEE, French: [ansi] (listen); Francoprovençal: Èneci or Ènneci) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, 35 kilometres (22 mi) south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed the "Pearl of French Alps" in Raoul Blanchard's monograph describing its location between lake and mountains, the city controls the northern entrance to the lake gorge. Due to a lack of available building land between the lake and the protected Semnoz mountain, its population has remained stagnant, around 50,000 inhabitants, since 1950. However, the 2017 merger with several ex-communes extended the city population to 126,924 inhabitants and 170,753 for its urban area, placing Annecy seventh in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Switching from the counts of Geneva's dwelling in the 13th century, to the counts of Savoy's in the 14th century, the city became Savoy's capital in 1434 during the Genevois-Nemours prerogative until 1659. Its role increased in 1536, during the Calvinist Reformation in Geneva, while the bishop took refuge in Annecy.

Saint Francis de Sales gave Annecy its advanced Catholic citadel role known as Counter-Reformation. The annexation of Savoy merged the city to France in 1860. Sometimes called "Venice of the Alps", this idyllic and touristic representation comes from the three canals and the Thiou river lying through the old city and whose initial role was to protect the city and to empower its handicrafts. The city experienced an industrial development in the 19th century with silk manufacturing. Some of its industrial legacy remains today with the headquarters of NTN-SNR bearings, Salomon, Entremont and Dassault Aviation. From the end of the 19th century, Annecy developed tourism around its lake summer facilities, winter resorts proximity and cultural attraction with its castle renovation and fine art museum opening in 1956 and the Animated Film Festival since 1960, hosted in Bonlieu's cultural centre. The municipal environmental policy managed to keep 40.3% of green spaces and the city and was awarded the "Golden Flower" in 2015, given to the nine most-flowered French cities. Its educational area is growing since the University of Savoy establishment in 1973.

Source: Wikipedia