Belgrade vs Elk

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Belgrade ( BEL-grayd; Serbian: Београд, romanized: Beograd, lit. 'White City', pronounced [beǒɡrad] (listen); names in other languages) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It's located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers as well as the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1.7 million people live within the administrative limits of the Town of Belgrade, a quarter of the total population of Serbia.Belgrade is among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe and the World. One of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region and, after 279 BC, Celts settled the town, naming it Singidūn. It was conquered by the Romans under the reign of Augustus and given Roman town rights in the mid-2nd century. It had been settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times between the Byzantine Empire, the Frankish Empire, the Bulgarian Empire, and the Kingdom of Hungary before it became the seat of the Serbian king Stefan Dragutin in 1284. Belgrade served as capital of the Serbian Despotate during the reign of Stefan Lazarević, and then his successor Đurađ Branković returned into the Hungarian king in 1427. Noon bells in support of the Hungarian army against the Ottoman Empire during the siege in 1456 have remained a widespread church heritage to this day. In 1521, Belgrade was conquered by the Ottomans and became the chair of the Sanjak of Smederevo. It often passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars.

In the period after the Serbian Revolution, Belgrade was named the capital of Serbia in 1841. Northern Belgrade stayed the southernmost Habsburg post until 1918, when it was attached to the city, because of former Austro-Hungarian lands becoming the role of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes after World War I. Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia from its creation in 1918 to its dissolution in 2006. In a fatally strategic position, the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed 44 times, being bombed five times and surrounded many times.Being Serbia's primate city, Belgrade has special administrative status within Serbia. It's the seat of the central authorities, administrative bodies, and government ministries, as well as home of almost all the largest Serbian companies, media, and scientific associations. Belgrade is categorized as a Beta-Global City. The town is home to the Clinical Centre of Serbia, one of the hospital complexes with the biggest capacity in the world, the Church of Saint Sava, one of the biggest Orthodox church buildings, and the Štark Arena, one of those indoor arenas with the biggest capacity in Europe. Belgrade hosted major international events like the Danube River Conference of 1948, the first Non-Aligned Movement Summit (1961), the first major gathering of the OSCE (1977--1978), Eurovision Song Contest (2008), as well as sports events like the first FINA World Aquatics Championships (1973), UEFA Euro (1976), Summer Universiade (2009) and EuroBasket three-times (1961, 1975, 2005).

Source: Wikipedia

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The elk (Cervus canadensis) or wapiti is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in North America and Northeast Asia. This animal should not be confused with the still larger moose (Alces alces) of North America, alternatively known as "elk" in British English and related names in other European languages (German Elch, Swedish älg, French élan), in reference to populations in Eurasia. Elk range in forest and forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, and bark. Male elk have large antlers which are shed each year. Males also engage in ritualized mating behaviors during the rut, including posturing, antler wrestling (sparring), and bugling, a loud series of vocalizations that establishes dominance over other males and attracts females. Although it is currently native to North America and eastern Asia, it had a much wider distribution in the past. Populations were present across Eurasia into Western Europe during the Late Pleistocene, and survived into the early Holocene in southern Sweden and the Alps.

The elk has adapted well in countries where it has been introduced, including Argentina and New Zealand. Its adaptability may in fact threaten endemic species and the ecosystems into which it has been introduced. Elk are susceptible to a number of infectious diseases, some of which can be transmitted to livestock. Efforts to eliminate infectious diseases from elk populations, largely by vaccination, have had mixed success. Some cultures revere the elk as having spiritual significance. In parts of Asia, antlers and their velvet are used in traditional medicines. Elk are hunted as a game species. Their meat is leaner and higher in protein than beef or chicken. Elk were long believed to belong to a subspecies of the European red deer (Cervus elaphus), but evidence from many mitochondrial DNA genetic studies beginning in 1998 shows that the two are distinct species. Key morphological differences that distinguish C. canadensis from C. elaphus are the former's wider rump patch and paler-hued antlers.

Source: Wikipedia