Bogota | |
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State | |
Country | Colombia |
Capital | |
Population | 8181047 |
Postcode | 110321 |
Bogotá (, also UK:, US:, Spanish: [boɣoˈta] (listen)), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and previously known as Santa Fe de Bogotá during the time of this colony and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital and largest city of Colombia, administered as the Capital District, and the capital of the department of Cundinamarca. Bogotá is a territorial entity of the first order, with the same administrative status as the departments of Colombia. It is the political, economical, industrial and administrative center of the nation.
Bogotá was founded as the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada on 6 August 1538, by Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada following a harsh expedition into the Andes conquering the Muisca. The Muisca were the indigenous inhabitants of the region, and they called the place of the foundation"Thybzaca" or"Old Town". The title of Bogotá corresponds to the Spanish pronunciation of the Chibcha Bacatá (or Mueketá) that was the title of a neighboring settlement located between the modern towns of Funza and Cota. There are different opinions about the meaning of the word Bacatá, the most accepted being that it signifies"walling of the farmland" in the Chibcha language. Another popular translation argues that it signifies"The Lady of the Andes". Moreover, the word'Andes' in the Aymara language means"shining mountain", thus rendering the full lexical signification of Bogotá as"The Lady of the shining mountain" (notice, however, that the language of the Muisca people wasn't Aymara however Chibcha). Others indicate that Bacatá was the title of the Muisca cacique who governed the land before the Spaniards arrived. Jiménez de Quesada gave the settlement the name of"Our Lady of Hope" but the Spanish crown gave it the title of Santafé (Holy Faith) in 1540 when it was appointed as a city.Santafé became the seat of the government of the Spanish Royal Audiencia of the New Kingdom of Granada (made in 1550), and then after 1717 it was the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. Following the Battle of Boyacá on 7 August 1819, Bogotá became the capital of the independent nation of Gran Colombia. It was Simón Bolívar who rebaptized the city with the title of Bogotá, as a means of honoring the Muisca people and as an emancipation act towards the Spanish crown.
Moscow | |
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State | |
Country | |
Capital | |
Population | 0 |
Moscow (, ; Russian: Москва, tr. Moskva, IPA: [mɐˈskva] (listen)) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 12.4 million residents within the city limits, while over 17 million residents in the urban area, and over 20 million residents in the Moscow Metropolitan Area. The city covers an area of 2,511 square kilometres (970 sq mi), while the urban area covers 5,891 square kilometres (2,275 sq mi), and the metropolitan area covers over 26,000 square kilometres (10,000 sq mi). Moscow is among the world's largest cities, being the most populous city entirely within Europe, the most populous urban area in Europe, the most populous metropolitan area in Europe, and also the largest city by land area on the European continent.Originally established in 1147, Moscow grew to become a prosperous and powerful city that served as the capital of the Grand Duchy that bears its namesake. When the Grand Duchy of Moscow evolved into the Tsardom of Russia, Moscow still remained as the political and economic center for most of the Tsardom's history. When the Tsardom was reformed into the Russian Empire, the capital was moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg, diminishing the influence of the city. The capital was then moved back to Moscow following the Russian Revolution and the city was brought back as the political centre of the Russian SFSR and the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union dissolved, Moscow remained as the capital city of the contemporary and newly established Russian Federation.
As the northernmost and coldest megacity in the world, and with a history that dates over eight centuries, Moscow is governed as a federal city that serves as the political, economic, cultural, and scientific centre of Russia and Eastern Europe.