Canberra vs Ghent

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Canberra ( (listen) KAN-bə-rə)

is the capital city of Australia. Founded after the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest town overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory; 280 km (170 mi) south-west of Sydney and 660 km (410 mi) north-east of Melbourne. On 1 January 1901, federation of the colonies of Australia has been attained. Section 125 of the new Australian Constitution provided that property, situated in New South Wales and at least 100 miles (160 km) from Sydney, would be ceded to the new national government. Following discussion and exploration of various areas within New South Wales, the Seat of Government Act 1908 was passed in 1908 that given a capital in the Yass-Canberra area. The land has been transferred to the Commonwealth by New South Wales in 1911, producing the Australian Capital Territory, two years prior to the capital city being founded and formally named as Canberra in 1913. It is unusual among Australian cities, being an entirely planned city beyond any state, like Washington, D.C. in america or Brasília in Brazil. Following an international contest for the city's layout, a blueprint by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected and building began in 1913. The Griffins' plan featured geometric themes such as circles, hexagons and triangles, and has been centred on axes aligned with significant topographical landmarks in the Australian Capital Territory. The town's design was influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation. Since the chair of the government of Australia, Canberra is home to many important institutions of the national government, national monuments and museums. This includes Parliament House, the official residence of the monarch's representative that the Governor-General, the High Court and numerous government departments and agencies.



It is also the location of many social and cultural institutions of national significance like the Australian War Memorial, the Australian National University, the Royal Australian Mint, the Australian Institute of Sport, the National Gallery, the National Museum and the National Library. The town is also home to many important institutions of the Australian Defence Force including the Royal Military College Duntroon and the Australian Defence Force Academy. Additionally, it hosts the majority of foreign embassies in Australia as well as regional headquarters of numerous international organisations, non-profit groups, lobbying groups and professional associations. Canberra doesn't have a local council or town government like other Australian cities. The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly performs the roles of both a town council for the town and a territory government for the rest of the Australian Capital Territory. The huge majority of the populace of the Territory reside in Canberra though and the town is therefore the primary focus of the ACT Government. However, the federal government maintains jurisdiction over the Territory and may overturn local laws. It still maintains control over the area known as the Parliamentary Triangle through the National Capital Authority. As at June 2019 the population of Canberra was 426,704, having increased by 1.5% over the previous 12 months. Since the city has a high percentage of public servants, the Commonwealth Government contributes the largest proportion of gross territory product and is the biggest single employer in Canberra, but not the majority employer. In comparison to the national averages, the unemployment rate is lower and the average income greater; tertiary education levels are higher, while the population is younger.

Source: Wikipedia

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Ghent ( GHENT; Dutch: Gent, [ɣɛnt] (listen); French: Gand, [ɡɑ̃] (listen); traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in size only by Brussels and Antwerp. It is a port and university city. The city originally started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Leie and in the Late Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of northern Europe, with some 50,000 people in 1300. The municipality comprises the city of Ghent proper and the surrounding suburbs of Afsnee, Desteldonk, Drongen, Gentbrugge, Ledeberg, Mariakerke, Mendonk, Oostakker, Sint-Amandsberg, Sint-Denijs-Westrem, Sint-Kruis-Winkel, Wondelgem and Zwijnaarde.

With 262,219 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019, Ghent is Belgium's second largest municipality by number of inhabitants. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 1,205 km2 (465 sq mi) and has a total population of 560,522 as of 1 January 2018, which ranks it as the fourth most populous in Belgium. The current mayor of Ghent, Mathias De Clercq is from the liberal & democratic party Open VLD. The ten-day-long Ghent Festival (Gentse Feesten in Dutch) is held every year and attended by about 1–1.5 million visitors.

Source: Wikipedia