Clermont-Ferrand vs California

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Clermont-Ferrand (UK: , US: ; French: [klɛʁmɔ̃ fɛʁɑ̃] (listen); Auvergnat: Clharmou; Latin: Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 143,886 (2017). Its metropolitan area (aire urbaine) had 485,315 inhabitants at the 2017 census. It is the prefecture (capital) of the Puy-de-Dôme department. Olivier Bianchi is its current mayor. Clermont-Ferrand sits on the plain of Limagne in the Massif Central and is surrounded by a major industrial area. The city known for the chain of volcanoes, the Chaîne des Puys surrounding it, including the dormant volcano Puy de Dôme (10 kilometres (6 miles), one of the highest, topped by communications towers, and visible from the city, which is inscribed since July 2018 as a "tectonic hotspot" on the UNESCO World Heritage List. One of the oldest French cities, it has been known by Greeks as the capital of the Arvernie Tribe before developping under the Gallo-Roman era under the name of Augustonemetum in the 1st century BC. The forum of the Roman city was located on the top of the Clermont mound, on the site of the present cathedral. The High Middle Ages were marked by the looting it was subjected to by the peoples who invaded Gaul and would not have been spared by the Vikings during the weakening of the Carolingian Empire.

Growing in importance under the Capetian dynasty, it hosted in 1095 the Council of Clermont that included the call to arms that would result in the First Crusade, and eventually the capture of Jerusalem. In 1551, Clermont became a royal town, and further made in 1610, inseparable property of the Crown. Today Clermont-Ferrand hosts the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (Festival du Court-Métrage de Clermont-Ferrand), one of the world's leading international festivals for short films. It is also home to the corporate headquarters of Michelin, the global tyre company founded there more than 100 years ago. With a quarter of the municipal population being students, and 6,000 researchers, Clermont-Ferrand is the first city in France to join the UNESCO Learning City Network. Along with its highly distinctive black lava stone Gothic Cathedral, Clermont-Ferrand's most famous site includes the public square Place de Jaude, on which stands a grand statue of Vercingetorix astride a warhorse and brandishing a sword. The inscription reads: J'ai pris les armes pour la liberté de tous (I took up arms for the liberty of all). This statue was sculpted by Frédéric Bartholdi, who also created the Statue of Liberty.

Source: Wikipedia

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California is a state in the Pacific Region of the United States. With over 39.3 million residents across a total area of approximately 163,696 square miles (423,970 km2), it is the most populous U.S. state and the third-largest by area, as well as the world's thirty-fourth-most-populous subnational entity. California is also the most populated subnational entity in North America, and has its state capital in Sacramento. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and fifth-most-populous urban regions, with more than 18.7 million and 9.6 million residents respectively. Los Angeles is California's most populous city, and the country's second-most-populous, after New York City. California also has the nation's most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The City and County of San Francisco is both the country's second most densely populated major city after New York City and the fifth-most-densely populated county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. California's economy, with a gross state product of $3.2 trillion as of 2019, is the largest sub-national economy in the world. If it were a country, California would be the fifth-largest economy in the world, and the 37th-most populous as of 2020. The Greater Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nation's second- and third-largest urban economies ($1.3 trillion and $1.0 trillion respectively as of 2020), after the New York metropolitan area ($2.0 trillion). The San Francisco Bay Area Combined Statistical Area had the nation's highest gross domestic product per capita in 2018 ($106,757) among large primary statistical areas, and is home to four of the world's ten largest companies by market capitalization and four of the world's ten richest people.California is considered a global trendsetter in popular culture, communication, information, innovation, environmentalism, economics, politics, and entertainment. As a result of the state's diversity and migration, California integrates foods, languages, and traditions from other areas across the country and around the globe. It is considered the origin of the hippie counterculture, beach and car culture, the Internet, and the personal computer, among others.

The San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Los Angeles Area are widely seen as centers of the global technology and entertainment industries, respectively. California's economy is very diverse: 58% of it is based on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific, and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5% of the state's economy, California's agriculture industry has the highest output of any U.S. state.California shares a border with Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and the Mexican state of Baja California to the south. The state's diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast in the west to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in the east, and from the redwood and Douglas fir forests in the northwest to the Mojave Desert in the southeast. The Central Valley, a major agricultural area, dominates the state's center. Although California is well-known for its warm Mediterranean climate and monsoon seasonal weather, the large size of the state results in climates that vary from moist temperate rainforest in the north to arid desert in the interior, as well as snowy alpine in the mountains. All these factors lead to an enormous demand for water; in total numbers, California is the largest consumer of water in North America. Over time, drought and wildfires have become more frequent; further straining California's water security.What is now California was first settled by various Native Californian tribes before being explored by a number of Europeans during the 16th and 17th centuries. The Spanish Empire then claimed and colonized it. In 1804 it was included in Alta California province, within the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its successful war for independence but was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican–American War. The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850. The California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom.

Source: Wikipedia