Des Moines vs Kathmandu

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Des Moines ( (listen)) is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857. It is located on, and named after, the Des Moines River, which likely was adapted from the early French name, Rivière des Moines, meaning "River of the Monks". The city's population was 214,237 as of the 2019 population estimate. The six-county metropolitan area is ranked 83rd in terms of population in the United States with 699,292 residents according to the 2019 estimate by the United States Census Bureau, and is the largest metropolitan area fully located within the state. A portion of the larger Omaha, Nebraska, metropolitan area extends into three counties of southwest Iowa.Des Moines is a major center of the US insurance industry and has a sizable financial services and publishing business base. The city was credited as the "number one spot for U.S. insurance companies" in a Business Wire article and named the third-largest "insurance capital" of the world.

The city is the headquarters for the Principal Financial Group, the Meredith Corporation, Ruan Transportation, TMC Transportation, EMC Insurance Companies, and Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. Other major corporations such as Wells Fargo, Voya Financial, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, ACE Limited, Marsh, Monsanto, and Corteva have large operations in or near the metropolitan area. In recent years, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Facebook have built data-processing and logistical facilities in the Des Moines area. Des Moines is an important city in U.S. presidential politics; as the state's capital, it is the site of the first caucuses of the presidential primary cycle. Many presidential candidates set up campaign headquarters in Des Moines. A 2007 article in The New York Times said, "If you have any desire to witness presidential candidates in the most close-up and intimate of settings, there is arguably no better place to go than Des Moines."

Source: Wikipedia

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Kathmandu (; Nepali: काठमाडौँ, Nepali pronunciation: [ˈkaʈʰmaɳɖu]) is the capital and largest city of Nepal, with a population of around 1 million. Also known as the city of temples, the city stands at an elevation of approximately 1,400 metres (4,600 feet) above sea level in the bowl-shaped Kathmandu valley in central Nepal. The valley was historically referred to as the"Nepal Mandala" and has been the home of the Newar people, a cosmopolitan urban culture in the Himalayan foothills. The town was the royal capital of the Kingdom of Nepal and hosts palaces, mansions and gardens of the Nepalese aristocracy. It has been home to the headquarters of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) since 1985. Today, it's the seat of government of the Nepalese republic, based in 2008, and is a part of the Bagmati Pradesh. Kathmandu is and has been for many years the center of Nepal's history, art, culture, and economy. It has a multi-ethnic population within a Hindu and Buddhist majority.

Religious and cultural festivities form a large part of the lives of people residing in Kathmandu. Tourism is an important part of the economy. In 2013, Kathmandu was rated third among the top ten upcoming travel destinations in the world by TripAdvisor, and ranked first in Asia. The city is regarded as the gateway to the Nepalese Himalayas and home to several world heritage sites: the Durbar Square, Swayambhunath, Boudhanath and Pashupatinath. Kathmandu valley is growing at 4 percent annually according to the World Bank in 2010, which makes it one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in South Asia, and the very first place in Nepal to face the unprecedented challenges of rapid urbanization and modernization in a metropolitan scale.Historic areas of Kathmandu were severely damaged by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in April 2015. Some of the buildings are restored while some stay in the process of reconstruction.

Source: Wikipedia