Dresden | |
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State | Ohio |
Country | USA |
Capital | |
Population | 1436 |
Dresden (, German: [ˈdʁeːsdn̩] (listen); Upper and Lower Sorbian: Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth largest by area (following only Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne), and the third most populous city in the area of former East Germany, following only (East) Berlin and Leipzig. Dresden's urban area comprises the towns of Freital, Pirna, Radebeul, Coswig and Heidenau and has around 790,000 inhabitants. The Dresden metropolitan area has approximately 1.34 million inhabitants.Dresden is the second largest city on the River Elbe after Hamburg. Most of the city's population lives in the Elbe Valley, but a large, albeit very sparsely populated area of the city east of the Elbe lies in the West Lusatian Hill Country and Uplands (the westernmost part of the Sudetes) and thus in Lusatia, while many boroughs west of the Elbe lie in the foreland of the Ore Mountains as well as in the valleys of the rivers rising there and flowing through Dresden, the longest of which are the Weißeritz and the Lockwitzbach.
The name of the city as well as the names of most of its boroughs and rivers are of Slavic origin. Dresden is the second largest city in the Thuringian-Upper Saxon dialect area, following only Leipzig. The Sorbian language area begins east of the city, in Lusatia.
Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor, and was once by personal union the family seat of Polish monarchs. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its baroque and rococo city centre. The controversial American and British bombing of Dresden in World War II towards the end of the war killed approximately 25,000 people, many of whom were civilians, and destroyed the entire city centre.
Baltimore | |
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State | Maryland |
Country | USA |
Capital | |
Population | 621342 |
Postcode | 21203 |
Baltimore ( BAWL-tim-or, locally: ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the 30th most populous city in the United States, with a population of 593,490 in 2019. Baltimore is the largest independent city in the country and was designated as such by the Constitution of Maryland in 1851. As of 2017, the population of the Baltimore metropolitan area was estimated to be just under 2.802 million, making it the 21st largest metropolitan area in the country. Baltimore is located about 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Washington, D.C., making it a principal city in the Washington–Baltimore combined statistical area (CSA), the fourth-largest CSA in the nation, with a calculated 2018 population of 9,797,063.Prior to European colonization, the Baltimore region was home to the Susquehannock Native Americans. British colonists established the Port of Baltimore in 1706 to support the tobacco trade, and established the Town of Baltimore in 1729. The Battle of Baltimore was a pivotal engagement during the War of 1812, culminating in the bombardment of Fort McHenry, during which Francis Scott Key wrote a poem that would become "The Star-Spangled Banner", which was eventually designated as the American national anthem in 1931. During the Pratt Street Riot of 1861, the city was the site of some of the earliest violence associated with the American Civil War.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the oldest railroad in the United States, was built in 1830 and cemented Baltimore's status as a major transportation hub, giving producers in the Midwest and Appalachia access to the city's port.