Helsinki vs Taranto

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Helsinki ( HEL-sink-ee or (listen) hel-SINK-ee; Finnish: [ˈhelsiŋki] (listen); Swedish: Helsingfors, Finland Swedish: [helsiŋˈforsː] (listen); Latin: Helsingia) is the capital, primate and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, It's the chair of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of 656,229. The city's urban area has a population of 1,268,296, making it by far the most populous metropolitan area in Finland as well as the nation's most important center for politics, education, finance, culture, and research; while Tampere in the Pirkanmaa region, situated 179 kilometres (111 mi) to the north from Helsinki, is the second largest urban area in Finland. Helsinki is situated 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 kilometers (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and 300 km (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It has close historical ties with these 3 cities. Together with the cities of Espoo, Vantaa, and Kauniainen, and surrounding commuter cities, Helsinki creates the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, which has a population of over 1.

5 million. Often considered to be Finland's only metropolis, it's the world's northernmost metro area with over one million individuals as well as the northernmost capital of an EU member state. After Stockholm and Oslo, Helsinki is the third largest municipality in the Nordic countries. Finnish and Swedish are both official languages. The city is served by the international Helsinki Airport, located in the neighboring city of Vantaa, with frequent service to many destinations in Europe and Asia. Helsinki was the World Design Capital for 2012, the venue for the 1952 Summer Olympics, and the host of the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest in 2007. Helsinki has among the world's highest urban standards of living. In 2011, the British magazine Monocle rated Helsinki the world's most liveable city in its liveable cities indicator. From the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2016 liveability survey, Helsinki was rated ninth among 140 cities.

Source: Wikipedia

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Taranto (, also US: , Italian: [ˈtaːranto] (listen); Tarantino: Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; early Italian: Tarento;; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto and is an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base.Taranto was founded by the Spartans in the 8th century BC. During the period of Greek colonization on the coasts of Southern Italy, the city was among the most important in Magna Graecia and it became a cultural, economic and military power, which gave birth to philosophers, strategists, writers and athletes, such as Archytas, Aristoxenus, Livius Andronicus, Heracleides, Iccus, Cleinias, Leonidas, Lysis, and Sosibius. The seven-year rule of Archytas marked the apex of Taranto's development and the recognition of its hegemony over the other Greek colonies of southern Italy.

During the Norman period, it became the capital of the Principality of Taranto, which covered almost all of the heel of Apulia. From the name of the city derives that of the species Lycosa tarantula, which originated the terms tarantella, tarantism and tarantula. Taranto is also known for the large population of dolphins and other cetaceans that historically live near the Cheradi Islands, located in front of the city. It is the third-largest continental city in southern Italy and an important commercial and naval port with well-developed steel and iron foundries, oil refineries, chemical works, naval shipyards, and food-processing factories. Around 500 BC the city was one of the largest in the world with population estimates up to 300,000 people.

Source: Wikipedia