Kaliningrad vs Charlotte

Informations

Kaliningrad (Russian: Калининград, IPA: [kəlʲɪnʲɪnˈɡrat]), historically German: Königsberg, Polish: Królewiec and Old Prussian: Twangste), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, the westernmost Oblast of Russia. The city is situated on the Pregolya River, at the head of the Vistula Lagoon on the Baltic Sea, with a population of 489,359 residents, up to 800,000 residents in the urban agglomeration. Kaliningrad is the second-largest city in the Northwestern Federal District, after Saint Petersburg, the third-largest city in the Baltic region, and the seventh-largest city on the Baltic Sea. The settlement of modern-day Kaliningrad was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement Twangste by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named Königsberg in honor of Czech King Ottokar II of Bohemia. A Baltic port city, it successively became the capital of the State of the Teutonic Order, the Duchy of Prussia (1525–1701) and East Prussia. Königsberg remained the coronation city of the Prussian monarchy, though the capital was moved to Berlin in 1701. From 1454 to 1455 the city under the name of Królewiec belonged to the Kingdom of Poland, and from 1466 to 1657 it was a Polish fief.

Königsberg was the easternmost large city in Germany until World War II. The city was heavily damaged by Allied bombing in 1944 and during the Battle of Königsberg in 1945; it was then captured and annexed by the Soviet Union on 9 April 1945. The Potsdam Agreement of 1945 placed it provisionally under Soviet administration. Briefly Russified as Kyonigsberg, it was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946 in honor of Soviet leader Mikhail Kalinin. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it is governed as the administrative centre of Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast, an exclave sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland. As a major transport hub, with sea and river ports, the city is home to the headquarters of the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Navy, and is one of the largest industrial centres in Russia. It was recognized as the best city in Russia in 2012, 2013 and 2014 according to Kommersant's magazine The Firm's Secret, the best city in Russia for business in 2013 according to Forbes, and was ranked fifth in the Urban Environment Quality Index published by Minstroy in 2019. Kaliningrad has been a major internal migration attraction in Russia over the past two decades, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Source: Wikipedia

Informations

Charlotte () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population was 885,708, making it the 15th-most populous city in the U.S. and the second-largest in the Southeast behind Jacksonville, Florida. The city is the cultural, economic, and transportation center of the Charlotte metropolitan area, whose population ranks 22nd in the U.S., and had a population of 2,569,213, in 2018. The Charlotte metropolitan area is part of a sixteen-county market region or combined statistical area with a 2018 census-estimated population of 2,728,933.Between 2004 and 2014, Charlotte was ranked as the country's fastest-growing metro area, with 888,000 new residents. Based on U.S. Census data from 2005 to 2015, Charlotte tops the U.S. in millennial population growth. It is the second-largest city in the southeastern United States, just behind Jacksonville, Florida. It is the third-fastest-growing major city in the United States.

It is listed as a "Gamma +" global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Residents are referred to as "Charlotteans".Charlotte is home to the corporate headquarters of Bank of America, Truist Financial, and the east coast operations of Wells Fargo, which along with other financial institutions has made it the second-largest banking center in the United States since 1995.Among Charlotte's many notable attractions, some of the most popular include the Carolina Panthers (NFL), the Charlotte Hornets (NBA), the NASCAR All-Star Race, the Wells Fargo Championship, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the Charlotte Ballet, Children's Theatre of Charlotte, Carowinds amusement park, and the U.S. National Whitewater Center. Charlotte has a humid subtropical climate. It is located several miles east of the Catawba River and southeast of Lake Norman, the largest man-made lake in North Carolina. Lake Wylie and Mountain Island Lake are two smaller man-made lakes located near the city.

Source: Wikipedia