Kigali vs Baton Rouge

Informations

Kigali (Kinyarwanda: [ci.ɡɑ́.ɾi]) is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It's near the country's geographical centre in a region of rolling hills, with a succession of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. The town has been Rwanda's economic, cultural, and transportation hub because it became the capital following independence from Belgian rule in 1962. In a place controlled by the Kingdom of Rwanda from the 17th century and then by the German Empire, the city was founded in 1908 when Richard Kandt, the colonial resident, chose the site for his headquarters, citing its central location, views and safety. Foreign merchants started to trade in the city during the German era, and Kandt opened some government-run schools for Tutsi Rwandan students. Belgium took control of Rwanda and Burundi during World War I, forming the mandate of Ruanda-Urundi. Kigali remained the seat of colonial administration for Rwanda but Ruanda-Urundi's capital was at Usumbura (currently Bujumbura) in Burundi and Kigali remained a small city with a population of just 6,000 at the time of independence. Kigali grew slowly during the next decades. It wasn't initially directly affected by the Rwandan Civil War between government forces and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which started in 1990.

However, in April 1994 Rwanda's president was killed when his aircraft was shot down near Kigali. Social tensions erupted from the genocide that followed, with Hutu extremists loyal to the interim government killing an estimated 500,000--1,000,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu nationwide. The RPF resumed fighting, finishing a cease-fire of over a year. They slowly took control of most of the country and captured Kigali on 4 July 1994. Post-genocide Kigali has experienced rapid population growth, with much of the town rebuilt. The city of Kigali is one of the five provinces of Rwanda, with boundaries set in 2006. It's divided into three districts--Gasabo, Kicukiro, and Nyarugenge--which historically had management of significant areas of local governance. Reforms in January 2020 moved a lot of the districts' power into the city-wide council. The town also hosts the main residence and offices of the President of Rwanda and many government ministries. The largest contributor to Kigali's gross domestic product is the service industry, but a significant proportion of the population works in agriculture such as small subsistence farming. Attracting international visitors is a priority for city authorities, including leisure tourism, conventions and exhibitions.

Source: Wikipedia

Informations

Baton Rouge ( BAT-ən ROOZH; from French Bâton-Rouge 'red stick') is the capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. On the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, the most-populous parish in Louisiana. Since 2019, the city of Baton Rouge has been the 100th-most-populous city in the United States, and second-largest city in Louisiana after New Orleans. It is also the 16th-most-populous state capital. As of the U.S. Census Bureau's July 2019 estimate, Baton Rouge had a population of 220,236, down from 229,493 at the 2010 U.S. census. The city of Baton Rouge is the center of the Greater Baton Rouge area, the second-largest metropolitan area in Louisiana, with a population of 834,159 as of 2017, up from 802,484 in 2010 and 829,719 in 2015.The Baton Rouge area owes its historical importance to its strategic site upon the Istrouma Bluff, the first natural bluff upriver from the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. This allowed development of a business quarter safe from seasonal flooding. In addition, the city built a levee system stretching from the bluff southward to protect the riverfront and low-lying agricultural areas. The city is a culturally rich center, with settlement by immigrants from numerous European nations and African peoples brought to North America as slaves or indentured servants.

It was ruled by seven different governments: French, British, and Spanish in the colonial era; the Republic of West Florida, as a United States territory and state, Confederate, and United States again since the end of the American Civil War. The city of Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, research, motion picture, and growing technology center of the American South. It is the location of Louisiana State University, the LSU System's flagship university and the largest institution of higher education in the state. It is also the location of Southern University, the flagship institution of the Southern University System, the only historically black college system in the United States. The Port of Greater Baton Rouge is the 10th-largest in the U.S. in terms of tonnage shipped, and is the farthest upstream Mississippi River port capable of handling Panamax ships. Major corporations participating in the economy of Baton Rouge and its metropolitan statistical area include Lamar Advertising Company, BBQGuys, Marucci Sports, Piccadilly Restaurants, Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, ExxonMobil, and Dow Chemical Company.

Source: Wikipedia