Kigali vs Nurmijärvi

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

Nurmijärvi (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈnurmiˌjærʋi]) is the most populated rural municipality of Finland, located 37 kilometres (23 mi) north of the capital Helsinki. The neighboring municipalities of Nurmijärvi are Espoo, Vantaa, Tuusula, Hyvinkää and Vihti, and it is part of the Greater Helsinki. The population of the municipality is 43,403 inhabitants. In recent decades, it has been one of the fastest growing municipalities in the Greater Helsinki and also in whole Finland in terms of population; even the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic hasn't shown a slowdown in growth of population.The close proximity to Helsinki has led to a considerable growth of the major villages such as Klaukkala, Rajamäki and Röykkä. Klaukkala is the biggest built-up area of Nurmijärvi, which nowadays is considered a dormitory town of Helsinki.

The church village (Kirkonkylä) is the administrative centre of the municipality, although the clear emphasis on population growth is in Klaukkala. Nurmijärvi literally means "lawn lake" although the lake that gave the municipality its name was drained in the early 20th century and is now nothing more than some flat fields near the village centre. Nurmijärvi is one of three municipalities in the Uusimaa region that do not have a Swedish name; the others are Askola and Mäntsälä. Matti Vanhanen, former Prime Minister of Finland and current finance minister, lives in Lepsämä in Nurmijärvi.

Source: Wikipedia