Kigali | |
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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.
Valencia | |
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Valencia (Spanish: [baˈlenθja]), officially València (Valencian: [vaˈlensia]), is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona, surpassing 800,000 inhabitants in the municipality. The wider urban area also comprising the neighbouring municipalities has a population of around 1.6 million. Valencia is Spain's third-largest metropolitan area, with a population ranging from 1.7 to 2.5 million depending on how the metropolitan area is defined. The Port of Valencia is the 5th-busiest container port in Europe and the busiest container port on the Mediterranean Sea. The city is ranked as a Gamma-level global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.Valencia was founded as a Roman colony by the consul Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus in 138 BC and called Valentia Edetanorum. In 714, Moroccan and Arab Moors occupied the city, introducing their language, religion and customs; they implemented improved irrigation systems and the cultivation of new crops as well. Valencia was the capital of the Taifa of Valencia. In 1238 the Christian king James I of Aragon conquered the city and divided the land among the nobles who helped him conquer it, as witnessed in the Llibre del Repartiment.
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