Kinshasa | |
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State | |
Country | |
Capital | |
Population | 9046000 |
Kinshasa (; French: [kinʃasa]; Lingala: Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville (Dutch: Leopoldstad), is the capital and the largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is situated alongside the Congo River.
Once a site of fishing and trading villages, Kinshasa is now a megacity with a population of about 16 million. It faces Brazzaville, the capital of the neighbouring Republic of the Congo, which can be seen in the distance across the wide Congo River, making them the world's second-closest pair of capital cities after Rome and Vatican City. The city of Kinshasa is also one of the DRC's 26 provinces. Because the administrative boundaries of the city-province cover a vast area, over 90 percent of the city-province's land is rural in nature, and the urban area occupies a small but expanding section on the western side.
Blumenau | |
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State | Santa Catarina |
Country | Brazil |
Capital | |
Population | 338876 |
Blumenau is a city in Vale do Itajaí, state of Santa Catarina, in the South Region of Brazil. It is 130 km (81 mi) away from the state capital of Florianópolis.
The city was founded by the German chemist and pharmacist Hermann Bruno Otto Blumenau, who arrived on a boat via Itajaí-Açu River accompanied by seventeen other Germans.