Kyiv vs Harare

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Kyiv or Kiev (Ukrainian: Київ) is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. Its population in July 2015 has been 2,887,974 (though greater estimated numbers have been cited in the media ), making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.Kyiv is an important industrial, scientific, educational and cultural center of Eastern Europe. It is home to many high-tech businesses, higher education institutions, and historical landmarks. The town has an extensive system of public transport and infrastructure, including the Kyiv Metro. The city's name is said to derive from the name of Kyi, one of its four legendary creators. During its history, Kyiv, one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, passed through several phases of prominence and obscurity. The city probably existed as a commercial centre as early as the 5th century. A Slavic settlement on the wonderful trade route between Scandinavia and Constantinople, Kyiv was a tributary of the Khazars, until its capture by the Varangians (Vikings) in the mid-9th century. Under Varangian rule, the town became a capital of the Kievan Rus', the first East Slavic state. Completely destroyed during the Mongol invasions in 1240, the city lost most of its influence for the centuries to come. It was a provincial capital of marginal value in the outskirts of the lands controlled by its powerful neighbours, first Lithuania, then Poland and Russia.

The city prospered again during the Russian Empire's Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century. In 1918, following the Ukrainian People's Republic declared independence from Soviet Russia, Kyiv became its capital. From 1921 onwards Kyiv was a town of Soviet Ukraine, which was proclaimed by the Red Army, and, from 1934, Kyiv was its capital. The town was almost completely ruined during World War II but quickly recovered from the postwar years, remaining Soviet Union's third-largest city. After the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukrainian independence in 1991, Kyiv remained Ukraine's capital and experienced a steady influx of cultural migrants from different regions of the country. During the country's transformation into a market economy and electoral democracy, Kyiv has continued to be Ukraine's biggest and wealthiest city. Its armament-dependent industrial output fell after the Soviet collapse, adversely affecting science and technology, but new sectors of the economy such as services and finance facilitated Kyiv's increase in salaries and investment, as well as providing continuous funding for the development of housing and urban infrastructure. Kyiv emerged as the most pro-Western area of Ukraine; parties advocating tighter integration with the European Union dominate during elections.

Source: Wikipedia

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Harare (; officially Salisbury until 1982) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 960.6 km2 (371 mi2) and an estimated population of 1,606,000 in 2009, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area in 2006. Situated in north-eastern Zimbabwe in the country's Mashonaland region, Harare is a metropolitan state, which also integrates the municipalities of Chitungwiza and Epworth. The city sits on a plateau with an elevation of 1,483 metres (4,865 feet) above sea level and its climate falls into the subtropical highland category. The city was founded in 1890 by the Pioneer Column, a small military force of the British South Africa Company, and named Fort Salisbury after the UK Prime Minister Lord Salisbury.

Company administrators demarcated the city and conducted it before Southern Rhodesia achieved responsible government in 1923. Salisbury was thereafter the chair of the Southern Rhodesian (later Rhodesian) government and, between 1953 and 1963, the capital of the Central African Federation. It retained the title Salisbury before 1982, when it was renamed Harare on the next anniversary of Zimbabwean independence from the uk.

Source: Wikipedia