Latacunga | |
---|---|
State | |
Country | |
Capital | |
Population | 57127 |
Latacunga (Spanish pronunciation: [lataˈkuŋɡa]; Quechua: Latakunga) is a plateau town of Ecuador, capital of the Cotopaxi Province, 89 km (55 mi) south of Quito, near the confluence of the Alaquez and Cutuchi rivers to form the Patate, the headstream of the Pastaza. At the time of census 2010 Latacunga had 98,355 inhabitants, largely mestizo and indigenous.
Latacunga took its independence from Spain on November 11, 1820.Latacunga is an hour and half south from Quito on the Pan-American Highway. It was previously also on the old road from Quito to Guayaquil, and has a railway station between those cities. It is 9,055 ft (2,760 m). above sea level. Its climate is cold and windy, due to the neighboring snowclad heights, and the barren, pumice-covered tableland on which it stands. The active volcano Cotopaxi is only 25 km. away, and the town has suffered repeatedly from eruptions. Founded in 1534, it was four times destroyed by earthquakes between 1698 and 1798.
Amman | |
---|---|
State | Amman |
Country | Jordan |
Capital | |
Population | 0 |
Amman (English:; Arabic: عَمّان ʻammān pronounced [ʕamːaːn]) is the capital and largest city of Jordan and the country's economic, cultural and political centre. With a population of 4,007,526, Amman is the biggest city in the Levant area and the sixth-largest town in the Arab world.The earliest evidence of settlement in Amman is in a Neolithic site known as'Ain Ghazal, where some of the oldest human statues ever discovered dating to 7250 BC were uncovered. During the Iron Age, the city was known as Ammon, home to the Kingdom of the Ammonites. It was called Philadelphia during its Greek and Roman periods, and was finally called Amman during the Islamic period. For much of the middle and early Islamic periods (7th--14th centuries), it served as a centre for the Balqa district of Syria. Afterwards, Amman was a largely abandoned site before the late 19th century when Circassian immigrants were settled there by the Ottoman Empire in 1878. The first municipal council was established in 1909. Amman witnessed rapid growth after its designation as Transjordan's capital in 1921, and after several successive waves of refugees: Palestinians in 1948 and 1967; Iraqis in 1990 and 2003; and Syrians since 2011. It was originally built on seven hills but now spans over 19 hills combining 22 areas, which are administered by the Greater Amman Municipality headed by its mayor Yousef Shawarbeh.