Luxembourg vs Turku

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Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Lëtzebuerg, French: Luxembourg, German: Luxemburg), also known as Luxembourg City (Luxembourgish: Stad Lëtzebuerg or d'Stad, French: Ville de Luxembourg, German: Stadt Luxemburg, Luxemburg-Stadt), is the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the country's most populous commune.

Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxembourg, the city lies in the center of Western Europe, located 213 km (132 mi) by road from Brussels, 372 kilometers (231 mi) from Paris, and 209 km (130 mi) from Cologne. The town comprises Luxembourg Castle, established by the Franks in the Early Middle Ages, around which a settlement developed. As of 31 December 2019, Luxembourg City has a population of 122,273 inhabitants, which is more than three times the population of the country's second most populous commune (Esch-sur-Alzette). The city's population includes 160 nationalities.



Foreigners represent 70% of the city's population, while Luxembourgers represent 30 percent of the population, and the amount of foreign-born residents in town rises steadily each year.In 2011, Luxembourg was rated as having the second-highest per capita GDP in the world at $80,119 (PPP), with the city having grown into a banking and administrative center. In the 2011 Mercer worldwide survey of 221 cities, Luxembourg was set first for personal security, while it was ranked 19th for quality of living.Luxembourg is one of the de facto capitals of the European Union (alongside Brussels, Frankfurt, and Strasbourg), as it is the seat of several institutions, agencies, and bodies of the European Union, such as the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Auditors, the Secretariat of the European Parliament, the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund, the European Stability Mechanism, and Eurostat.

Source: Wikipedia

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Turku ( TOOR-koo; Finnish: [ˈturku] (listen); Swedish: Åbo [ˈǒːbʊ] (listen), Finland Swedish: [ˈoːbu] (listen); Latin: Aboa; Russian: Турку, formerly Або) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi) and the former Turku and Pori Province (Turun ja Porin lääni; 1634–1997). The region was originally called Suomi (Finland), which later became the name for the whole country. As of 30 September 2018, the population of Turku was 191,499 making it the sixth largest city in Finland after Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa and Oulu. There were 330,192 inhabitants living in the Turku sub-region, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Greater Helsinki area and Tampere sub-region. The city is officially bilingual as 5.2 percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother-tongue.It is unknown when Turku gained city rights. The Pope first mentioned the town Aboa in his Bulla in 1229 and the year is now used as the foundation year of Turku. Turku is the oldest city in Finland, and served as the most important city of the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sweden (modern-day Finland). After the Finnish war, Finland became an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire in 1809. Turku lost its status as capital of the Grand Duchy in 1812, when Tsar Alexander I of Russia decided to move the capital to Helsinki.

It was only after the last great fire in 1827 that most governmental institutions were moved to Helsinki along with the Royal Academy of Turku (Turun Akatemia) founded in 1640, which then became the University of Helsinki. Turku continued to be the most populous city in Finland until the end of the 1840s, and it remains the regional capital and an important business and cultural center and port. Because of its long history, it has been the site of many important events, and has extensively influenced Finnish history. The history of the country is closely linked to Turku, the former capital. Along with Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Turku was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996, it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland. Also, Turku has been officially declared the "Food Capital of Finland", because it holds a number of Finland's oldest and high-qualited restaurants, including the country's top-rated Indian restaurant Delhi Darbar, and a historically famous fish market held twice a year.Due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport with over three million passengers traveling through the Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Mariehamn.

Source: Wikipedia