Mashhad vs Liverpool

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Mashhad (Persian: مشهد‎, romanized: Mašhad [mæʃˈhæd] (listen)), also spelled Mashad or Meshad, is the second-most-populous city in Iran and the capital of Razavi Khorasan Province. It is located in the northeast of the country. It has a population of 3,001,184 (2016 census), which includes the areas of Mashhad Taman and Torqabeh. It was a major oasis along the ancient Silk Road connecting with Merv to the east. The city is named after the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth Shia Imam. The Imam was buried in a village in Khorasan, which afterward gained the name Mashhad, meaning the place of martyrdom. Every year, millions of pilgrims visit the Imam Reza shrine. The Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid is also buried within the same shrine. Mashhad has been governed by different ethnic groups over the course of its history.

The city enjoyed relative prosperity in the Mongol period. Mashhad is also known colloquially as the city of Ferdowsi, after the Iranian poet who composed the Shahnameh. The city is the hometown of some of the most significant Iranian literary figures and artists, such as the poet Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, and Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, the traditional Iranian singer and composer. Ferdowsi and Akhavan-Sales are both buried in Tus, an ancient city that is considered to be the main origin of the current city of Mashhad. On 30 October 2009 (the anniversary of Imam Reza's martyrdom), Iran's then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Mashhad to be "Iran's spiritual capital".

Source: Wikipedia

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Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. Its population in 2019 was approximately 498,042, making it the tenth-largest English district by population. Liverpool's metropolitan area is the fifth-largest in the UK with a population of 2.24 million.Liverpool is on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary and historically lay within the ancient hundred of West Derby in North West England's county of Lancashire. It became a borough in 1207, a city in 1880, and a county borough independent of Lancashire in 1889. Its growth as a major port was paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, and raw materials such as coal and cotton, merchants were involved in the slave trade. In the 19th century, Liverpool was a major port of departure for English and Irish emigrants to North America. It was also home to both the Cunard and White Star Lines, and was the port of registry of the ocean liners RMS Titanic, RMS Lusitania, RMS Queen Mary, and RMS Olympic. In 2019, Liverpool was ranked fifth on the list of the most visited UK cities. It is noted for its culture, architecture, and transport links. The city is closely associated with the arts, especially music; the popularity of the Beatles, who are widely regarded as the most influential musical group in history, cemented the city's status as a tourist destination. Since then, Liverpool has continued to produce many notable musicians and record labels—musicians from the city have produced 56 No. 1 hit singles, more than any other city in the world. It also has a long-standing reputation as the origin of various actors and actresses, artists, athletes, comedians, journalists, novelists, and poets.

The city has the second-highest number of art galleries, national museums, listed buildings, and listed parks in the UK; only the capital, London, has more. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City includes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, and William Brown Street. In sports, the city is best known for being the home of Premier League football teams Liverpool FC and Everton FC, with matches between the two being known as the Merseyside derby. The annual Grand National horse race takes place at Aintree Racecourse. Several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004, and the city's vast collection of parks and open spaces has been described as the "most important in the country" by England's Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. Its status as a port city historically attracted a diverse population from a wide range of cultures, primarily Ireland, Norway, and Wales. It is also home to the oldest black community in the UK and the oldest Chinese community in Europe. Natives of Liverpool (and occasionally longtime residents) are formally referred to as "Liverpudlians" but are more often called "Scousers", a reference to the form of stew made popular by sailors in the city, which also became the most common name for the local accent and dialect. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007 and was named the 2008 European Capital of Culture, which it shared with the Norwegian city of Stavanger. Its designation as European Capital of Culture resulted in a sharp uptick in the city's fortunes, as the money gained from the EU was spent on regenerating large parts of the city that had become run down.

Source: Wikipedia