Mogadishu | |
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Population | 0 |
Mogadishu (, also US: ; Somali: Muqdisho [mʉqdɪʃɔ]; Arabic: مقديشو, romanized: Muqadīshū [muqaˈdiːʃuː]; Italian: Mogadiscio [moɡaˈdiʃʃo]), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting with traders all round the Indian Ocean for millennia and currently has a population of 2,425,000 residents. Mogadishu is the nearest foreign mainland city to Seychelles, at a distance of 835 mi (1,344 km) over the Indian Ocean. Mogadishu is located in the coastal Banadir region on the Indian Ocean, which unlike other Somali regions, is considered a municipality rather than a maamulgoboleed (federal state).Mogadishu has a long history, which ranges from the ancient period up until the present, serving as the capital of an influential Sultanate in the 9th century, which for centuries controlled the Indian Ocean gold trade, and eventually came under the Ajuran Empire in the 13th century, which was an important player in the medieval Silk Road maritime trade.
Amman | |
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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.