Riyadh vs Bloemfontein

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Riyadh (Arabic: الرياض‎, romanized: ar-Riyāḍ, lit. 'The Gardens' [ar.riˈjaːdˤ] Najdi pronunciation: [er.rɪˈjɑːðˤ]) is the capital of Saudi Arabia and the largest city on the Arabian Peninsula. Located in the center of the an-Nafud desert, on the eastern part of the Najd plateau, the city sits at an average of 600 metres (2,000 ft) above sea level, and receives more than 16 million tourists each year, making it the 2nd most visited city in the Arab world. Riyadh had a population of 7.6 million people in 2019, making it the most populous city in Saudi Arabia, 2nd most populous in the Arab world (after Cairo), and 38th most populous in Asia.The first mentioning of the city by the name Riyadh was in 1590, by an early Arab chronicler. In 1737, Deham Ibn Dawwas, who was from the neighboring Manfuha, settled in and took control of the city. Deham built a wall around the city, and the best known source of the name Riyadh is from this period, thought to be referring to the earlier oasis towns that predated the wall built by Ibn Dawwas. In 1744, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Wahhab formed an alliance with the Emir of Dir'iyah, Muhammad bin Saud, and in 1774, they took Riyadh from Deham. However their state, now known as the First Saudi State, came to a collapse in 1818. Turki ibn Abdullah founded the Second Saudi State in the early 19th century and made Riyadh his capital in 1825. However, his reign over the city was disrupted by a joint Ottoman–Rashidi alliance. Finally, in the early 20th century, 'Abdulaziz ibn Saud, known in the west simply as Ibn Saud, retrieved his ancestral kingdom of Najd in 1902 and consolidated his rule by 1926 with the final Saudi conquest of Hejaz. After this he named his kingdom Saudi Arabia in September 1932 with Riyadh as the capital.Riyadh is the political and administrative centre of Saudi Arabia.

The Consultative Assembly (also known as the Shura or Shura Council), the Council of Ministers of Saudi Arabia, the King and the Supreme Judicial Council of Saudi Arabia are all situated in the city. Alongside these four bodies that form the core of the legal system of Saudi Arabia, the headquarters of other major and minor governmental bodies are also located in Riyadh. The city hosts 112 foreign embassies, most of which are located in the as-Safarat district or Diplomatic Quarter (Arabic: حي السفارات‎, romanized: Hayy as-Safarat, lit. 'District of Embassies') in the western reaches of the city. RIyadh also holds great economic significance, as it hosts the headquarters of many banks and major companies, such as the National Commercial Bank (NCB), Alinma Bank and the Saudi Arabian British Bank (SABB). Highway 65, known locally as the King Fahd Road, runs through some of these important centers in the city, including the King Abdullah Financial District, one of the world's largest financial districts, the Faisaliyah Center and the Kingdom Center. Riyadh is one of the world's fastest-growing cities in population and is home to many expatriates. Riyadh has been designated a global city.The city is divided into 15 municipal districts, which are overseen by the Municipality of Riyadh (Arabic: أمانة الرياض‎, romanized: Amanat ar-Riyad, lit. 'Protectorate of Riyadh') headed by the mayor; and the Royal Commission for Riyadh which is chaired by the Governor of the Province, Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud. As of July 2020, The mayor is Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Mohammed bin Ayyaf Al-Muqrin. Most of the population of the Riyadh Province is concentrated around Riyadh, as the rest of the province is mostly desert, with few, small cities connected by small two- to four-lane highways, such as Wadi ad-Dawasir.

Source: Wikipedia

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Bloemfontein ( BLOOM-fon-tayn; Afrikaans: [ˈblumfɔntɛin]; also known as Bloem) is the capital city of the province of Free State of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals (the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital) and is the seventh largest city in South Africa. Situated at an elevation of 1,395 m (4,577 ft) above sea level, the city is home to approximately 520,000 residents and forms part of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality which has a population of 747,431. It was one of the host cities for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The city of Bloemfontein hosts the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, the Franklin Game Reserve, Naval Hill, the Maselspoort Resort and the Sand du Plessis Theatre. The city hosts numerous museums, including the National Women's Monument, the Anglo-Boer War Museum, the National Museum, and the Oliewenhuis Art Museum.

Bloemfontein also host sub-Saharan Africa's first digital planetarium, the Naval Hill Planetarium and Boyden Observatory, an astronomical research observatory erected by Harvard University. Bloemfontein is popularly and poetically known as "the city of roses", for its abundance of these flowers and the annual rose festival held there. The city's Sesotho name is Mangaung, meaning "place of cheetahs". Its !Orakobab name is ǀʼAuxa ǃXās or ǀKxʼauxa ǃXās (Khoekhoegowab spelling: ǀAuxa !Khās), which refers to Jan Bloem II, known as !Xās-aob or Blumtseb who was a gaokxʼaob (chief) of the ǀŨdiǁʼaes (Springbok Clan) of the !Ora ("Korana") nation, whose kraal was the original settlement before the city was built.

Source: Wikipedia