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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.
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Kuopio (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈkuo̯pio]) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia (Pohjois-Savo). It has a population of 119,249, which makes it the ninth-most populous city in Finland and the most populous city in Eastern Finland Province. Kuopio has a total area of 4,326.35 square kilometres (1,670.41 sq mi), of which 719.85 km2 (277.94 sq mi) is water and half is forest. Though the city's population is a spread-out 75/km2 (190/sq mi), the city's urban areas are populated comparably densely (urban area: 1,618 /km²), making Kuopio Finland's second-most densely populated city.
Kuopio is known nationwide as one of the most important study cities and centers of attraction and growth, but on the other hand, the history of Kuopio has been characterized by several municipality mergers since 1969, as a result of which Kuopio now includes many countryside; Kuopio's population surpassed 100,000 when the town of Nilsiä joined the city at the beginning of 2013, and when Maaninka joined Kuopio at the beginning of 2015, Kuopio became Finland's largest milk producer community and Finland's second largest beef producer community.