Saint Petersburg | |
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State | |
Country | |
Capital | |
Population | 5381736 |
Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербург, tr. Sankt-Peterburg, IPA: [ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk] (listen)), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), is the second-largest city in Russia. The city is situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, with a population of roughly 5.4 million residents. It is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, as well as the world's northernmost city with over 1 million residents. As an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea, it is governed as a federal city.
The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after apostle Saint Peter. Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's entry into modern history as a European great power. It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia and the subsequent Russian Empire from 1713 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730).
Brasília | |
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State | Federal District |
Country | Brazil |
Capital | |
Population | 2789761 |
Brasília (; Portuguese: [bɾaˈziljɐ]) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located on top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's center-western region. It was established by President Juscelino Kubitschek on April 21, 1960, to serve as the new national capital. Brasília is estimated to be Brazil's third-most populous town. Among major Latin American cities, it has the highest GDP per capita.Brasília was a planned city developed by Lúcio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer and Joaquim Cardozo in 1956 at a strategy to move the capital from Rio de Janeiro to a more central site. The landscape architect was Roberto Burle Marx. The city's design divides it into numbered blocks as well as sectors for specified activities, such as the Hotel Sector, the Banking Sector, and the Embassy Sector. Brasília was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 because of its modernist architecture and distinctively artistic urban planning. It was called"City of Design" by UNESCO in October 2017 and continues to be a part of the Creative Cities Network since then.