Shkoder vs Bolton

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Shkodër or Shkodra (UK: SHKO-der, Albanian pronunciation: [ˈʃkɔdəɾ] or [ˈʃkɔdɾa]), historically known as Scodra or Scutari, is the fifth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the capital of the eponymous municipality and county. It is one of the most ancient cities in the Balkans and exerts strong cultural, economic and religious influences in Northern Albania. Its location has been of strategic importance throughout its history. It has often helped the city to its wealth or made it the subject of conflicts between foreign powers. Geographically, Shkodër sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the freshwater marshlands of Lake Shkodër and the foothills of the Albanian Alps. As most of the Dinaric Alps, the mountains are dominated by limestone and dolomite rocks. The lake, named after the city of Shkodër, is the largest lake in Southern Europe. The city is surrounded on three sides by the rivers Kir in the east, Drin in the south and Buna in the west. Historically, the region that corresponds to the territory of Shkodër was founded in the 4th century BC by the Ancient Illyrian tribes of the Ardiaei and Labeates.

It is evidenced by the artefacts and inscriptions discovered in the Rozafa Castle. During that period, the city was known under the name Scodra. In the last period of the Illyrian kingdom, under the Labeatan dynasty, it served as the royal capital city of the realm. It has historically developed on a 130 metres (430 ft) hill, strategically located in the outflow of Lake of Shkodër into the Buna. The Romans annexed the city after the third Illyrian War in 168 BC, when Gentius was defeated by the Roman force of Anicius Gallus. In the 3rd century AD, Shkodër became the capital of Praevalitana, due to the administrative reform of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. With the spread of Christianity in the 4th century AD, the Archdiocese of Scodra was founded and was assumed in 535 by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. During many different epochs it has retained its status as a major city in the wider region, due to its strategic position close to the Adriatic Sea and the Italian port cities, but also with land-routes to other important cities and towns in neighbouring regions.

Source: Wikipedia

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Bolton ( (listen), locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, historically and traditionally a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th century, introducing a wool and cotton-weaving tradition. The urbanisation and development of the town largely coincided with the introduction of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution. Bolton was a 19th-century boomtown and, at its zenith in 1929, its 216 cotton mills and 26 bleaching and dyeing works made it one of the largest and most productive centres of cotton spinning in the world. The British cotton industry declined sharply after the First World War and, by the 1980s, cotton manufacture had virtually ceased in Bolton. Close to the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is 10 miles (16 km) north-west of Manchester. It is surrounded by several neighbouring towns and villages that together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the administrative centre.

The town of Bolton has a population of 139,403, whilst the wider metropolitan borough has a population of 262,400. Bolton originated as a small settlement in the moorland known as Bolton le Moors. In the English Civil War, the town was a Parliamentarian outpost in a staunchly Royalist region and, as a result, was stormed by 3,000 Royalist troops led by Prince Rupert of the Rhine in 1644. In what became known as the Bolton Massacre, 1,600 residents were killed and 700 were taken prisoner. Bolton Wanderers football club play home games at the University of Bolton Stadium and the WBA World light-welterweight champion Amir Khan was born in the town. Cultural interests include the Octagon Theatre and the Bolton Museum and Art Gallery, as well as one of the earliest public libraries established after the Public Libraries Act 1850.

Source: Wikipedia