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Sofia ( SOH-fee-ə, SOF-; Bulgarian: София, romanized: Sofiya, IPA: [ˈsɔfijɐ] (listen)) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the eponymous valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and has many mineral springs, such as the Sofia Central Mineral Baths. It has a humid continental climate. Being in the centre of the Balkans, it is midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, and closest to the Aegean Sea.Known as Serdica in Antiquity and Sredets in the Middle Ages, Sofia has been an area of human habitation since at least 7000 BC. The recorded history of the city begins with the attestation of the conquest of Serdica by the Roman Republic in 29 BC from the Celtic tribe Serdi. During the decline of the Roman Empire, the city was raided by Huns, Visigoths, Avars and Slavs. In 809 Serdica was incorporated into the Bulgarian Empire by Khan Krum and became known as Sredets. In 1018, the Byzantines ended Bulgarian rule until 1194, when it was reincorporated by the reborn Bulgarian Empire. Sredets became a major administrative, economic, cultural and literary hub until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1382. From 1530 to 1826, Sofia was the regional capital of Rumelia Eyalet, the Ottoman Empire's key province in Europe. Bulgarian rule was restored in 1878. Sofia was selected as the capital of the Third Bulgarian State in the next year, ushering a period of intense demographic and economic growth.
Sofia is the 13th largest city in the European Union. It is surrounded by mountainsides, such as Vitosha by the southern side, Lyulin by the western side, and the Balkan Mountains by the north, which makes it the third highest European capital after Andorra la Vella and Madrid. Being Bulgaria's primate city, Sofia is home of many of the major local universities, cultural institutions and commercial companies. The city has been described as the "triangle of religious tolerance".
Kigali | |
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Kigali (Kinyarwanda: [ci.ɡɑ́.ɾi]) is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It's near the country's geographical centre in a region of rolling hills, with a succession of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. The town has been Rwanda's economic, cultural, and transportation hub because it became the capital following independence from Belgian rule in 1962.
In a place controlled by the Kingdom of Rwanda from the 17th century and then by the German Empire, the city was founded in 1908 when Richard Kandt, the colonial resident, chose the site for his headquarters, citing its central location, views and safety. Foreign merchants started to trade in the city during the German era, and Kandt opened some government-run schools for Tutsi Rwandan students. Belgium took control of Rwanda and Burundi during World War I, forming the mandate of Ruanda-Urundi. Kigali remained the seat of colonial administration for Rwanda but Ruanda-Urundi's capital was at Usumbura (currently Bujumbura) in Burundi and Kigali remained a small city with a population of just 6,000 at the time of independence.
Kigali grew slowly during the next decades. It wasn't initially directly affected by the Rwandan Civil War between government forces and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which started in 1990.
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