Zurich | |
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Population | 396027 |
Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 434,335 inhabitants, the urban area (agglomeration) 1.315 million (2009), and the Zürich metropolitan area 1.83 million (2011). Zürich is a hub for railways, roads, and air traffic. Both Zurich Airport and railway station are the largest and busiest in the country.
Permanently settled for over 2,000 years, Zürich was founded by the Romans, who, in 15 BC, called it Turicum. However, early settlements have been found dating back more than 6,400 years (although this only indicates human presence in the area and not the presence of a town that early). During the Middle Ages, Zürich gained the independent and privileged status of imperial immediacy and, in 1519, became a primary centre of the Protestant Reformation in Europe under the leadership of Huldrych Zwingli.
Vlora | |
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Population | 130827 |
Vlorë ( VLO-re, Albanian: [ˈvlɔɾə] or [ˈvlɔɾa]) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the capital of the eponymous county and municipality.Geographically, the city is located on the Bay of Vlorë and the foothills of the Ceraunian Mountains at the Strait of Otranto along the Adriatic and Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. Its climate is profoundly affected by the sea and therefore it experiences a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.
Historically, the city was founded as Aulon as an Ancient Greek colony in Illyria and was centuries later conquered by the Romans, Byzantines, Normans, Venetians and Ottomans. Between the 18th and 19th centuries, the Albanian people gathered both spiritual and intellectual strength for national consciousness in the city which conclusively led to the Albanian Renaissance.