Alausí vs Bolzano - Bozen

Informations

Lithuania (listen); Lithuanian pronunciation: Lietuva [ljIetU’va]), officially known as the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian Lietuvos Respublika), can be found in the Baltic region of Europe. It is located on the east shore of the Baltic Sea and is one of the three Baltic States. Lithuania shares land borders to the west with Latvia, Belarus, Poland, and Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia. Lithuania has a total area of 65,300km2 (25,200 sq mi) and a population of approximately 2.8 million. Vilnius is the capital and largest city. Klaipeda and Kaunas are other important cities. Lithuanians are part of the ethno-linguistic group known as the Balts. They speak Lithuanian, which is one of very few Baltic languages. For millennia, various Baltic tribes inhabited the Baltic Sea's southeastern shores. Mindaugas, a Lithuanian nobleman, united the lands of Lithuania in the 1230s and founded the Kingdom of Lithuania 6 July 1253. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was Europe's largest country, was founded in the 14th century. Today, Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine are all part of the Grand Duchy. With the marriage of Hedwig, a Polish queen, and Jogaila of Lithuania's Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania in 1386, the Crown of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania formed a de facto personal union. Jogaila was crowned King jure-uxoris Wladyslaw I Jagiello of Poland.

In July 1569, the Union of Lublin established the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania. The Commonwealth was in existence for more than 200 years. It was eventually dismantled by neighboring countries in 1772-1795. After that, the Russian Empire annexed most of Lithuania's territory. The modern Republic of Lithuania was founded by the signing of the Lithuanian Act of Independence on 16 February 1918 after World War I had ended. Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union, then Nazi Germany in World War II. The Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania in 1944, just as the Germans were beginning to withdraw. The Soviet occupation was repelled by the Lithuanian armed resistance that lasted until the 1950s. On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania passed the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, becoming the first Soviet republic to proclaim its independence.Lithuania is a developed country, with a high income advanced economy; ranking very high in the Human Development Index. It is a country that ranks highly in civil liberties, press freedom and internet freedom. Lithuania is a member of NATO, NATO, the European Union and the Council of Europe. It is a permanent observer to the Nordic Council and participates in the Nordic Baltic Eight (NB8) regional cooperation format.

Source: Wikipedia

Informations

Bolzano (Italian: [bolˈtsaːno] (listen) or [bolˈdzaːno]; German: Bozen (formerly Botzen), pronounced [ˈboːtsn̩]; Bavarian: Bozn; Ladin: Balsan or Bulsan) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in Tyrol. The greater metro area has about 250,000 inhabitants and is one of the urban centers within the Alps.Bolzano is the seat of the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, where lectures and seminars are held in English, German, and Italian. The city is also home to the Italian Army's Alpini High Command (COMALP) and some of its combat and support units.

In the 2014 version of the annual ranking of quality of life in Italian cities, Bolzano was ranked as the best.Along with other Alpine towns in South Tyrol, Bolzano engages in the Alpine Town of the Year Association for the implementation of the Alpine Convention. The Convention aims to promote and achieve sustainable development in the Alpine Arc. Consequently, Bolzano was awarded Alpine Town of the Year 2009. Bolzano is considered a bridge between North and South due to the three spoken languages in South Tyrol (Italian, German, and Ladin) and the confluence of Italian and German-Austrian culture.

Source: Wikipedia