Angers vs Stafford

Informations

Angers (UK: , US: , French: [ɑ̃ʒe] (listen)) is a city in western France, about 300 km (190 mi) southwest of Paris. It is chef-lieu of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the province are called Angevins. Not including the metropolitan area, Angers is the third most populous commune in northwestern France after Nantes and Rennes and the 18th in France.For centuries, Angers was an important stronghold in northwestern France. It was the cradle of the Plantagenet dynasty and became one of the intellectual centers of Europe during the reign of René of Anjou. Angers developed at the confluence of three rivers, the Mayenne, the Sarthe, and the Loir, all coming from the north and flowing south to the Loire. Their confluence, just north of Angers, creates the Maine, a short but wide river that flows into the Loire several kilometres south.

The Angers metropolitan area is a major economic centre in western France, particularly active in industry, horticulture, and tourism.Angers proper covers 42.70 square kilometers (16.5 sq mi) and has a population of 152,960 inhabitants, while around 422,700 live in its metropolitan area (aire urbaine). The Angers Loire Métropole is made up of 29 communes covering 667 square kilometers (258 square miles) with 296,000 inhabitants.Angers enjoys a rich cultural life, made possible by its universities and museums. The old medieval center is still dominated by the massive château of the Plantagenêts, home of the Apocalypse Tapestry, the biggest medieval tapestry ensemble in the world. Angers is also both at the edge of the Val de Loire, a World Heritage Site, and the Loire-Anjou-Touraine regional natural park.

Source: Wikipedia

Informations

Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about 15 miles (24 km) north of Wolverhampton, 15 miles (24 km) south of Stoke-on-Trent and 24 miles (39 km) north-west of Birmingham.

The town population in 2011 was 68,472 and that of the wider borough of Stafford was 122,000, making it the third largest in the county after Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Source: Wikipedia