Bytom vs Dourados

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Bytom (Polish pronunciation: [ˈbɨtɔm] (listen); Silesian: Bytōm, Bytōń, German: Beuthen O.S.) is a city with powiat rights in southern Poland, in Silesia, in centre of Metropolitan Association of Upper Silesia and Dąbrowa Basin. It is one of the oldest cities in the Upper Silesia, and the former seat of the Piast dukes of the Duchy of Bytom. Until 1532, it was in the hands of the Silesian Piasts, then it belonged to the Hohenzollern dynasty. After 1623 it was a state country in the hands of the Donnersmarck family. From 1742 to 1945 the town was within the borders of Prussia and Germany, and played an important role as an economic and administrative centre of the local industrial region. Until the outbreak of World War II, it was the main centre of national, social, cultural and publishing organisations fighting to preserve Polish identity in Upper Silesia.

During Kristallnacht in 1938, Nazi Germans burned down the Bytom Synagogue. In 1942, the Beuthen Jewish community was liquidated and its members were the first transport to be sent to Auschwitz concentration camp. After the war, decades of the Polish People's Republic were characterized by a constant emphasis on the development of heavy industry, which deeply polluted and degraded Bytom. After 1989, the city experienced a socio-economic decline. The city is blighted with derelict, dilapidated buildings which are ubiquitous. The population has been in rapid decline since 1999 leading to a number of locals describing the city as a ghost town. Poverty remains rife in Bytom. However, it is an important place in the cultural, entertainment, and industrial map of the region.

Source: Wikipedia

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Dourados is a Brazilian municipality, situated in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, 225 km (140 mi) Southwest of Campo Grande (the state's capital). It has a population of about 225,000 inhabitants, and its economy is based mainly in arable agriculture (particularly Soya, Maize and Sugar Cane) and in cattle ranching. Dourados is also the second most populous and important city of this state. Its media, commerce, and services more than take care of the thirty cities of Mato Grosso do Sul, including a part of Paraguay. For its size and importance, it is an economic and social capital of a region that possesses approximately a million inhabitants (Vestibule of the Mercosul – the Common Market of the South).

Its development was slow until the first half of the 20th century, because of transportation limitations (highways and roads), especially with Campo Grande and the State of São Paulo. From 1950, it increased its development with the construction of roads. With this, it received migrants from other parts of the country (especially Sulistas and São Paulo) and immigrants (mainly Japanese). The city has a close relationship with Paraguay its next door neighbor, which is 120 km (75 mi) away. This is a strong factor in the ethnic and cultural union between the city and the neighboring country. This explains why 30% of the inhabitants of Dourados have some Paraguayan family link.

Source: Wikipedia