Cúcuta vs Medina

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Cúcuta (Spanish: [ˈkukuta] (listen)), officially San José de Cúcuta, is a Colombian city, capital of Norte de Santander department. It is located in the northeast of the country, in the eastern branch of the Colombian Andes, on the border with Venezuela. Cúcuta has a population of 711,715 people according to the 2018 census, making it the 6th largest city in the country. Due to its proximity with Venezuela, Cúcuta is an important commercial center, hosting many billion dollar companies. The international border in Cúcuta is said to be the most dynamic of South America. The city has a length of 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) from north to south and 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) from east to west. It is divided into 10 communes and it is the political, economic, administrative, industrial, cultural and tourism hub of the Norte de Santander department. Cúcuta has experienced a great urban development, as a result other cities have been formed around it, like Los Patios in the east, and Villa del Rosario in the south.

They are part of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta which has a population of about 850,000 people. It is connected by roads across the country to major cities like Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Ocaña, Valledupar, Pamplona, Tunja and Cartagena de Indias and because of its location, to many cities of Venezuela. Its airport, Camilo Daza International Airport, offers flights to several Colombian cities. The city was the place of some of the most important events in Colombian history, like the redaction of the first constitution by the Congress of Cúcuta which led to the foundation of the Republic of Colombia, also known as Gran Colombia, and the Battle of Cúcuta, where troops led by Simón Bolívar defeated the Spanish Royal Rorce, thereby liberating the city from Spanish rule and allowing Bolívar troops to continue their campaign toward Venezuela.

Source: Wikipedia

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Medina, officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (Arabic: المدينة المنورة‎, romanized: al-Madinat al-Munawwarah, lit. 'The Enlightened City'), commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah, is one of the three holiest cities in Islam and the capital of the Medina Region of Saudi Arabia. The 2020 estimated population of the city is 1,488,782, making it the fourth-most populous city in the country. Located at the core of the Madinah Province in the western reaches of the country, the city is distributed over 589 square kilometers (227 square miles), 293 km2 (117 sq. mi.) of which constitutes the city's urban area, while the rest is occupied by the Hejaz mountain range, empty valleys, agricultural spaces, older dormant volcanoes and the Nafud desert. The city is considered to be the second-holiest of three cities in Islamic tradition, the other two being Mecca and Jerusalem. The Masjid al-Nabawi ('Prophet's Mosque') built by Muhammad in 622 CE, is of exceptional importance in Islam and is the site of burial of the last Islamic prophet. Muslims visit his rawdhah in what is known as Ziyarat at least once in their lifetime, although this is not obligatory. The original name of the city before the advent of Islam was Yathrib and it is referred to by the same name in the Qur'an in Chapter 33, al-Ahzab (The Confederates). It was renamed Madīnat an-Nabī (City of the Prophet or The Prophet's City) after Muhammad's death and later al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (The Enlightened City), before being simplified and shortened to its modern name, Madinah (The City), written in English as Medina. Saudi Arabian road signage uses Madinah and al-Madinah al-Munawwarah interchangeably.The city is known to have existed for over 1500 years before Muhammad's migration from Mecca, otherwise known as the Hijrah.

Medina was the capital of a rapidly increasing Muslim caliphate under Muhammad's leadership, serving as its base of operations and as the cradle of Islam, where Muhammad's Ummah (Community), composed of the citizens of Madinah, known as the Ansar and those who immigrated with Muhammad, known as the Muhajirun, collectively known as the Sahaba, gained huge influence. Medina is home to three prominent mosques, namely al-Masjid an-Nabawi, Masjid Quba'a, and Masjid al-Qiblatayn, with the masjid at Quba'a being the oldest in Islam. A larger portion of the Qur'an was revealed in Medina in contrast to the earlier Meccan surahs.Much like most of the Hejaz, Medina has seen numerous exchanges of power within its comparatively short existence. The region is known to have been controlled by Arabian Jewish tribes (up to the 5th century CE), the 'Aws and Khazraj (up to Muhammad's arrival), Muhammad and the Rashidun (622–660 CE), Umayyads (660–749 CE), Abbasids (749–1254 CE), the Mamluks of Egypt (1254–1517 CE), the Ottomans (1517–1805 CE), the First Saudi State (1805–1811 CE), Muhammad Ali Pasha (1811–1840 CE), the Ottomans for a second time (1840–1918), the Hashemite Sharifate of Mecca (1918–1925 CE) and finally is in the hands of the modern-day Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (1925–present CE).In addition to visiting for Ziyarah, tourists come to visit the other prominent mosques and landmarks in the city that hold religious significance such as Mount Uhud, Al-Baqi' cemetery and the Seven Mosques among others. Recently, after the Saudi conquest, the Saudis carried out a demolition of several tombs and domes in and around the region fearing these might become sites of association of others in worship beside Allah (shirk).

Source: Wikipedia