Hanoi | |
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Population | 7587800 |
Hanoi (UK: ha-, hə-NOY or US: hah-NOY; Vietnamese: Hà Nội [hàː nôjˀ] (listen)) is the capital city of Vietnam. It covers an area of 3,358.6 km2 (1,296.8 sq mi). It is the second largest city in Vietnam, with over eight million residents within the city proper and an estimated population of 20 million within the metropolitan area. Located in part of the Red River Delta, Hanoi is the commercial, cultural, and educational centre of Northern Vietnam. Having an estimated nominal GDP of US$32.8 billion as of 2018, it is the second most productive economic area of Vietnam, after Ho Chi Minh City.
The city is a settlement along the banks of the Red River. In 257 B.C, under the rule of king An Dương Vương, the citadel of Cổ Loa, nowaday Đông Anh district of Hanoi, was constructed and served as the capital of Âu Lạc. After the fall of Âu Lạc, the city was renamed to Tống Bình and ultimately Đại La. In 1010, emperor Lý Thái Tổ moved the capital to Đại La, renaming it Thăng Long (literally "Ascending Dragon"). Thăng Long would remain the political and cultural centre of the state of Đại Việt until 1802, when the Nguyễn dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of Vietnam, moved the capital to Huế.
Soria | |
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Population | 39838 |
Soria (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈsoɾja]) is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 (INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial population. The municipality has a surface area of 271,77 km2, with a density of 144.97 inhabitants/km2. Situated at about 1065 metres above sea level, Soria is the second highest provincial capital in Spain.
Although there are remains of settlements from the Iron Age and Celtiberian times, Soria itself enters history with its repopulation between 1109 and 1114, by the Aragonese king Alfonso I the Battler. A strategic enclave due to the struggles for territory between the kingdoms of Castile, Navarre and Aragon, Soria became part of Castile definitively in 1134, during the reign of Alfonso VII. In Soria was born Alfonso VIII, and Alfonso X had his court established when he received the offer to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. In Soria, the deposed king James IV of Mallorca died, and John I of Castile married.