Helsinki vs Kristiansand

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Helsinki ( HEL-sink-ee or (listen) hel-SINK-ee; Finnish: [ˈhelsiŋki] (listen); Swedish: Helsingfors, Finland Swedish: [helsiŋˈforsː] (listen); Latin: Helsingia) is the capital, primate and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, It's the chair of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of 656,229. The city's urban area has a population of 1,268,296, making it by far the most populous metropolitan area in Finland as well as the nation's most important center for politics, education, finance, culture, and research; while Tampere in the Pirkanmaa region, situated 179 kilometres (111 mi) to the north from Helsinki, is the second largest urban area in Finland. Helsinki is situated 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 kilometers (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and 300 km (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It has close historical ties with these 3 cities. Together with the cities of Espoo, Vantaa, and Kauniainen, and surrounding commuter cities, Helsinki creates the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, which has a population of over 1.

5 million. Often considered to be Finland's only metropolis, it's the world's northernmost metro area with over one million individuals as well as the northernmost capital of an EU member state. After Stockholm and Oslo, Helsinki is the third largest municipality in the Nordic countries. Finnish and Swedish are both official languages. The city is served by the international Helsinki Airport, located in the neighboring city of Vantaa, with frequent service to many destinations in Europe and Asia. Helsinki was the World Design Capital for 2012, the venue for the 1952 Summer Olympics, and the host of the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest in 2007. Helsinki has among the world's highest urban standards of living. In 2011, the British magazine Monocle rated Helsinki the world's most liveable city in its liveable cities indicator. From the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2016 liveability survey, Helsinki was rated ninth among 140 cities.

Source: Wikipedia

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Kristiansand municipality underwent a municipal merger on 1 January 2020. Kristiansand (, also US: , Norwegian: [krɪstjɑnˈsɑnː] (listen)), historically spelled Christianssand and Christiansand, is a city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is the fifth largest city in Norway and the municipality is the sixth largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation of the municipalities of Søgne and Songdalen into the new and revised municipality of greater Kristiansand. In addition to the city itself, Statistics Norway counts four other densely populated areas in the municipality: Skålevik in Flekkerøy with a population of 3,526 in the Vågsbygd borough, Strai with a population of 1,636 in the Grim borough, Justvik with a population of 1,803 in the Lund borough, and Tveit with a population of 1,396 (as of January 2012) in the Oddernes borough. Kristiansand is divided into five boroughs: Grim, which is located northwest in Kristiansand with a population of 15,000; Kvadraturen, which is the centre and downtown Kristiansand with a population of 5,200; Lund, the second largest borough; Søgne, with a population of around 12,000 and incorporated into the municipality of Kristiansand as of January 2020; Oddernes, a borough located in the west; and Vågsbygd, the largest borough with a population of 36,000, located in the southwest.

Kristiansand is connected by four main roads: European Route E18 from Oslo, Aust-Agder and covers the eastern part of Kristiansand; European route E39 from Stavanger, Flekkefjord and the coast towns and villages in Vest-Agder; Norwegian National Road 9 from Evje, Setesdal and Grim; and Norwegian National Road 41 from Telemark, northern Aust-Agder, Birkeland, Tveit and the airport Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik. Varodd Bridge is a large bridge and a part of E18, which stretches over Topdalsfjorden. Tourism is important in Kristiansand, and the summer season is the most popular for tourists. Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement park is the largest zoo in Norway. It receives over 900,000 visitors every year. Markens Street is the main pedestrian street in downtown Kristiansand. Bystranda is a city beach located in Kvadraturen; in addition, Hamresanden beach is the longest beach in Kristiansand. Hamresanden Camping is a popular family camp during the summer season. The city hosts a free concert in downtown Kristiansand once every week in the summer. Outside the city is the industry park Sørlandsparken, which has Sørlandssenteret, the largest mall in Norway.

Source: Wikipedia