Kishinev | |
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Population | 590631 |
Chișinău ( KISH-ih-NOW, also US: KEE-shee-NOW, Romanian: [kiʃiˈnəw] (listen)), also called Kishinev (Russian: Кишинёв, tr. Kishinjóv [kʲɪʂɨˈnʲɵf]), is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the center of the country, on the river Bâc, a tributary of the Dniester. According to the results of the 2014 census, the city proper had a population of 532,513, although the inhabitants of the Municipality of Chișinău (which includes the city itself and other nearby communities) was 700,000.
Kaunas | |
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Capital | |
Population | 315993 |
Kaunas (; Lithuanian: [ˈkɐʊˑnɐs] (listen); also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the biggest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Palatinate since 1413. In the Russian Empire, it was the capital of the Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915.
During the interwar period, it served as the temporary capital of Lithuania, when Vilnius was seized by Poland between 1920 and 1939. During that period Kaunas was celebrated for its rich cultural and academic life, fashion, construction of countless Art Deco and Lithuanian National Romanticism architectural-style buildings as well as popular furniture, the interior design of the time, and a widespread café culture. The city interwar architecture is regarded as among the finest examples of European Art Deco and has received the European Heritage Label.