Kolkata vs Chelyabinsk

Informations

Kolkata ( or , Bengali: [ˈkolˌkata] (listen), also rendered Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, the city is approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the prime business, commercial, and financial hub of eastern India and the main port of communication for the North-East Indian states, as well as having the third-largest urban economy of India. According to the 2011 Indian census, Kolkata is the seventh-most populous city in India, with a population of 4.5 million residents within the city limits, and a population of over 14.1 million residents in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. The Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. Kolkata is known as the "cultural capital of India" for the city's historical and architectural significance.In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690, the area was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified trading post. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was strong enough to abolish rule, and assumed full sovereignty of the region. Under the company rule and later under the British Raj, Calcutta served as the capital of British-held territories in India until 1911, when its perceived geographical disadvantages, combined with growing nationalism in Bengal, led to a shift of the capital to New Delhi.

Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement. Following independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of Indian commerce, culture, and politics, suffered many decades of political violence and economic stagnation.A demographically diverse city, the culture of Kolkata features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods (paras) and freestyle conversations (adda). Kolkata is home to West Bengal's film industry Tollywood, and cultural institutions, such as the Academy of Fine Arts, the Victoria Memorial, the Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum and the National Library of India. Among scientific institutions, Kolkata hosts the Agri Horticultural Society of India, the Geological Survey of India, the Botanical Survey of India, the Calcutta Mathematical Society, the Indian Science Congress Association, the Zoological Survey of India, the Institution of Engineers, the Anthropological Survey of India and the Indian Public Health Association. Four Nobel laureates and two Nobel Memorial Prize winners are associated with the city. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by focusing on association football and other sports.

Source: Wikipedia

Informations

Chelyabinsk (Russian: Челя́бинск, IPA: [tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk] (listen)) is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia by population, with 1,130,132 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, and the second largest city in the Ural Federal District, after Yekaterinburg. Located in the northeast of the oblast, 210 kilometers (130 mi) south of Yekaterinburg, the city is just to the east of the Ural Mountains. It sits on the Miass River, part of the border between Europe and Asia.The area of Chelyabinsk contained the ancient settlement of Arkaim, which belonged to the Sintashta culture. In 1736, a fortress by the name of Chelyaba was founded on the site of a Bashkir village. Chelyabinsk was granted town status by 1787. Chelyabinsk began to grow rapidly by the late 20th century as a result of the construction of railway links to European Russia and Siberia, including the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Its population reached 70,000 by 1917. Under the Soviet Union, Chelyabinsk became a major industrial centre during the 1930s. The Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant was built in 1933. During World War II, the city was a major contributor to the manufacture of tanks and ammunition. Chelyabinsk remains an important industrial centre, especially heavy industries such as metallurgy and military production. It is home to several educational institutions, mainly South Ural State University and Chelyabinsk State University. In 2013, the Chelyabinsk meteor exploded over the Ural Mountains, with fragments falling into and near the city. The blast of the explosion caused many hundreds of injuries, some of them serious, mostly caused by glass fragments from shattered windows. The Chelyabinsk Regional Museum contains fragments of the meteorite.

Source: Wikipedia