Latacunga vs Dunedin

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Latacunga (Spanish pronunciation: [lataˈkuŋɡa]; Quechua: Latakunga) is a plateau town of Ecuador, capital of the Cotopaxi Province, 89 km (55 mi) south of Quito, near the confluence of the Alaquez and Cutuchi rivers to form the Patate, the headstream of the Pastaza. At the time of census 2010 Latacunga had 98,355 inhabitants, largely mestizo and indigenous. Latacunga took its independence from Spain on November 11, 1820.Latacunga is an hour and half south from Quito on the Pan-American Highway. It was previously also on the old road from Quito to Guayaquil, and has a railway station between those cities. It is 9,055 ft (2,760 m). above sea level. Its climate is cold and windy, due to the neighboring snowclad heights, and the barren, pumice-covered tableland on which it stands. The active volcano Cotopaxi is only 25 km. away, and the town has suffered repeatedly from eruptions. Founded in 1534, it was four times destroyed by earthquakes between 1698 and 1798.

The neighboring ruins of an older native town are said to date from the Incas Empire. Latacunga's most noted food is chugchucaras, empanadas, plantains, popcorn, and tostado (a type of toasted corn). Often, food is mixed with ají, a type of condiment that can be mild to very spicy depending on its preparation. The Latacunga economy is dependent on agriculture, floriculture and commerce. It has an international airport, the Cotopaxi International Airport, that is not used for international passenger use, but as an Air Force base and some special commercial flights. The local volcanic activity has led to the accumulation of pumice deposits which are currently mined, as well as the presence of natural sparkling water, which is bottled under the brand name San Felipe. The airplane scene in the film Maria Full of Grace was filmed out of the Latacunga airport using local extras. The landscape seen from the plane is the area surrounding Latacunga.

Source: Wikipedia

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Dunedin ( (listen) duh-NEE-din; Māori: Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.The urban area of Dunedin lies on the central-eastern coast of Otago, surrounding the head of Otago Harbour, and the harbour and hills around Dunedin are the remnants of an extinct volcano. The city suburbs extend out into the surrounding valleys and hills, onto the isthmus of the Otago Peninsula, and along the shores of the Otago Harbour and the Pacific Ocean. Dunedin was the largest New Zealand city by territorial land area until superseded by Auckland with the formation of the Auckland Council in November 2010. Archaeological evidence points to lengthy occupation of the area by Māori prior to the arrival of Europeans. The province and region of Otago takes its name from the Ngāi Tahu village of Otakou at the mouth of the harbour, which became a whaling station in the 1830s. In 1848 a Scottish settlement was established by the Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland. Between 1855 and 1900 many thousands of Scots emigrated to the incorporated city.

Dunedin became wealthy during the Central Otago Gold Rush, beginning in the 1860s. In the mid-1860s, and between 1878 and 1881, it was New Zealand's largest urban area. The city population at 5 March 2013 was 120,246. While Hamilton, Tauranga and Lower Hutt have eclipsed the city in size of population since the 1980s to make it only the seventh-largest urban area in New Zealand, Dunedin is still considered one of the four main cities of New Zealand for historic, cultural and geographic reasons.Dunedin has a diverse economy, which includes manufacturing, publishing and technology-based industries as well as education, research and tourism. The city's most important activity centres around tertiary education—Dunedin is home to the University of Otago, New Zealand's oldest university (established 1869), and the Otago Polytechnic. Students account for a large proportion of the population; 21.6 per cent of the city's population was aged between 15 and 24 at the 2006 census, compared to the New Zealand average of 14.2 per cent. In 2014 Dunedin was designated as a UNESCO City of Literature.

Source: Wikipedia