Mashhad vs Słupsk

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Mashhad (Persian: مشهد‎, romanized: Mašhad [mæʃˈhæd] (listen)), also spelled Mashad or Meshad, is the second-most-populous city in Iran and the capital of Razavi Khorasan Province. It is located in the northeast of the country. It has a population of 3,001,184 (2016 census), which includes the areas of Mashhad Taman and Torqabeh. It was a major oasis along the ancient Silk Road connecting with Merv to the east. The city is named after the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth Shia Imam. The Imam was buried in a village in Khorasan, which afterward gained the name Mashhad, meaning the place of martyrdom. Every year, millions of pilgrims visit the Imam Reza shrine. The Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid is also buried within the same shrine. Mashhad has been governed by different ethnic groups over the course of its history.

The city enjoyed relative prosperity in the Mongol period. Mashhad is also known colloquially as the city of Ferdowsi, after the Iranian poet who composed the Shahnameh. The city is the hometown of some of the most significant Iranian literary figures and artists, such as the poet Mehdi Akhavan-Sales, and Mohammad-Reza Shajarian, the traditional Iranian singer and composer. Ferdowsi and Akhavan-Sales are both buried in Tus, an ancient city that is considered to be the main origin of the current city of Mashhad. On 30 October 2009 (the anniversary of Imam Reza's martyrdom), Iran's then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared Mashhad to be "Iran's spiritual capital".

Source: Wikipedia

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Słupsk ([swupsk] (listen); German: Stolp; also known by several alternative names) is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, with a population of 91,007 inhabitants as of December 2018. It occupies 43.15 square kilometres (16.66 sq mi) and, according to the Central Statistical Office, Słupsk is one of the most densely populated cities in the country. Located near the Baltic Sea and on the Słupia River, the city is the administrative seat of Słupsk County and was until 1999 the capital of Słupsk Voivodeship. The neighbouring administrative districts (gminas) are Kobylnica and Gmina Słupsk. Słupsk had its origins as a Pomeranian settlement in the early Middle Ages.

In 1265 it was given town rights. By the 14th century, the town had become a centre of local administration and trade and a Hanseatic League associate. Between 1368 and 1478, it was the residence of the Dukes of Słupsk, until 1474 vassals of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1648, according to the peace treaty of Osnabrück, Stolp became part of Brandenburg-Prussia. In 1815 it was incorporated into the newly formed Prussian Province of Pomerania. After World War II, the city again became part of Poland, as it fell within the new borders determined by the Potsdam Conference.

Source: Wikipedia