Mosul vs Erzurum

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Mosul (Arabic: الموصل‎, romanized: al-Mawṣil, Kurdish: Mosil ,مووسڵ‎, Syriac: ܡܘܨܠ‎, romanized: Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq. Located approximately 400 km (250 mi) north of Baghdad, and 170 km (110 mi) southeast of the Turkish city of Cizre, Mosul stands on the west bank of the Tigris, opposite the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh on the east bank. The metropolitan area has grown to encompass substantial areas on both the "Left Bank" (east side) and the "Right Bank" (west side), as the two banks are described by the locals compared to the flow direction of Tigris. At the start of the 21st century, Mosul and its surroundings had an ethnically and religiously diverse population; the majority of Mosul's population were Arabs, with Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens, Kurds, Yazidis, Shabakis, Mandaeans, Kawliya, Circassians in addition to other, smaller ethnic minorities. In religious terms, mainstream Sunni Islam was the largest religion, but with a significant number of followers of Christianity (mostly Assyrians and Armenians), as well as Shia Islam, Sufism, Yazidism, Shabakism, Yarsanism and Mandaeism.

Mosul's population grew rapidly around the turn of the millennium and by 2004, the city's population was estimated to be 1,846,500. In 2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant seized control of the city. The Iraqi government recaptured it in the Battle of Mosul three years later, during which the city sustained heavy damage. Historically, important products of the area include Mosul marble and oil. The city of Mosul is home to the University of Mosul and its renowned medical school, which together was one of the largest educational and research centers in Iraq and the Middle East. Mosul, together with the nearby Nineveh plains, is one of the historic centers of the Assyrian people and their churches; the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the Assyrian Church of the East, containing the tombs of several Old Testament prophets such as Jonah, some of which were destroyed by ISIL in July 2014.

Source: Wikipedia

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Erzurum is a city in eastern Anatolia (Asian Turkey). It is the largest city in and capital of Erzurum Province. It is situated 1900 meters (6233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 361,235 in the 2000 census, increasing to 367,250 by 2010. The city's population consists mostly of ethnic Turks, with a Kurdish minority based on the south side.

The city uses the double-headed Anatolian Seljuk Eagle as its coat-of-arms, a motif that was a common symbol throughout Anatolia and the Balkans in the medieval period. Erzurum has diverse winter sports facilities and hosted the 2011 Winter Universiade.

Source: Wikipedia