Qom vs Bitola

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Qom (Persian: قم‎ [ɢom] (listen)) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located 140 km (87 mi) to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its population was 1,201,158. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River. Qom is considered holy in Shi'a Islam, as it is the site of the shrine of Fatimah bint Musa, sister of Imam Ali ibn Musa Rida (Persian: Imam Reza; 789–816). The city is the largest center for Shi'a scholarship in the world, and is a significant destination of pilgrimage, with around twenty million pilgrims visiting the city every year, the majority being Iranians but also other Shi'a Muslims from all around the world.

Qom is also famous for a Persian brittle toffee known as sohan (Persian: سوهان), considered a souvenir of the city and sold by 2,000 to 2,500 "sohan" shops. Qom has developed into a lively industrial centre owing in part to its proximity to Tehran. It is a regional centre for the distribution of petroleum and petroleum products, and a natural gas pipeline from Bandar Anzali and Tehran and a crude oil pipeline from Tehran run through Qom to the Abadan refinery on the Persian Gulf. Qom gained additional prosperity when oil was discovered at Sarajeh near the city in 1956 and a large refinery was built between Qom and Tehran.

Source: Wikipedia

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Bitola (; Macedonian: Битола [ˈbitɔɫa] (listen)) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, 14 kilometres (9 miles) north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing with Greece. The city stands at an important junction connecting the south of the Adriatic Sea region with the Aegean Sea and Central Europe, and is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It has been known since the Ottoman period as "The City of The Consuls", since many European countries had consulates in Bitola.

Bitola, known during the Ottoman Empire as Manastir or Monastir, is one of the oldest cities in North Macedonia. It was founded as Heraclea Lyncestis in the middle of the 4th century BC by Philip II of Macedon. The city was the last capital of Ottoman Rumelia, from 1836 to 1867. According to the 2002 census, Bitola is the second-largest city in the country. Bitola is also the seat of the Bitola Municipality.

Source: Wikipedia