Sofia vs Bucharest

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Sofia ( SOH-fee-ə, SOF-; Bulgarian: София, romanized: Sofiya, IPA: [ˈsɔfijɐ] (listen)) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the eponymous valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and has many mineral springs, such as the Sofia Central Mineral Baths. It has a humid continental climate. Being in the centre of the Balkans, it is midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, and closest to the Aegean Sea.Known as Serdica in Antiquity and Sredets in the Middle Ages, Sofia has been an area of human habitation since at least 7000 BC. The recorded history of the city begins with the attestation of the conquest of Serdica by the Roman Republic in 29 BC from the Celtic tribe Serdi. During the decline of the Roman Empire, the city was raided by Huns, Visigoths, Avars and Slavs. In 809 Serdica was incorporated into the Bulgarian Empire by Khan Krum and became known as Sredets. In 1018, the Byzantines ended Bulgarian rule until 1194, when it was reincorporated by the reborn Bulgarian Empire. Sredets became a major administrative, economic, cultural and literary hub until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1382. From 1530 to 1826, Sofia was the regional capital of Rumelia Eyalet, the Ottoman Empire's key province in Europe. Bulgarian rule was restored in 1878. Sofia was selected as the capital of the Third Bulgarian State in the next year, ushering a period of intense demographic and economic growth. Sofia is the 13th largest city in the European Union. It is surrounded by mountainsides, such as Vitosha by the southern side, Lyulin by the western side, and the Balkan Mountains by the north, which makes it the third highest European capital after Andorra la Vella and Madrid. Being Bulgaria's primate city, Sofia is home of many of the major local universities, cultural institutions and commercial companies. The city has been described as the "triangle of religious tolerance".

This is due to the fact that three temples of three major world religions—Christianity, Islam and Judaism—are situated within one square: Sveta Nedelya Church, Banya Bashi Mosque and Sofia Synagogue. This triangle was recently expanded to a "square" and includes the Catholic Cathedral of St Joseph, Sofia.Sofia has been named one of the top ten best places for start-up businesses in the world, especially in information technologies. Sofia was Europe's most affordable capital to visit in 2013. In 1979, the Boyana Church in Sofia was included onto the World Heritage List, and it was deconstructed in the Second Bulgarian Empire, holding much patrimonial symbolism to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. With its cultural significance in Southeast Europe, Sofia is home to the National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria, the National Palace of Culture, the Vasil Levski National Stadium, the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the National Archaeological Museum, and the Serdica Amphitheatre. The Museum of Socialist Art includes many sculptures and posters that educate visitors about the lifestyle in communist Bulgaria.The population of Sofia declined from 70,000 in the late 18th century, through 19,000 in 1870, to 11,649 in 1878, after which it began increasing. Sofia hosts some 1.24 million residents within a territory of 492 km2, a concentration of 17.9% of the country population within the 200th percentile of the country territory. The urban area of Sofia hosts some 1.54 million residents within 5723 km2, which comprises Sofia City Province and parts of Sofia Province (Dragoman, Slivnitsa, Kostinbrod, Bozhurishte, Svoge, Elin Pelin, Gorna Malina, Ihtiman, Kostenets) and Pernik Province (Pernik, Radomir), representing 5.16% of the country territory. The metropolitan area of Sofia is based upon one hour of car travel time, stretches internationally and includes Dimitrovgrad in Serbia. The metropolitan region of Sofia is inhabited by a population of 1.67 million.

Source: Wikipedia

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Bucharest (UK: BOO-kə-REST, US: -⁠rest; Romanian: București [bukuˈreʃtʲ] (listen)) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial center. It's in the southeast of the country, at 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than 60 km (37.3 mi) north of the Danube River and the Bulgarian border. Bucharest was first mentioned in documents in 1459. It became the capital of Romania in 1862 and is the center of Romanian media, culture, and art. Its architecture is a mixture of historical (Neoclassical and Art Nouveau), interbellum (Bauhaus, and Art Deco), communist era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the elegance of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of'Paris of the East' (Romanian: Parisul Estului) or'Little Paris' (Romanian: Micul Paris). Although buildings and districts in the historic city center were heavily damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes, and even Nicolae Ceaușescu's program of systematization, many lived and have been renovated. In recent years, the town has been undergoing an economic and cultural boom. It's one of the fastest-growing high-tech cities in Europe, according to Financial Times, CBRE, TechCrunch, and many others. UiPath, a global startup based in Bucharest, has reached over $10 billion in valuation. Since 2019, Bucharest hosts the biggest high tech summit in Southeast Europe (Romania Blockchain Summit).

In 2016, the historical city center was listed as'endangered' by the World Monuments Watch. In 2017, Bucharest was the European city with the highest growth of tourists that stay over night, according to the Mastercard Global Index of Urban Destinations. In terms of the previous two consecutive years, 2018 and 2019, Bucharest ranked as the European destination with the highest potential for development based on the identical study.According to the 2011 census, 1,883,425 inhabitants live within the city limits, a decrease from the 2002 census. Adding the satellite towns around the urban area, the proposed metropolitan area of Bucharest would have a population of 2.27 million people. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the Romanian government used 2.5 million individuals as the basis for reporting disease rate in the city. Bucharest is the fourth largest city in the European Union by population within city limits, after Berlin, Madrid, and Rome. Economically, Bucharest is the most flourishing town in Romania. The city has a lot of large conference facilities, educational institutes, cultural places, conventional'shopping arcades' and recreational areas. The town proper is administratively known as the'Municipality of Bucharest' (Municipiul București), and has the same administrative level as that of a nationwide county, being further subdivided into six sectors, each regulated by a local mayor.

Source: Wikipedia