Volta Redonda vs Taunton

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Volta Redonda (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvɔwtɐ ʁeˈdõdɐ]) is the name of a municipality in the Rio de Janeiro state of Brazil with an area of 182.81 km², located from 350m to 707m above the sea level (22º31'23" S, 44º06'15" W) and with a population of 259,811 inhabitants (estimated in 2009). The area around the city has nearly 700,000 km². Its name (which is Portuguese for Round Turn) is due to the round shape of a curve in the Paraíba do Sul river around which the city was built. Situated in Volta Redonda is Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN), Brazil's second largest steel producer. Today its economy, despite still being based on industry, is quite diverse, and largely focused on the areas of services and trade. Due to this, Volta Redonda is worldly known as Cidade do Aço (which is Portuguese for Steel City).

The city borders with the municipalities of Barra Mansa (north, northwest, west and southwest), Barra do Piraí (northeast), Pinheiral, Piraí (south and east), and Rio Claro (south) and is 130 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro. Along with the municipalities of Barra Mansa and Pinheiral, it is a conurbation of over 500,000 inhabitants, according to the IBGE estimates for 2008, and the state's largest urban spot outside the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. Economical center of the South Fluminense region, Volta Redonda is a strategic area, close to major hub cities in other regional states, such as Juiz de Fora (190 kilometers) and Sao Jose dos Campos (220 kilometers).

Source: Wikipedia

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Taunton is a town in Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. It has over 1,000 years of religious and military history, including a 10th-century monastery. Taunton Castle has origins in the Anglo Saxon period. It was later the site of a priory. The Normans then built a stone castle that belonged to the Bishops of Winchester. Today's reconstructed buildings are the inner ward, housing the Museum of Somerset and Somerset Military Museum. Events include the Second Cornish uprising of 1497, when Perkin Warbeck marched a 6000-strong army to Taunton, most of which surrendered to Henry VII on 4 October 1497.

On 20 June 1685 the Duke of Monmouth crowned himself King of England at Taunton during a rebellion that culminated in the Battle of Sedgemoor. Judge Jeffreys then lived in the town during the Bloody Assizes held in the Great Hall of the Castle. The Grand Western Canal reached Taunton in 1839 and the railway in 1842. Today Taunton holds Musgrove Park Hospital, the Somerset County Cricket Club's County Ground and the headquarters of 40 Commando, Royal Marines. The Taunton flower show has been held in Vivary Park since 1866. The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office is located in Admiralty Way.

Source: Wikipedia