Yekaterinburg vs Lichfield

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Yekaterinburg (; Russian: Екатеринбу́рг, IPA: [jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk]), alternatively romanized Ekaterinburg, formerly known as Sverdlovsk (Свердло́вск) (1924–1991), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District. The city is located on the Iset River in Western Siberia, with a population of roughly 1.5 million residents, up to 2.2 million residents in the urban agglomeration. Yekaterinburg is the fourth-largest city in Russia, the second-largest city in Siberia, and the largest city in the Ural Federal District, as well as one of the main cultural and industrial centres of Russia. Yekaterinburg has been dubbed the "Third capital of Russia", as it is ranked third by the size of economy, culture, transportation and tourism.The region was settled and developed by Novgorodians by the 11th century. Yekaterinburg was founded on 18 November 1723 and named after the Russian emperor Peter the Great's wife, who after his death became Catherine I, Yekaterina being the Russian form of her name. The city served as the mining capital of the Russian Empire as well as a strategic connection between Europe and Asia at the time. In 1781, Catherine the Great gave Yekaterinburg the status of a district town of Perm Province, and built the historical Siberian Route through the city.

Yekaterinburg became a key city to Siberia, which had rich resources, and was known as the "Window to Asia". In the late 19th century, Yekaterinburg became one of the centres of revolutionary movements in the Urals. In 1924, after the Russian SFSR became a part of the Soviet Union, and a socialist state, the city was named Sverdlovsk after the Bolshevik leader Yakov Sverdlov. During the Soviet era, Sverdlovsk was turned into an industrial and administrative powerhouse. In 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the city returned to its historical name. Yekaterinburg is one of the most important economic centres in Russia, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The city is currently experiencing an economic and population boom, which resulted with some of the tallest skyscrapers of Russia being located in the city. Yekaterinburg is home to the headquarters of the Central Military District of the Russian Armed Forces, as well as the presidium of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and will be the host city of the 2023 Summer Universiade.

Source: Wikipedia

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Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly 16 mi (26 km) north of Birmingham, 8.1 miles (13.0 km) from Rugeley, 9 miles (14 km) from Walsall, 7.9 miles (12.7 km) from Tamworth and 13 miles (21 km) from Burton Upon Trent. At the time of the 2011 Census the population was estimated at 32,219 and the wider Lichfield District at 100,700.Notable for its three-spired medieval cathedral, Lichfield was the birthplace of Samuel Johnson, the writer of the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language. The city's recorded history began when Chad of Mercia arrived to establish his Bishopric in 669 AD and the settlement grew as the ecclesiastical centre of Mercia. In 2009, the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork, was found 5.9 km (3.7 mi) south-west of Lichfield.

The development of the city was consolidated in the 12th century under Roger de Clinton, who fortified the Cathedral Close and also laid out the town with the ladder-shaped street pattern that survives to this day. Lichfield's heyday was in the 18th century, when it developed into a thriving coaching city. This was a period of great intellectual activity, the city being the home of many famous people including Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, Erasmus Darwin and Anna Seward, and prompted Johnson's remark that Lichfield was "a city of philosophers". Today, the city still retains its old importance as an ecclesiastical centre, and its industrial and commercial development has been limited. The centre of the city has over 230 listed buildings (including many examples of Georgian architecture), and preserves much of its historic character.

Source: Wikipedia