Agios Nikolaos is a coastal town on the Greek island of Crete, lying east of the island’s capital Heraklion, north of the town of Ierapetra and west of the town of Sitia. In the year 2000, the Municipality of Agios Nikolaos, which takes in part of the surrounding villages, claimed around 19,000 inhabitants. The town is the capital of the nomos (province) of Lasithi, and sits partially upon the ruins of the ancient city of Lato pros Kamara.
Okinawa Island is the largest of the Ryukyu Islands, and is home to Naha, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture. The island has an area of 1,201.03 square kilometers (463.7 square miles).
During the American occupation of Japan, following the Imperial Japanese surrender after WW II, the United States controlled Okinawa Island, which remained under U.S. governance until June 17, 1972.
Ladakh is a province in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir sandwiched between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent. It is one of the most sparsely populated regions in Kashmir. Historically, the region included the Baltistan (Baltiyul) valleys, the Indus Valley, the remote Zanskar, Lahaul and Spiti to the south, Ngari including the Rudok region and Guge in the east, and Nubra valleys to the north over Khardung La in the Ladakh mountain range. Contemporary Ladakh borders Tibet to the east, the Lahaul and Spiti to the south, the Vale of Kashmir, Jammu and Baltiyul regions to the west, and the Trans -Kun lun territory of East Turkistan in Central Asia on the other side of the Kun lun range in Kashmir to the north. Running southwest to northeast, the Altyn Tagh converges with the Kun Lun range in Kashmir which runs southeast to northwest forming a “V” shape which converges at Pulu. The geographical divide between Ladakh in the highlands of Kashmir and the Tibetan Plateau commences in the vicinity of Pulu and continues southwards along the intricate maze of ridges situate east of Rudok, wherein are situate Aling Kangri and Mavang Kangri and culminates in the vicinity of Mayum La.
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second largest city in Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kharkiv Oblast (province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Kharkivskyi Raion (district) within the oblast. The city is located in the northeast of the country at around 49°54′60″N, 36°18′60″E. As of 2006, its population is 1,461,300.
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject located in Northwestern Federal District of Russia on the Neva River at the east end of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea.
Founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 27, 1703, it was capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years (1712-1728, 1732-1918). St. Petersburg ceased being the capital in 1918 after the Russian Revolution of 1917. It is Russia’s second largest and Europe’s third largest city (by city limit) after Moscow and London. Saint Petersburg is a major European cultural center, and important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. The city, as federal subject, has a total area of 1439 square km.
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Moscow (Moskva) is the capital of Russia and the country’s economic, financial, educational, and transportation centre. It is located on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District, in the European part of Russia. The metropolitan area of Moscow (Moskva) is the largest in Europe, whose population constitutes about 7% of the total Russian population. Historically, it was the capital of the former Soviet Union and the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the pre-Imperial Russian state. It is the site of the Kremlin, which now serves as the ceremonial residence of the President of Russia.
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Novosibirsk is Russia’s third largest city, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast. It is also the largest city in Siberia and the administrative center of Siberian Federal District, in the southwest of which it is located.
Stockholm is the capital and largest city of Sweden, and consequently the site of the national Swedish government and parliament as well as the official residence of the Swedish monarch.
Stockholm has been the political and economic centre of Sweden since the 13th century. Today it is the largest municipality of Sweden, with a population of 786,509 (March 2007), while the populations of the Stockholm urban area and Metropolitan Stockholm are roughly 1.2 and 1.74 million, respectively, making Stockholm the most populous city within city limits in Scandinavia. Stockholm is also the largest city in Scandinavia in terms of number of foreign visitors, number of multinational corporations present, as well as the largest stock exchange. The city of Stockholm consequently brands itself as the “Capital of Scandinavia”, a brand which has caused some controversy in other Scandinavian capitals.
Minsk is the capital and largest city in Belarus, situated on the Svislach and Niamiha rivers. Minsk is also a headquarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). As the national capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is also the administrative centre of Minsk voblast (province) and Minsk raion.