Male: The Floating City

Male’ would certainly count as one of the smallest capitals in the world in terms of its physical size. A third of the country’s population, about 75,000 live in Male’. Different from any other island in the country, Male’ is a city of high-rise buildings and paved roads. While the government offices are located in one area, the main streets are lined with shops and offices. In the old bazaar area which still houses the country’s hub of wholesale and retail trade, the lanes are so narrow that a single vehicle would find it difficult to navigate through, especially with its throngs of busy people.There are no beaches on Male’; instead seawalls surround all its sides. However, a newly landscaped artificial beach area and adjoining breakwater stretching all the way round to the harbour in the southwest of the island provide a pleasant jogging route, especially popular in the evenings when it is cooler. Male’ is still relatively green and pleasant. 

The streets in the residential areas are shaded with trees, at places forming an arch overhead. A fair number of main streets are lined with big trees providing shade on both sides. Even a stroll around it would offer interesting sites and shots for the memories; the fish market and the local market at the northern waterfront, the new harbour in the south-west corner and the 400-year old Friday Mosque, to name a few. A stroll around the residential areas or shopping streets would provide an insight into the life and livelihood of the residents of the capital. Or simply sit down and relax at one of the small parks dotted around the capital and just observe the pace of life. You may be surprised at the large number of motorized vehicles in Male’. If you prefer, you could make a tour of the capital by taxi. Many taxi centers operate a number of comfortable, well-maintained taxis. 

References: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mal%C3%A9

http://www.visitmaldives.info/maldives-male-capital.html

Butuan: The Timber City of the South

The City of Butuan is the regional center of Caraga an administrative region of the Philippines. It is located at the northeastern part of Agusan Valley Mindanao, sprawling across the Agusan River. It is bounded to the north, west and south by Agusan del Norte, to the east by Agusan del Sur and to the northwest by Butuan Bay. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 298,378 people.

The name "Butuan" is believed to have originated from the sour fruit "Batuan"(Garcinia morella). Other etymology sources say that it comes from a certain "Datu Buntuan", a chieftain who once ruled over Butuan.

Butuan was the capital of Agusan del Norte until 2000 when Republic Act 8811 transferred the capital to Cabadbaran City. However many of the provincial government offices are still located there, including the provincial capitol, as are many the Caraga regional offices of the national government agencies. 

The name "Butuan" is believed to have originated from the sour fruit "Batuan". Other etymology sources say that it comes from a certain "Datu Buntuan", a chieftain who once ruled over Butuan. The City of Butuan is the regional center of the Caraga Region in the Philippines. It lies flat along the banks of Agusan River following along course within the province of Davao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte and drains into Butuan Bay. Butuan serves a strategic center of the Northern Mindanao region. The fishing ground of Butuan is the Butuan Bay of which two coastal barangays are located. It extends some two kilometers to the sea and joins the Bohol Sea. These are barangays Lumbocan and Masao. 

OFFICIAL DETAILS:

City Head:

City Population: 307,942 as of 2009

City Land Area: 817.28 km2

City Classification: Highly Urbanized City

Website: http://www.butuan.gov.ph/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butuan

AWARDS & CITATIONS:

MONIKER/NICKNAMES:

LINKS FOR MORE ABOUT THE CITY HERE:

@ http://butuantoday.tumblr.com/

@ http://butuantoday.tumblr.com/

@ http://www.butuancityguide.com/

MORE OF THE CITY’S PIC HERE:

Tabriz

Tabriz (Azerbaijani/Persian) is the fourth largest city and one of the historical capitals of Iran and the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 meters at the junction of the Quri River and Aji River, it was the second largest city in Iran until the late 1960s, one of its former capitals, and residence of the crown prince under the Qajar dynasty. The city has proven extremely influential in the country’s recent history. Tabriz is located in a valley to the north of the long ridge of the volcanic cone of Sahand, south of the Eynali mountain. The valley opens out into a plain that slopes gently down to the northern end of Lake Urmia, 60 km to the west. With cold winters and temperate summers the city is considered a summer resort.

The estimated population of the city is around 1,400,000 based on results of the Iranian census bureau. Tabriz is the fourth most populated city in Iran after Tehran, Mashhad, and Esfahan, while also being a major Iranian heavy industrial and manufacturing center. Some of these industries include automobile, machine tools, oil and petrochemical and cement production.

With a rich history, Tabriz contains many historical monuments, repeated devastating earthquakes and being several invasion during frequent wars have substantially damaged many of them. Many monuments in the city are date back to the Ilkhanid, Safavid, and Qajar periods, with the large Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex being named as a World Heritage Site in 2010.[6] Beside whole of this there is an excavation site and museum in city center with a history that date back to 2500 years.


http://www.viewiran.com/iran-tabriz.php

OFFICIAL DETAILS:
City Head: Alireza Novin
City Population: 1,398,060
City Land Area:    324 sq. km
Website: http://tabriz.ir/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabriz

LINKS FOR THE CITY HERE:

@ http://www.viewiran.com/iran-tabriz.php

MORE OF CITY IMAGES HERE:

Jaipur: The Pink City

This famous city is the capital of Rajasthan and has earned universal renown as the " Pink City ", and pink it is, with beautiful constructed palaces, havelis and forts. Tall, rugged men with handle-bar whiskers sport bright pink turbans. Jaipur which means the city of victory was built exactly 273 years back and is 262 km by road from Delhi ( Capital of India ). A strong wall encircles the old city and even today has a suggestion of formidable strength, its function of protecting all within is obvious. 

The plains of Rajasthan of which Jaipur is the capital once thundered and echoed with clash of swords and the drums of wars.Built in 1727 by Sawai Jai Singh-II, Jaipur was the first planned city of its time ( the earlier planned city in northern India having been built near Taxila sometime in the 2nd century BC ).     hawamahal1.jpg (492566 bytes)

Jaipur was planned by Vidhyadhar Bhattacharya, a Bengali architect, in a grid system with wide straight avenues, roads, streets and lanes and uniform rows of shops on either side of the main bazaars, all arranged in nine rectangular city sectors (chokris). The city itself is an attractive creation worthy of universal admiration.

There is a feast in store for tourists. Attractive monuments where one can breathe the fragrance of history. Comfortable and luxurious hotels, once the proud of kings, parks, gardens, and excursions of nearby places of interest, make Jaipur a tourist's paradise.

Modern infrastructural facilities are developing fast, and in many cases surpass those of larger cities like Delhi and Kolkata.[citation needed] The city is expanding very quickly and has become a hot spot for development in Rajasthan. Jaipur International Airport is located at a satellite location of Sanganer and offer's flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata and Guwahati along with sporadic services to International locations such as Dubai.

Jaipur has a well maintained road network with multi-story flyovers and traffic lights with closed circuit cameras. Police control room (PCR) vans are being equipped with GPS to monitor locations and help maintain law and order.

OFFICIAL DETAILS:

City Head:

City Population: 3,910,570 as of 2011

City Land Area:

City Classification:

Website: http://www.jaipur.nic.in

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaipur

MONIKER/NICKNAMES:

The Pink City

AWARDS & CITATIONS:

 1. In the 2008 Conde Nast Traveller Readers Choice Survey, Jaipur was ranked the 7th best place to visit in Asia. ^ http://www.bharatonline.com/news/details/jaipur-seventh-best-tourist-destination-41.php