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Bulgaria Tamrash, Bulgaria
Village population: abandoned
Coordinates: 41°56′N 24°33′E

I found this abandoned village in the middle of the mountainous forest between Bulgaria and Greece that for a brief moment was the capital of an independent Republic of Tamrash, the rebel state of Muslim Pomaks that didn't want to be either Ottomans, Greeks or Bulgarians. I'm working on an article that will be centered around this kind of microstates, and this one in modern-day Bulgaria is one of the most secluded.

Great Britain Loughborough, England, United Kingdom
City population: 64 884
Coordinates: 52°46′N 01°12′W

Smashed the brand new Map Men video about twin towns as soon as it showed up on my YouTube recommendations and got imidiately inspired to feature one of my hometown twin town: Loughborough in Leichestershire. The connnection is not apparent, but it's there: both have almost the same population number and the citizens of both cities can struggle to pronounce the names of their peers - Zamość have palatalized 's' and 'c' letters which English doesn't have and Loughborough have 'ugh' two times and both spelled differently.
Also in Zamość we have cycle paths along the river named after each twin city. I used to ride them a lot and Loughborough's section used to have cool bike park.

India Malarikkal, Kochi, India
Boats with tourists during the season: ~hundreds
Coordinates: 9°33′N 76°29′E

Malarikkal is a rice field that for a couple of weeks becomes a lake covered in beautiful blooming water lilies. That's another natural wonder that I didn't know exists just because the geopolitics draws more of my attention. I only got to know this place because of this news segment from France24. It actually summarised the current state of the world: riots of young people, beligerent politics of the orange mussolini and small spots of natural wonder flocked by tourists.

Australia Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
City population: 254 930
Coordinates: 42°52′S 147°19′E

I was casually researched the capital cities of each Australian state and I realized how little attention I paid to the smallest and least centralized state of Tasmania - the Australia of Australia, due to its remoteness from the rest of already remote country. Only recently for the first time I examined up close the map of the city of Hobart with surrounding areas and I absolutely love the abunance of long and deep harbours, tons of bays and the heavily forested mountains around it.

Ivory Coast Abidjan, Ivory Coast
City population: 6 321 017
Coordinates: 05°19′N 04°02′W

While I was looking at skycrapers under construction chart, among Chinese and Arabian crowd a 421m high Tour F in Abidjan stands out. My original plan was not to feature major cities, but I just want to gently remind us that African countries are the future. Not that skyscrapers are any indicator of increasing wealth of regular citizens, but the new metro system under construction actually is. The rapid economic growth of Ivory Coast is very apparent and I like it a lot, I wish to witness an African country that emerges as rich and globally influencial on its own terms, just like South Korea is now in Asia, and Ivory Coast is one of the most promising place!

Papua New Guinea Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea (yet?)
Estimated population: 300 000
Coordinates: 6°13′S 155°34′E

The history is not over and some places are emerging as a new states. Bougainville might soon (between 2026 and 2028) become the most recetnly independent country, seceding from Papua New Guinea. The island is rich in copper and gold so there is some large geopolitcal competition going on between major players like China that we have no idea about.
The main island is covered in rainforest with abandoned copper mine in the middle, the only two large towns are Arawa, the largest city and former capital of the region, and Buka, the current capital, located on Buka Island, separated from the main island by half kilometer wide Buka Strait. The whole area is rarely visited by tourists so maybe as soon as it appear on the political maps, a new wave of visitors might want to be first to check out. Or maybe better not, the future should depend of its citizens.

Equatorial Guinea Bata, Equatorial Guinea
Urban population: 512 750
Coordinates: 01°51′N 09°46′E

Once upon a time I was watching some random satellite channels on TV and landed on a broadcast of African football cup, was held in Equatorial Guinea. That's when I heard about any city in Equatorial Guinea other than Malabo and learnt a bit about how the economy is running there. The numbers show the decent level of Bulgaria, the quality of life not so much, maybe that's something to do with the leadership busy with prestige project such as the new capital in the middle of jungle instead of using the potential of already robust coastal city of Bata.

India Guwahati, Assam, India
Agglomeration population: 1 240 000
Coordinates: 26°10′N 91°44′E

Inspired by the Geography Now video about Seven Sisters region today I'm highlighting the largest city of of that peculiar region in northeastern India with culture and demographics vastly different from the rest of India. Located on a Brahmaputra river the city acts as an important bridge between north and south bank of that massive river (just check it out on the map, it's kilometers wide with thousands of islands) and the starting point to visit all the other 'Sisters'.

Paraguay Ciuded del Este, Paraguay
Urban population: 546 643
Coordinates: 25°31′S 54°37′W

The second largest city in Paraguay, "East City" is meant to be the gateway to Atlantic Ocean of Paraguay as it lies on the upper part of navigable Parana river and right next to a tripoint border between Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. Ciudad del Este is connected with Brazilian city on the other side of Parana river Foz do Iguaçu by the Friendship Bridge, but not directly connected to Argentinian city Puerto Iguazú. Up the river on the north of this peculiar trpoint urban area there is a third largest hydrolelectric power plant - Itaipu Dam There is also a new bridge coming out between Paraguay and Brazil - Integration Bridge.

Finland Tampere, Finland
Urban population: 334 112
Coordinates: 61°29′N 23°45′E

Tampere have a special place in the worldwide gaming culture as it's the city where the Cities Skylines was developed. Tampere is the second largest metro area in Finland and the largest city in Nordic countries without access to the sea. The city have a nickname "Sauna Capital of the World" as it's got the most public saunas in the world, and "Manchester of the North" as if OG Manchester isn't north enough. Also it used to be a huge industrial center so it's kinda like the Finnish Inland Empire.

Chile Biobío Region, Chile
Regional population: 1 557 414
Coordinates: 35°50′S 73°03′W

At first I was going to write the entry only about the city of Concepción, but as soon as I realized this city is the capital of region called Biobío, I knew that the whole area deserve recognition. Come on, it's got everything, the ocean, the cities, the wilderness, mountains, forests, glaciers, lakes, rivers, islands, volcanos, earthquakes (a lot of those) and even its own little Los Angeles!
For the first time I saw Concepción on the atlas as a small kid and since then it's one of the few Chilean that I remember, but now with unlimited internet and online maps I can see it up close, and its geography is even cooler!

Germany Haren, Lower Saxony, Germany
City population: 24 245
Coordinates: 52°46′N 07°13′E

Did you know that for a brief moment Poland had border with The Netherlands?
Right after the end of World War II Polish troops alongside British Army occupied an enclave in western Germany where many Polish refugees were living. Here's the map of that area made by University of Warsaw. A small town of Haren was renamed Maczków and between 1945-1948 became a place to stay for Polish forces and people liberated from labour and prisoners of war camps.

Brazil Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Metro population: 390 990
Coordinates: 26°59′S 48°38′W

The "Dubai of Brazil" that you may never heard about. I heard about it just this year and I still struggle to fully remember that name. It's a large city resort with hundreds of skyscrapers (mostly hotels), just like Benidorm in Spain which is also not that hyped. I really like the layout of Balneario Camboriu, it's got that cool peninsula created by Rio Camboriu. This entry is also kinda shoutout to a bunch of cool websites made by Brazilians, especially Kuroi OS and The Nitpicky Cat!

Poland Starachowice, Poland
City population: 43 883
Coordinates: 51°03′N 21°08′E

Did you know that back in the communism era in Poland there was a truck manufacturing company called Star and its name comes from a town in Świętorzyskie (Saint Cross) Voivodeship called Starachowice! Even though few trucks under this brand left on the roads as the company was eventually bought by Man, if you every visit the city, you may find tiny models of original trucks planted on popular spots of the city. Counting Stars in Starachowice means something else :D

United States Astoria, Oregon, United States
Municipal population: 10 181
Coordinates: 46°11′N 123°48′W

Thanks to Geography by Geoff video Astoria: The Major West Coast City That Never Was I found out that this small town, the oldest one in the state of Oregon, have the topography stunningly similar to San Francisco, yet didn't have a chance to become major metropolitan area on the coast of Cascadia.

Iceland Monemvasia, Greece
Municipal population: 21 816
Coordinates: 36°41′N 23°03′E

Noticed in JetPunk quiz 100 Biggest Cities in Europe before the Black Death. I've never heard of this town before, but it used to be one of the most important city on the eastern side of Mediterrean Sea! It's located on the coast of Laconia, the region where the ancient city of Sparta. Oh, and I got new fun word for my dictionary: tombolo.

Iceland Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland
Municipal population: 4 639
Coordinates: 63°25′N 20°17′W

Nordic towns on the map have very distinctive look, the road network is very organic, but organized and gently fits into whatever mountains, glaciers or volcanos are nearby. I am obsessed with small islands that hosts comparably large settlements and Vestmannaeyjar Municipality is the perfect example of a unique little town located on an separate islet, 12 km away from the "mainland" Iceland. The municipality also covers entire epic archipelago of small volcanic islands including Surtsey - the island that literally rised from the ocean in 1963!

Spain Tarifa, Andalusia, Spain
City population: 18 169
Coordinates: 36.014°N 5.350°W

Even though Gibraltar is order of magnitude more famous, it's actually this small Andalusian town is the southernmost tip of continental Spain. Located on Costa de la Luz (the coast of light) is one of the most popular destination for windsports and I guess it's thanks to its outstanding location on the narrow strait between two massive bodies of water. I'm also wondering where that name comes from, is it have something to do with the tariffs?

Uzbekistan Jizzax, Uzbekistan
City population: 202 200
Coordinates: 40°06′57″N 67°50′32″E

I just stumbled upon this peculiar name on the list of cities in Central Asia, apparently it's very old and used to be an important Silk Road city. Also I like the map in the article of the Jizzax Fortress from 1866. Oh and it's spelled "Gee-Zack" and is sometimes written 'Jizzakh'.

Sri Lanka Kandy, Sri Lanka
City population: 111 701
Coordinates: 7°17′35″N 80°38′6″E

I though that Jaffna is the second largest city in Sri Lanka until I learned that it Jaffna was damaged during Sri Lanka Civil War, it was quite long time ago (up to 2009) and I didn't figure out. Kandy is the largest inland city in Sri Lanka and the last capital of Sinhalese monarchy.