Military commanders say Mosul is the last major urban stronghold of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

These cities were designated as urban strongholds for Volksdeutsche natives.

Over the last year, he has also looked for votes in urban Democratic strongholds.

The MQM contested last October's elections to the provincial legislature, taking 27 seats in its urban strongholds of Karachi and Hyderabad.

These urban strongholds, hit hardest by job losses, are the places where Democrats have long ruled the streets.

Their postings serve as the electronic age's equivalent of the outstretched thumb, and they hail largely from the nation's urban strongholds of left-wing politics.

As part of Operation Phantom Phoenix, security operations were conducted against Al-Qaeda's last major urban stronghold in the city of Mosul.

In testament to the grass-roots nature of the phenomenon, most of the festivals take place in smaller cities; none are scheduled for urban strongholds like New York, Chicago or Washington.

But these doubts did not seem to influence voters, and Mr. Romney carried even such urban Democratic strongholds as Brockton and Quincy.

Each district is represented by one senator and two Assembly members, and the most dramatic changes in district lines were made in Democratic urban strongholds in the north.