![Twin town sign Oskarshamn (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Twin_town_sign_Oskarshamn_%28cropped%29.jpg)
A sister city or a twin town relationship is
a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of international links between municipalities akin to what are known as sister cities or twin towns today dating back to the 9th century,
the modern concept was first established and adopted worldwide during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
Origins of the modern concept
The modern concept of town twinning has its roots in the Second World War. More specifically, it was inspired by the bombing of
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
on 14 November 1940, known as the
Coventry Blitz
The Coventry Blitz ( blitz: from the German word ''Blitzkrieg'' meaning "lightning war" ) or Coventration of the city was a series of bombing raids that took place on the British city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Sec ...
.
First conceived by the then
Mayor of Coventry
The title Lord Mayor of Coventry was created on 3 June 1953 when the dignity was conferred on the city of Coventry, England by Letters Patent as part of the Coronation celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II.
Prior to that Coventry had had a Mayor sin ...
,
Alfred Robert Grindlay
Alfred Robert 'Bob' Grindlay CBE, JP (1 February 1876 – 14 April 1965) was an English inventor, industrialist and official during the 19th and 20th centuries. He co-founded Grindlay Peerless, the motorcycle engineering company and was M ...
,
culminating in his renowned telegram to the people of
Stalingrad (now
Volgograd
Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...
) in 1942, the idea emerged as a way of establishing solidarity links between cities in allied countries that went through similar devastating events. The comradeship between the two cities continued, when again in response to the
Battle of Stalingrad, 830 women in Coventry – led by the subsequent Mayor
Emily Smith – had their names embroidered on a tablecloth along with the words "Little help is better than big sympathy" and sent it, along with money (each donated six pence), to the people of Stalingrad.
The tablecloth can now be seen at the Panorama Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad. The twinning between Coventry and Stalingrad was formalised in 1944 and, after the end of the war, similar links were established to foster friendship and understanding among former foes as an act of peace and reconciliation,
with new twinnings between Coventry and German cities:
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
as early as in 1947 and
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
in 1956.
In 1957, Coventry was officially twinned with Belgrade, however, the link actually dates back to 1953 when the Yugoslav Ambassador visited Coventry and offered a gift of timber from his native country for use in the new Civic Theatre, which when finished was named The Belgrade Theatre.
The purpose of twinnings then got expanded to encourage trade and tourism
or to reflect other links, such as towns sharing the same name or migration links. By the 2000s, town twinning became increasingly used to form strategic international business links among member cities,
and may include localities of any scope such as villages, prefectures, or countries.
Terminology
![Gemellaggio Castellabate-Blieskastel (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Gemellaggio_Castellabate-Blieskastel_%28cropped%29.JPG)
In the United Kingdom, the term "twin towns" is most commonly used; the term "sister cities" is generally used for agreements with towns and cities in the Americas.
In mainland Europe, the most commonly used terms are "twin towns", "partnership towns", "partner towns", and "friendship towns". The
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
uses the term "twinned towns" and refers to the process as "town twinning".
Spain uses the term "ciudades hermanadas", which means "twinned cities". Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic use ''Partnerstadt'' (De) / ''miasto partnerskie'' (Pl) / ''partnerské město'' (Cz), which translate as "partner town" or "partner city". France uses ''ville jumelée'' (jumelage, twinned town or city), and Italy has ''gemellaggio'' (twinning) and ''comune gemellato'' (twinned municipality). In the Netherlands, the term is ''partnerstad'' or ''stedenband'' ("city bond" when providing mutual support). In Greece, the word αδελφοποίηση (''adelphopiisi''fraternisation) has been adopted. In Iceland, the terms ''vinabæir'' (friend towns) and ''vinaborgir'' (friend cities) are used. In the former
Soviet Bloc, "twin towns" and "twin cities" were used,
along with ''города-побратимы'' (Ru) (sworn brother cities).
The Americas, South Asia, and Australasia use the term "sister cities" or "twin cities". In China, the term is 友好城市 (yǒuhǎo chéngshìfriendly cities). Sometimes, other government bodies enter into a twinning relationship, such as the agreement between the provinces of
Hainan
Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...
in China and
Jeju
Jeju may refer to:
* Jeju Island (Jejudo), an island near South Korea
* Jeju Province (formerly transliterated Cheju), a province of South Korea comprising Jejudo
**Jeju City, the biggest city on Jejudo
**Jeju dog, a dog native to Jejudo
** Jeju l ...
in South Korea. The
Douzelage
The Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union.
The name is a portmanteau of the French words "douze" for twelve and "jumelage" for twinning and stands for the twelve founder member ...
is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union.
Though the term is often used interchangeably with the term "friendship city", this may mean a relationship with a more limited scope in comparison to a sister city relationship, and friendship city relationships are mayor-to-mayor agreements.
City diplomacy
City diplomacy is a form of
paradiplomacy Paradiplomacy is the involvement of non-central governments in international relations. The phenomenon includes a variety of pratices, from town twinning to transational networking, decentralized cooperation, and advocacy in international summits. ...
that involves discussions between officials and residents of different cities. Often these cities will be located in different countries. As such, city diplomacy involves a sort of
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...
that works in parallel to the conventional system involving embassies, ambassadors, and treaties negotiated at the level of
nation state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may i ...
s. According to
Rodrigo Tavares
Rodrigo Tavares (26 December 1978) is a Portuguese-born academic, finance professional, and public administrator. Previously, he was Head of Foreign Affairs of the São Paulo state government.
Biography
He received his Ph.D. in Peace and Develop ...
, the earliest formal attempts to establish city diplomacy across national boundaries took place in the 19th century. Only a handful of cities were involved in the 19th-century efforts; it wasn't until the turn of the millennium that it became much more common.
The first priority of those carrying out city diplomacy typically overlaps with the core aims of municipal government – improving the lives of local residents. Yet they will often collaborate with peers in other cities to work on issues of planet-wide concern, such as efforts to
address climate change
Climate change mitigation is action to limit climate change by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases or removing those gases from the atmosphere. The recent rise in global average temperature is mostly caused by emissions from fossil fuels b ...
.
The phrase "city diplomacy" is formally used in the workings of the
United Cities and Local Governments
United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) is an umbrella international organisation for cities, local and regional governments, and municipal associations throughout the world that is concerned with representing and defending the interests of ...
and the
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group –
The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a group of 97 cities around the world that represents one twelfth of the world's population and one quarter of the global economy. Created and led by cities, C40 is focused on fighting climate change a ...
, and is recognised by the
USC Center on Public Diplomacy
The USC Center on Public Diplomacy (CPD) was established in 2003 as a partnership between the USC Annenberg School for Communication and the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences' School of International Relations at the Universit ...
. A March 2014 debate in the British
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
acknowledged the evolution of town twinning into city diplomacy, particularly in matters of trade and tourism, but also in culture and post-conflict reconciliation. The importance of cities developing "their own foreign economic policies on trade, foreign investment, tourism and attracting foreign talent" has also been highlighted by the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
. In addition to C40, other organisations facilitating city diplomacy include the
World Cities Summit
The World Cities Summit is an international conference series on public governance and the sustainable development of cities.
2008
The first World Cities Summit, which took place in Singapore from 23 to 25 June 2008, focused on the theme of ...
,
City Mayors Foundation
The City Mayors Foundation, also known as City Mayors, is an international think tank dedicated to urban affairs. It has been active since 2003 and runs the biennial World Mayor award, as well as providing pro bono consultancy services. Unlike Eu ...
, the ''Smart City Expo World Congress'', the ''Strong City Network'' and ''100 Resilient Cities.''
As of 2016, there were over 125 such multilateral networks and forums to facilitate international collaboration between different municipal authorities.
Research showed that the mayors of the cities play an
active role in city diplomacy. A Bill introduced in the 2019 session of the
US Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...
would have legislated for a City and State Diplomacy Act to create a new Office of Subnational Diplomacy at the
Department of Statebr>
H.R.3571 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): City and State Diplomacy Act
Recently, the field of city diplomacy has taken a step beyond city-to-city exchanges to target the facilitation of dialogue between cities and multilateral organs, such as the United Nations.
Twinning beyond cities and towns
Not only cities and towns, but also provinces, states, territories, and regions enter into twinning agreements. For example, the
Canadian province of Alberta has "sister province" agreements with
Gangwon, South Korea (since 1974),
Hokkaido, Japan
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
The la ...
(since 1980),
Heilongjiang, China (1981),
Jalisco, Mexico (1999),
Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine (2004),
Lviv, Ukraine
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...
(2005), and
Guangdong, China (2017), as well as policy-oriented (as opposed to economic and cultural) agreements with
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
(since 2013),
Missouri
Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
(2015),
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
(2018).
Europe
![Castro Pretorio - Colonna di Parigi alle Terme di Diocleziano 1010023](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Castro_Pretorio_-_Colonna_di_Parigi_alle_Terme_di_Diocleziano_1010023.JPG)
The earliest known town twinning in Europe was between
Paderborn
Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...
, Germany, and
Le Mans, France, in 836.
Starting in 1905,
Keighley
Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish
in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of ...
in West Yorkshire, England, had a twinning arrangement with French communities
Suresnes
Suresnes () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,145 as of 2016. The nearest communes are Nanterre, Puteaux, Rueil-Malmaison, Saint-Cloud a ...
and
Puteaux.
The first recorded modern twinning agreement was between Keighley and
Poix-du-Nord in Nord, France, in 1920 following the end of the
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
This was initially referred to as an adoption of the French town; formal twinning charters were not exchanged until 1986.
The practice was continued after the Second World War as a way to promote mutual understanding and cross-border projects of mutual benefit.
For example,
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
twinned with
Stalingrad and later with
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
as an act of peace and reconciliation, all three cities having been heavily bombed during the war.
The city of
Bath formed an "
Alkmaar Adoption committee" in March 1945, when the Dutch city was still occupied by the German Army in the final months of the war, and children from each city took part in exchanges in 1945 and 1946. Similarly, in 1947,
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
Corporation (later Bristol City Council) sent five "leading citizens" on a goodwill mission to
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
.
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...
in 1947 was the first British town to form links with a former "enemy" city –
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
, a link that still exists. Since 9 April 1956 Rome and Paris have been exclusively and reciprocally twinned with each other, following the motto: "Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris."
Within Europe, town twinning is supported by the European Union.
The support scheme was established in 1989. In 2003 an annual budget of about was allocated to about 1,300 projects. The
Council of European Municipalities and Regions
The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is the largest organisation of local and regional governments in Europe. Its members are 60 national associations of towns, municipalities and regions from 41 countries that are part of th ...
also works closely with the commission (DG Education and Culture) to promote modern, high quality twinning initiatives and exchanges that involve all sections of the community. It has launched a website dedicated to town twinning. As of 1995, the European Union had more than 7,000 bilateral relationships involving almost 10,000 European municipalities, primarily French (2837 twinnings) and German (2485 twinnings).
Public art
Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acce ...
has been used to celebrate twin town links, for instance in the form of seven mural paintings in the centre of the town of
Sutton
Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
England
In alphabetical order by county:
* Sutton, Bedfordshire
* Sutton, Berkshire, a location
* Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire
* ...
, Greater London. The five main paintings show a number of the main features of the
London Borough of Sutton
The London Borough of Sutton () is a London borough in south-west London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croy ...
and its four twin towns, along with the
heraldic shield
In heraldry, an escutcheon () is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the s ...
of each above the other images. Each painting also features a plant as a visual representation of its town's
environmental awareness
Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...
. In the case of Sutton this is in a separate smaller painting (above its main one) showing a beech tree, intended as a symbol of prosperity and from which
Carshalton Beeches
Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton ...
in the borough derives its name.
Another example of the use of public art is the wall sculpture of the partner cities of
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
, Germany.
A recent study has concluded that geographical distance has very little, if any, influence upon communities' selections of a twin town.
Twinned towns are often chosen because of similarities between them; thus about 15 towns in Wales are twinned with towns in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
, and
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
is with
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
,
Leiden
Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...
,
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
and other university cities.
In Italy, two sets of twins are
Rovigo
Rovigo (, ; egl, Ruig) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of Northeast Italy, the capital of the eponymous province.
Geography
Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Venice and south-southwest of P ...
with
Viernheim
Viernheim is a midsize industrial town on Mannheim's outskirts and is found in the Rhine Neckar agglomeration and economic area. It is the second biggest town in Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. Since 1994 it has also borne the title '' Br ...
, and
Bedford
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
with
Tulcea
Tulcea (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 73,707 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city.
Names
The ...
. Many former
West German
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
cities are twinned with former East German cities; these twinning links were established before the fall of the
Iron Curtain. Famous examples are the partnerships of Hanover and
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
, both of which have important
trade fair ground
Mavuso Sports Centre is a multi-use stadium in Manzini, Eswatini. It is currently used mostly for football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word '' ...
s, or between
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
and Dresden. The first US-German town twinning was in 1947 between
Worthington, Minnesota
Worthington is a city in and the county seat of Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,947 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
The city's site was first settled in the 1870s as Okabena Station on ...
and
Crailsheim
Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Incorporated in 1338, it lies east of Schwäbisch Hall and southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district. The city's main attractions include two Evangelical churches, ...
.
St Petersburg in Russia holds the record for the largest number of partnership arrangements with other communities.
In June 2012, the Scottish village of
Dull
Dull may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places
* Dull, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, United Kingdom, a village
* Dull, Ohio, United States, an unincorporated community
* Dull, Texas, United States, a ghost town
People
* Jack Dull (1930–1995), American prof ...
and the US town of
Boring, Oregon, agreed to twin their municipalities to promote tourism in both places, playing on their names.
Recently some towns have made novelty twinning arrangements with fictional or virtual locations.
Wincanton
Wincanton ( or ) is a small town and electoral ward in South Somerset, southwest England. The town lies off the A303 road, a main route between London and South West England, and has some light industry. The town and electoral ward has a populati ...
, England is partnered with
Ankh-Morpork
Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which features prominently in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' fantasy novels.
Overview
Pratchett describes Ankh-Morpork as the biggest city in Discworld and its corrupt mercantile capital.
In ''The Art of ...
from
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his '' Discworld'' series of 41 novels.
Pratchett's first no ...
's
Discworld books
''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat pla ...
.
Town twinning has increasingly been used to form strategic international business links. For example, in the 1990s, when the
Nottingham City Council
Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It consists of 55 councillors, representing a total of 20 wards, elected every four years. The council is led by David Mellen, of ...
in the UK considered installing a tram network, it consulted experts from its twin city of
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
, which has one of the most extensive and efficient tram networks in Germany. With assistance from Karlsruhe's specialist engineers, Nottingham completed its second tram line in 2013.
In 2014,
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and
announced their intention to form a "tuning" partnership based on a shared musical heritage and culture offer, at the initiative of Bristol Mayor
George Ferguson.
Annecy, France and
Nerima
is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Nerima City.
, the ward has an estimated population of 721,858, with 323,296 households and a population density of 15,013 persons per km2, while 15,326 foreign residents are r ...
, Tokyo have for several years shared a partnership based on their "co-existent animation industry".
North America
Toledo, United States, twinned with
Toledo, Spain
Toledo ( , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. Toledo was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESC ...
, in 1931 and was the first city in North America to engage in town twinning.
Vancouver, Canada
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...
, twinned with
Odessa, Ukraine
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...
, in 1944 was the first in Canada and second in North America while
Denver, United States, twinned with
Brest, France
Brest (; ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French m ...
was the second twinned city in the United States.
Liberal, Kansas
Liberal is the county seat of Seward County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 19,825. Liberal is home of Seward County Community College.
History
Early settler S. S. Rogers built the first hous ...
, was twinned with
Olney, United Kingdom, in 1950, and the cities have run a joint Pancake Day race ever since.
Littleton, Colorado, twinned with Bega, Australia, in 1961.
Tashkent
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...
, the capital city of Uzbekistan, was twinned with
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington, in 1973.
Rochester, Minnesota, and
Knebworth
Knebworth is a village and civil parish in the north of Hertfordshire, England, immediately south of Stevenage. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Codicote, Kimpton, Whitwell, St Paul's Walden ...
, UK, are both centers for primary medical research, and they twinned in 1967.
Ontario, California
Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, ...
, has five sister cities around the world. They are Brockville, Ontario, Canada (since 1977), Guamúchil, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1982), Mocorito, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1982), Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1988), and Winterthur, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland.
Oakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton. At its 2021 census population of 213,759, it is Ontario's largest town. Oakville is part of the Greater Toronto Area, one of the ...
, is twinned with
Dorval, Quebec
Dorval () is an on-island suburban city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. In 2016, the Canadian Census indicated that the population increased by 4.2% to 18,980. Although the city has the largest surface area in Montré ...
,
Huai'an, China, and
Neyagawa, Osaka
270px, Neyagawa Green City
is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 228,802 in 111,545 households and a population density of 9,300 persons per km2. The total area of the city is .
Geography
Neyag ...
, Japan.
Town twinning begins for a variety of reasons. Generally, partner towns have similar demographics and size. They may arise from business connections, travel, similar industries, diaspora communities, or shared history. For example, the partnership between
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
, and
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
, Italy, arose from shared industries in
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...
and education, and a "similar attitude towards food", whereas
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
's link with
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
, Poland began with Chicago's historic
Polish community. The twinning of
Indianapolis with
Monza, Italy, is due to both cities' long association with
auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
.
A twin towns program was instituted in the United States in 1956 when President
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
proposed a citizen diplomacy initiative.
Sister Cities International
Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establish ...
(SCI) was originally a program of the
National League of Cities
The National League of Cities (NLC) is an advocacy organization in the United States that represents the country's 19,495 cities, towns, and villages along with 49 state municipal leagues. Created in 1924, it has evolved into a leading membership ...
, but it became a separate corporation in 1967 due to the growth and popularity of the program.
Twin town cultural events include the annual
National Cherry Blossom Festival
The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring celebration in Washington, D.C., commemorating the March 27, 1912, gift of Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo City to the city of Washington, D.C. Ozaki gave the trees to enhan ...
in Washington, D.C., honoring Washington's twin relationship with
Tokyo City
was a municipality in Japan and part of Tokyo-fu which existed from 1 May 1889 until its merger with its prefecture on 1 July 1943. The historical boundaries of Tokyo City are now occupied by the Special Wards of Tokyo. The new merged gove ...
. Many twinned towns developed business agreements with their partners. For example,
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
's
Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc., trading and commonly known as Ben & Jerry's, is an American company that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbet. Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, the company went from a single ice cream ...
Ice Cream company opened a factory in the
Republic of Karelia in Russia and offered the same profit-sharing plan to its Russian employees.
Asia
![Isfahankualalumpur](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Isfahankualalumpur.jpg)
China's sister city relationships are managed by the
, a
united front
A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...
organization. Town twinning is supported in Japan by the
Council of Local Authorities for International Relations
The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) is a Japanese government-affiliated general incorporated foundation established in 1988 to support the international activities of local governments to strengthen international co ...
, a joint agency of local governments established by the Japanese government in 1988 (similar to
Sister Cities International
Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establish ...
, its counterpart in the US). In Japan, the international city relations may be split into multiple terms, such as Sister Cities, Friendship Cooperation Cities, Business Partner Cities (BPC), Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Sister Ports / Friendship Ports, etc. Japan and China mostly use the term "friendship cooperation cities" rather than "sister cities," as the Japanese and Chinese words for sisters, "姉妹 / 姐妹" (reading: shimai / jiěmèi, literally elder sister and younger sister), could imply a hierarchical relationship. More recently, Tokyo has begun to actively promote 'city diplomacy' with other global cities at the initiative of its governor
Yoichi Masuzoe Yoichi may refer to:
*Yōichi, Japanese given name
*, district in Shiribeshi, Hokkaidō Prefecture, Japan
*, town in Yoichi District
*, a Japanese whisky distillery in the town
*, train station in Yoichi District
* also Yoichi is a masculine Japane ...
.
Africa
Linguistic reasons
Relationships between communities can also arise because of shared names; they may be named after one community (as in the case of
Córdoba), they may share names (as in the case of
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...
), or their names may have a common
etymology
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
. These similarities usually arise from sharing the same or related language or having been a colony or previously conquered.
Political significance
The twinning of towns and cities is sometimes done for political purposes. The Hungarian city
Gyöngyös
Gyöngyös (; german: Gengeß) is a town in Heves county in Hungary, east of Budapest. Situated at the foot of the Sár-hegy and Mátra mountains, it is the home of numerous food production plants, including milk production and sausage factori ...
was twinned with the Azerbaijani city of
Shusha
/ hy, Շուշի
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg
, image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govha ...
in 2013, signing the twinning agreement with representatives from the Azerbaijani government; Hungary recognised Shusha as ''
de jure
In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...
'' part of Azerbaijan, even though it was controlled at the time and
until 2020 by the military forces of
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
and the unrecognised
Artsakh. An attempt was made in 2003 by
Preston city councillors in England to twin with the Palestinian town of
Nablus in the name of solidarity.
Turkey bans partnerships with any city in a country that recognizes the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
. As a result, when Bulgaria recognized the genocide in 2016, some twin agreements such as
Edirne
Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...
–
Haskovo
Haskovo ( bg, Хасково ) is a city in the region of Northern Thrace in southern Bulgaria and the administrative centre of the Haskovo Province, not far from the borders with Greece and Turkey. According to Operative Program Regional Develo ...
were terminated by Turkey.
In November 2020, U.S. senator
Marsha Blackburn
Mary Marsha Blackburn (née Wedgeworth; born June 6, 1952) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the senior United States senator from Tennessee, a seat she has held since 2019. She is a member of the Republican Party. Blackbur ...
introduced legislation, the Sister City Transparency Act, to provide federal oversight to mitigate risks of sister city agreements being used for political influence campaigns.
Termination
* In 2012, the city of
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
suspended their sister city relationship with
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...
after
Nanjing Massacre denial
Nanjing Massacre denial is the denial of the fact that Imperial Japanese forces murdered hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians in the city of Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War, an extremely controversial episode in th ...
ist statements by Nagoya's mayor,
Takashi Kawamura.
* In 2013, the Italian cities of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
,
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
, and
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...
, formerly twinned with
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, suspended their links due to
Russia's passage of anti-gay legislation. Activists in
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
circulated petitions urging California cities and counties with relationships with Russian counterparts to take similar steps.
* In 2014,
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
terminated its partnership with
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and Moscow because of the
Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Moscow had been Prague's partner city since 1995.
* In 2017, the mayor of
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of ...
,
Hirofumi Yoshimura
is a Japanese politician currently serving as the Governor of Osaka Prefecture. He assumed office in April 2019. He has been described as a conservative.
Early life
Yoshimura was born in the Osaka suburb of Kawachinagano. He studied law at K ...
, ended the city's 60-year relationship with
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
due to the erection of a
memorial to
comfort women in
downtown San Francisco
The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States, that serves as its main central business district and had 372,829 jobs according to U.S. census tracts as of 2012-2016. It is home to the city's largest conce ...
. Similarly, the cities of
Glendale, California, and
Higashiōsaka
is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 489,077 in 233,124 households and a population density of 7900 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is known as one of the industrial ci ...
, Japan, came close to terminating their twinning in 2013 and 2014 because of an ongoing dispute over Glendale's support for the erection of a statue dedicated to Korean comfort women in a city park.
* In July 2020, the town council of
Nieuwegein
Nieuwegein () is a municipality and city in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is bordered on the north by the city of Utrecht, the provincial capital. It is separated from Vianen to the south by the river Lek and borders on IJsselstein in the so ...
, a Dutch city south of
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...
, voted to end its friendship with
Puławy
Puławy (, also written Pulawy) is a city in eastern Poland, in Lesser Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, at the confluence of the Vistula and Kurówka Rivers. Puławy is the capital of Puławy County. The city's 2019 population was estimated at 47,4 ...
in eastern Poland, citing "
gay free zones" as the reason.
* In March 2022, the
City of Melbourne council voted unanimously to suspend its relationship with
St Petersburg as a result of the on-going
Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
.
* On 22 March 2022, Coventry City Council unanimously voted to temporarily pause the City’s link with Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) and explore twinning with Mariupol, Ukraine, instead due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Gallery
Louisville sistercities.jpg, Louisville
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
's twin towns
Kralupy nad Vltavou CZ twin towns 086.jpg, Insignia of twin towns on town hall in Kralupy nad Vltavou
Kralupy nad Vltavou (; german: Kralup an der Moldau) is a town in Mělník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It is known as a traffic hub and industrial agglomeration. The town is a part ...
, Czech Republic
Direction signs - Plovdiv's sister cities, Bulgaria.JPG, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, twin towns directions
Twin town signs Kemi 20110627.JPG, Twin town signs of Kemi, Finland
Tawau Sabah Twin-Town-Memorial-01.jpg, Twin town monument in Tawau
Tawau (, Jawi: , ), formerly known as Tawao, is the capital of the Tawau District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the third-largest city in Sabah, after Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan. It is located on the Semporna Peninsula in the southeast coast of t ...
, Sabah, Malaysia
Concord-Kitakami sister city sign.jpg, Artwork produced by Japanese and American citizens to celebrate the sister city relationship between Concord
Concord may refer to:
Meaning "agreement"
* Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony)
* Harmony, in music
* Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
, and Kitakami
Holon Twin cities.JPG, Holon, Israel, a twin towns garden
Welcome to Glastonbury - geograph.org.uk - 1114993.jpg, Welcome to Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...
, UK – Twin towns Lalibela
Lalibela ( am, ላሊበላ) is a town in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Located in the Lasta district and North Wollo Zone, it is a tourist site for its famous rock-cut monolithic churches. The whole of Lalibela is a large and important si ...
, Ethiopia, and Patmos
Patmos ( el, Πάτμος, ) is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. It is famous as the location where John of Patmos received the visions found in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament, and where the book was written.
One of the northern ...
, Greece
SporazumSuresnes.jpg, Kragujevac and Suresnes
Suresnes () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. Located in Hauts-de-Seine, from the centre of Paris, it had a population of 49,145 as of 2016. The nearest communes are Nanterre, Puteaux, Rueil-Malmaison, Saint-Cloud a ...
twinning agreement
Zalaegerszeg testvérvárosait jelző tábla.jpg, Zalaegerszeg
Zalaegerszeg (; hr, Jegersek; sl, Jageršek; german: Egersee) is the administrative center of Zala county in western Hungary.
Location
Zalaegerszeg lies on the banks of the Zala River, close to the Slovenian and Austrian borders and west-south ...
, Hungary twinnings
See also
*
Council of Local Authorities for International Relations
The Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) is a Japanese government-affiliated general incorporated foundation established in 1988 to support the international activities of local governments to strengthen international co ...
*
Cross-border town naming
Cross-border town naming occurs where towns or villages with the same or equivalent names are divided between two different countries. This does not necessarily imply that those towns or villages are located in geographic proximity or that they are ...
*
Douzelage
The Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union.
The name is a portmanteau of the French words "douze" for twelve and "jumelage" for twinning and stands for the twelve founder member ...
*
Global city
*
Lists of twin towns and sister cities
This is a list of "twin towns" or "sister cities" — that is, pairs of towns or cities in different countries which have town twinning arrangements.
Note that the list is likely to always remain incomplete, since no canonical list of such arrang ...
*
List of twin towns and sister cities in Europe
This is a list of twin towns and sister cities in the continent of Europe – that is, pairs of local government entities in different countries which have twinning arrangements. Where known, the date of formation of the twinning agreement is i ...
*
Paradiplomacy Paradiplomacy is the involvement of non-central governments in international relations. The phenomenon includes a variety of pratices, from town twinning to transational networking, decentralized cooperation, and advocacy in international summits. ...
*
Partnership2Gether {{unreferenced, date=July 2011Partnership2Gether, or P2G, is a program connecting some 550 Jewish communities in the Diaspora with 45 Israel Partnership areas, primarily in Israel's peripheral Negev and Galilee districts. Partnership2Gether focuse ...
*
Sister Cities International
Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establish ...
*
Twin cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...
References
External links
Town twinning in Europe's municipalities, towns and regionsTwinning in EuropeUK Town Twinning Portal*
{{Authority control
Municipal international relations
International relations
Types of towns
Cities by type
Cultural exchange