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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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
.


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. First conceived by the then Mayor of Coventry,
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 Ma ...
, culminating in his renowned telegram to the people of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) 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 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

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 in China and Jeju 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 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 ...
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. The phrase "city diplomacy" is formally used in the workings of the United Cities and Local Governments 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 ...
, 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 University ...
. 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 Westminst ...
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. 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 ''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 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 Gangwon Province is a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. It is bound on the east by the Sea of Japan, and borders Gyeonggi Province to its west, North Gyeongsang Province and North Chungcheong Province to its south, and the ...
(since 1974),
Hokkaido, Japan is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...
(since 1980),
Heilongjiang, China Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost provinc ...
(1981),
Jalisco, Mexico Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
(1999), Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine (2004), Lviv, Ukraine (2005), and
Guangdong, China Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
(2017), as well as policy-oriented (as opposed to economic and cultural) agreements with
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, 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. N ...
(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

The earliest known town twinning in Europe was between Paderborn, 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 o ...
in West Yorkshire, England, had a twinning arrangement with French communities Suresnes and Puteaux. The first recorded modern twinning agreement was between Keighley and
Poix-du-Nord Poix-du-Nord () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry Town twinning * Keighley, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord de ...
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 List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. 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 Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
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 status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
Corporation (later Bristol City Council) sent five "leading citizens" on a goodwill mission to Hanover. Reading 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: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...
, 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 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 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, Greater London. The five main paintings show a number of the main features of the London Borough of Sutton and its four twin towns, along with the heraldic shield of each above the other images. Each painting also features a plant as a visual representation of its town's environmental awareness. 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 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 ...
, 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,
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 w ...
, Grenoble 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 ...
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 '' ...
, and Bedford with Tulcea. Many former West German 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 grounds, or between Hamburg and Dresden. The first US-German town twinning was in 1947 between Worthington, Minnesota and Crailsheim. 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 and the US town of
Boring, Oregon Boring is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. It is located along Oregon Route 212 in the foothills of the Cascade mountain range, approximately southeast of downtown Portland, and northeast of Oregon City. ...
, 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, England is partnered with Ankh-Morpork from Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. Town twinning has increasingly been used to form strategic international business links. For example, in the 1990s, when the Nottingham City Council in the UK considered installing a tram network, it consulted experts from its twin city of Karlsruhe, 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 status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
and
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
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 ...
, 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 UN ...
, in 1931 and was the first city in North America to engage in town twinning. Vancouver, Canada, twinned with Odessa, Ukraine, 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 ...
was the second twinned city in the United States. Liberal, Kansas, 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, the capital city of Uzbekistan, was twinned with Seattle, Washington, in 1973. Rochester, Minnesota, and Knebworth, 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, i ...
, 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, is twinned with Dorval, Quebec, 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 Ney ...
, 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 largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
, and
Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= 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 150 different na ...
, 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 = List of sovereign states, Count ...
'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 officiall ...
, 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. A twin towns program was instituted in the United States in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a citizen diplomacy initiative.
Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establishment of " sister citie ...
(SCI) was originally a program of the National League of Cities, 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 in Washington, D.C., honoring Washington's twin relationship with Tokyo City. Many twinned towns developed business agreements with their partners. For example,
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, 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 (state), New York to the west, and the Provin ...
'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

China's sister city relationships are managed by the
Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC, or in short) is one of the major foreign affairs organizations of the People's Republic of China. The organization manages China's sister city relationships. Its ...
, a united front 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 citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establishment of " sister citie ...
, 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.


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), 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 form of words ...
. 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 was twinned with the Azerbaijani city of Shusha 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 legall ...
'' 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 ''O ...
and the unrecognised Artsakh. An attempt was made in 2003 by
Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...
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. As a result, when Bulgaria recognized the genocide in 2016, some twin agreements such as EdirneHaskovo were terminated by Turkey. In November 2020, U.S. senator Marsha Blackburn 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 suspended their sister city relationship with Nagoya 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 ...
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 ...
,
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
, and
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, 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 ...
, 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 largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
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, 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 17t ...
due to the erection of a memorial to comfort women in downtown San Francisco. Similarly, the cities of Glendale, California, and Higashiōsaka, 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 ...
, a Dutch city south of Utrecht, voted to end its friendship with Puławy 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 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's twin towns Kralupy nad Vltavou CZ twin towns 086.jpg, Insignia of twin towns on town hall in Kralupy nad Vltavou, 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, 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, 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 sit ...
, 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 norther ...
, Greece SporazumSuresnes.jpg, Kragujevac and Suresnes twinning agreement Zalaegerszeg testvérvárosait jelző tábla.jpg, Zalaegerszeg, 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 a ...
*
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 focuses ...
*
Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establishment of " sister citie ...
* Twin cities


References


External links


Town twinning in Europe's municipalities, towns and regions

Twinning in Europe

UK Town Twinning Portal
* {{Authority control Municipal international relations International relations Types of towns Cities by type Cultural exchange