sister city

Throughout history, many cities have participated in various cultural exchanges and similar activities that might resemble a sister-city or twin-city relationship, but the first officially documented case of such a relationship was a signed agreement between the leaders of the cities of Toledo, Ohio and Toledo, Spain in 1931.{{Cite web |title=Oldest Sister City Relationship Established Between Toledo, Ohio and Toledo, Spain – Sister Cities International (SCI) |url=https://sistercities.org/timeline/oldest-sister-city-relationship-established-toledo-ohio-toledo-spain/ |access-date=2023-12-11 |language=en-US |archive-date=11 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211122945/https://sistercities.org/timeline/oldest-sister-city-relationship-established-toledo-ohio-toledo-spain/ |url-status=live }} However, the modern concept of town twinning appeared during the Second World War. More specifically, it was inspired by the bombing of Coventry on 14 November 1940, known as the Coventry Blitz.{{cite web|date=2016-03-04|title=A tale of twin cities: how Coventry and Stalingrad invented the concept|url=http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/04/twin-cities-coventry-stalingrad-war|access-date=2021-05-20|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=20 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520074618/https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/04/twin-cities-coventry-stalingrad-war|url-status=live}} First conceived by the then Mayor of Coventry, Alfred Robert Grindlay,{{Cite web |title=www.historiccoventry.co.uk |url=https://www.historiccoventry.co.uk/history/mayors.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408074728/http://www.historiccoventry.co.uk:80/history/mayors.php |archive-date=2011-04-08 |quote=Roll of the Mayors of Coventry - 1941 Alfred Robert Grindley (Grindlay)}} culminating in his renowned telegram to the people of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in 1942,{{Cite web |title=www.talkingbirds.co.uk |url=https://www.talkingbirds.co.uk/twin60/pages/02_text_english.html#story |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041226004056/http://www.talkingbirds.co.uk:80/twin60/pages/02_text_english.html |archive-date=2004-12-26 |quote=Message from Coventry to Stalingrad (1941)}}{{Cite web |date=1942 |title=Telegram from A.R. Grindlay, the mayor of Coventry, to the chairman of the Stalingrad city council of workers' deputies |url=https://stalingrad.world/en/gifts/telegramma-mera-koventri-a-r-grindleya/ |website=Federal State Budgetary Institution of Culture 'The Battle of Stalingrad' State Historical and Memorial Museum and Heritage Site |access-date=23 March 2022 |archive-date=4 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404100012/https://stalingrad.world/en/gifts/telegramma-mera-koventri-a-r-grindleya/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Kulishenko |first=Natalia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YZH9DwAAQBAJ&q=grindlay+stalingrad&pg=PT257 |title=An English Queen and Stalingrad: The Story Of Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon |publisher=Glagoslav Publications |year=2020 |isbn=9781912894628 |quote=Alfred Robert Grindlay's telegram to Stalingrad, 16 September 1942}} the idea emerged as a way of establishing solidarity links between cities in allied countries that went through similar devastating events.{{Cite web |date=2 August 2011 |title=Coventry Telegraph: What is the point of Coventry's twin towns? |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/volgograd-stalingrad-coventry-twin-3038605 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618230712/https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/volgograd-stalingrad-coventry-twin-3038605 |archive-date=2018-06-18 |website=www.coventrytelegraph.net |quote=Coventry was the first city in the world to twin with another. In 1944 Coventry started a trend that would spread across Europe and the rest of the world.}}

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 a lot of pity" and sent it, along with money (each donated six pence), to the people of Stalingrad.{{Cite web |title=Скатерть из Ковентри - Мей Адамс. Подробное описание экспоната, аудиогид, интересные факты. Официальный сайт Artefact |url=https://ar.culture.ru/ru/subject/skatert-iz-koventri |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=ar.culture.ru |language=ru}}{{cite web|last=Danks|first=Catherine|title=I love Volgograd: the enduring wartime relationship with one British city|url=http://theconversation.com/i-love-volgograd-the-enduring-wartime-relationship-with-one-british-city-98509|access-date=2021-05-20|website=The Conversation|date=18 June 2018 |language=en|archive-date=20 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520105044/https://theconversation.com/i-love-volgograd-the-enduring-wartime-relationship-with-one-british-city-98509|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=World War II commemorations: the story of the Coventry tablecloth and Stalingrad|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/world-war-ii-commemorations-the-story-of-the-coventry-tablecloth-and-stalingrad|access-date=2021-05-20|website=GOV.UK|language=en|archive-date=20 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520160539/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/world-war-ii-commemorations-the-story-of-the-coventry-tablecloth-and-stalingrad|url-status=live}} The tablecloth can now be seen at the Panorama Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad.

The twinning between Coventry and Stalingrad was formalized in 1944{{cite web|last=Hook|first=Alison|title=Volgograd, Russia|url=https://www.coventry.gov.uk/directory_record/6224/volgograd_russia|access-date=2021-05-20|website=www.coventry.gov.uk|language=en|archive-date=28 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211228133600/https://www.coventry.gov.uk/directory_record/6224/volgograd_russia|url-status=dead}} 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,{{cite web |url = http://www.jumelages-limousin.eu/en/all-about-town-twinning/what-is-town-twinning/ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130905222903/http://www.jumelages-limousin.eu/en/all-about-town-twinning/what-is-town-twinning/ |url-status = dead |archive-date = 5 September 2013 |title = What is town twinning? |access-date = 5 September 2013 |work = L'Association des Communes Jumelées du Limousin }} with new twinnings between Coventry and German cities: Kiel as early as in 1947 and Dresden in 1956. In 1957, Coventry was officially twinned with Belgrade, even though the link actually dates back to 1953 when then 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 Belgrade Theatre.{{cite web |url=https://www.coventry.gov.uk/directory-record/49228/belgrade-serbia |title=Belgrade, Serbia |website=Coventry City Council |date= |access-date=2022-02-14 |archive-date=7 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207161158/https://www.coventry.gov.uk/directory-record/49228/belgrade-serbia |url-status=live }}

The purpose of twinnings was then expanded to encourage trade and tourism or to reflect other links, such as towns sharing the same name or migration links.{{cite web|title=Who are we twinned with?|url=https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ces/research/current/twinning/whowith/|access-date=2021-05-20|website=warwick.ac.uk|archive-date=20 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210520160540/https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ces/research/current/twinning/whowith/|url-status=live}} By the 2000s, town twinning became increasingly used to form strategic international business links among member cities,{{cite news|first=Tom|last=Brown|title=Twin towns: Do we still need them?|date=31 July 2013|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23517210|work=BBC East Midlands Today|access-date=7 August 2013|archive-date=7 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807144832/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23517210|url-status=live}}{{cite book |last1=Handley |first1=Susan |title=Take your partners – The local authority handbook on international partnerships |edition=10 |editor-first=Judith |editor-last=Barton |date=2006 |publisher=Local Government International Bureau |url = http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/190428 |access-date=13 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110717021118/http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/190428 |archive-date=17 July 2011 }} and may include localities of any scope such as villages, prefectures, or countries.

File:Gemellaggio Castellabate-Blieskastel (cropped).JPG, Italy (left) and Blieskastel, Germany (right))]]

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 uses the term "twinned towns" and refers to the process as "town twinning".{{cite web |url = http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/citizenship/programme/action1_measure1_en.php |title = Action 1 – Measure 1: Town Twinning |access-date = 26 August 2013 |work = The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency |archive-date = 19 October 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131019232729/http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/citizenship/programme/action1_measure1_en.php |url-status = live }} Spain uses the term "ciudades hermanadas", which means "sister cities". Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic each use {{lang|de|Partnerstadt}} (German), {{lang|pl|miasto partnerskie}} (Polish) and {{lang|cs|partnerské město}} (Czech), which translate as "partner town" or "partner city". France uses {{lang|fr|ville jumelée}} (jumelage, twinned town or city), and Italy has {{lang|it|gemellaggio}} (twinning) and {{lang|it|comune gemellato}} (twinned municipality).{{cite web|url=https://thes.bncf.firenze.sbn.it/termine.php?id=34673|title=termine|website=thes.bncf.firenze.sbn.it|access-date=10 October 2019|archive-date=9 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109113801/http://thes.bncf.firenze.sbn.it/termine.php?id=34673|url-status=live}} In the Netherlands, the term is {{lang|nl|jumelage}}, {{lang|nl|partnerstad}} or {{lang|nl|stedenband}} ("city bond" when providing mutual support). In Greece, the word {{lang|el|αδελφοποίηση|italic=no}} ({{lang|el-latn|adelphopiisi}}{{snd}}fraternisation) has been adopted. In Iceland, the terms {{lang|is|vinabæir}} (friend towns) and {{lang|is|vinaborgir}} (friend cities) are used. In the former Soviet Bloc, "twin towns" and "twin cities" were used,{{cite web |url = http://city.mogilev.by/content/view/3133/10/lang,en/ |title = Mogilev: Twin Towns – Twin Cities |access-date = 19 October 2013 |work = Mogilev city executive committee |archive-date = 19 October 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131019162127/http://city.mogilev.by/content/view/3133/10/lang,en/ |url-status = dead }} and in Russian, they use {{lang|ru|города-побратимы|italic=no}} (sworn brother cities).{{cite news |url = http://en.trend.az/news/cis/georgia/1492690.html |title = Tbilisi, Vilnius become brother cities |publisher = Trend News Agency |access-date = 12 October 2009 |archive-date = 14 November 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091114113411/http://en.trend.az/news/cis/georgia/1492690.html |url-status = live }}{{cite web |url = https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/30/is-there-a-point-to-twin-towns |title = Is there a point to twin towns? |access-date = 14 July 2013 |last = Self-Pierson |first = Rob |date = 30 April 2012 |work = The Guardian }}

The Americas, South Asia, and Australasia use the term "sister cities" or "twin cities". In China, the term is 友好城市 (yǒuhǎo chéngshì{{snd}}friendly cities).{{cite web |url = http://www.clair.or.jp/e/exchange/docs/Sister%20City%20.pdf |access-date=15 May 2017 |title = Sister City |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170516205441/http://www.clair.or.jp/e/exchange/docs/Sister%20City%20.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2017 |url-status = live }} 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 is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union.{{cite web|title=Member towns|date=21 September 2016|url=https://douzelage.eu/member-towns/|publisher=Douzelage|access-date=2021-08-22|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922102849/https://douzelage.eu/member-towns/|url-status=live}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://austintexas.gov/faq/what-difference-between-sister-city-and-friendship-city|title=What is the difference between a Sister City and a Friendship City? {{!}} AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin|website=austintexas.gov|language=en|access-date=18 January 2018|archive-date=18 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118181324/https://austintexas.gov/faq/what-difference-between-sister-city-and-friendship-city|url-status=live}}

File:George M. Sullivan meets the mayor of Tromsø, 1969.jpg and George M. Sullivan of Anchorage, Alaska meet in September 1969 to kick off their sister city relationship.]]

City diplomacy is a form of paradiplomacy 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 states. According to Rodrigo Tavares, 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 was not until the turn of the millennium that it became much more common.{{cite book

| first = Rodrigo

| last = Tavares

| title = Paradiplomacy: Cities and States as Global Players

| year = 2016

| pages = 10–15, passim

| publisher = Oxford University Press

| author-link = Rodrigo Tavares

}} 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.{{cite news

|url= https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/16/cities-will-determine-the-future-of-diplomacy/

|title= Cities Will Determine the Future of Diplomacy

|work= Foreign Policy

|first= Nina

|last= Hachigian

|date= 16 April 2019

|access-date= 11 November 2019

|author-link= Nina Hachigian

|archive-date= 8 November 2019

|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191108210536/https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/16/cities-will-determine-the-future-of-diplomacy/

|url-status= live

}}

The phrase "city diplomacy" is formally used in the workings of the United Cities and Local Governments and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and is recognised by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. A March 2014 debate in the British House of Lords acknowledged the evolution of town twinning into city diplomacy, particularly in matters of trade and tourism, but also in culture and post-conflict reconciliation.{{cite web |url = https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/140326-gc0001.htm |title = Lords Hansard text for 26 Mar 2014 (pt 0001) |access-date = 26 April 2016 |archive-date = 9 June 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160609091130/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/140326-gc0001.htm |url-status = live }} 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.{{cite web |url = http://forumblog.org/2014/08/five-key-lessons-city-competitiveness/ |title = Five key lessons for city competitiveness |work = World Economic Forum |access-date = 26 April 2016 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141019203852/http://forumblog.org/2014/08/five-key-lessons-city-competitiveness/ |archive-date = 19 October 2014 |df = dmy-all}} In addition to C40, other organisations facilitating city diplomacy include the World Cities Summit, City Mayors Foundation, the Smart City Expo World Congress,{{cite web|url=http://www.smartcityexpo.com/|title=Smart City Expo World Congress|website=www.smartcityexpo.com|access-date=17 December 2019|archive-date=16 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216060544/http://www.smartcityexpo.com/|url-status=live}} the Strong City Network{{cite web|url=https://strongcitiesnetwork.org/en/|title=Home|website=Strong Cities Network|access-date=17 December 2019}} and 100 Resilient Cities.{{cite web|url=https://www.100resilientcities.org/|title=Home Page|website=100 Resilient Cities|access-date=17 December 2019|archive-date=14 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214140634/http://www.100resilientcities.org/|url-status=dead}} As of 2016, there were over 125 such multilateral networks and forums to facilitate international collaboration between different municipal authorities. 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 State.[https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/3571 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.{{Cite news |title=Genève ambitionne de devenir le hub des réseaux de villes |language=fr |work=Tribune de Genève |url=https://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-genevoise/geneve-ambitionne-devenir-hub-reseaux-villes/story/17600490 |access-date=2022-05-02 |issn=1010-2248 |archive-date=5 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305132916/https://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-genevoise/geneve-ambitionne-devenir-hub-reseaux-villes/story/17600490 |url-status=live }}

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 (since 1980), Heilongjiang, China (1981), Jalisco, Mexico (1999), Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine (2004), Lviv, Ukraine (2005), Guangdong, China (2017), and California, United States (2018), as well as policy-oriented (as opposed to economic and cultural) agreements with Nevada, United States (since 2013), Missouri, United States (2015), and Texas, United States (2018).{{Cite web|url=https://www.alberta.ca/international-partnerships.aspx|title=International partnerships|website=www.alberta.ca|access-date=7 April 2022|archive-date=6 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220406153932/https://www.alberta.ca/international-partnerships.aspx|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |title=California-Alberta Relations |url=http://economic.alberta.ca/documents/California-AB.pdf?0.8097911507356912 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929233318/http://economic.alberta.ca/documents/California-AB.pdf?0.8097911507356912 |archive-date=September 29, 2018 |access-date=September 29, 2018}}

File:Castro Pretorio - Colonna di Parigi alle Terme di Diocleziano 1010023.JPG

{{multiple image

| width = 170

|direction=vertical

|image1 = Sutton twin towns mural painting, SUTTON, Surrey, Greater London (2).jpg

|caption1 = The painting of Gagny

| image2 = Sutton twin towns mural sunlit in June, SUTTON, Surrey, Greater London (2).jpg

| caption2 = Sutton twin towns mural

| image3 = Sutton twin towns mural sunlit in June, SUTTON, Surrey, Greater London (3).jpg

| caption3 = The painting of Minden

}}

{{Main list|List of twin towns and sister cities in Europe}}

The earliest known town twinning in Europe was between Paderborn, Germany, and Le Mans, France, in 836.{{cite web |url = http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1C07A195-EF04-454D-81B8-ADAEE15058FC/0/ICC9908.pdf |title = The Origins of Town Twinning |date=8 December 2008 |publisher=The City of Inverness Town Twinning Committee |access-date=30 October 2009 |location=Inverness |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101231083242/http://www.highland.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1C07A195-EF04-454D-81B8-ADAEE15058FC/0/ICC9908.pdf |archive-date=31 December 2010 }}{{cite book |last1=Lelièvre|first1=Jean|last2=Balavoine|first2=Maurice|title=Le Mans-Paderborn, 836–1994: dans l'Europe, une amitié séculaire, un sillage de lumière |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qo7rSAAACAAJ |access-date=9 August 2013 |year=1994 |publisher=M. Balavoine |location=Le Mans |pages=1–42 |language=fr }} Starting in 1905, Keighley in West Yorkshire, England, had a twinning arrangement with French communities Suresnes and Puteaux.{{cite book |first=Frank |last=Crane |title=War and World Government |page=200 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=NvKQhry_9Q0C&q=sister%20cities&pg=PA200 |access-date=20 September 2009 |isbn = 978-0-559-44381-7 |year=2008 |publisher=BiblioBazaar, LLC }}{{cite web |url=http://www.francemag.com/france-travel-travel-guide-and-information-twin-towns--211 |title=France Magazine – Twin Towns |publisher=www.francemag.com |access-date=6 November 2009 |archive-date=25 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725061530/https://www.completefrance.com/language-culture/twin-towns |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite book |title=Take your partners: The local authority handbook on international partnerships |url=http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/190428 |last=Handley |first=Susan |year=2006 |page=4 |publisher=Local Government International Bureau |location=London |access-date=20 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717021118/http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/aio/190428 |archive-date=17 July 2011 }}{{cite web |url = http://wygoveryonder.wordpress.com/about-town-twinning-in-the-uk-and-germany/ |title = Town twinning in the UK and Germany |access-date = 29 July 2013 |work = East Street Arts |date = 6 October 2010 |archive-date = 31 October 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101031192951/http://wygoveryonder.wordpress.com/about-town-twinning-in-the-uk-and-germany/ |url-status = live }} This was initially referred to as an adoption of the French town; formal twinning charters were not exchanged until 1986.{{cite web |url=http://archive.thisisbradford.co.uk/2002/3/28/128275.html |title=Keighley celebrates twin town jubilee |access-date=5 January 2009 |publisher=Newsquest Media Group |year=2002 |work=Telegraph & Argus |archive-date=11 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711174820/http://archive.thisisbradford.co.uk/2002/3/28/128275.html |url-status=dead }}

The practice was continued after the Second World War as a way to promote mutual understanding and cross-border projects of mutual benefit.{{cite web |url = http://www.ghajnsielem.com/twinning/index.html |archive-url = https://archive.today/20130124062823/http://www.ghajnsielem.com/twinning/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 January 2013 |title=Ghajnsielem.com – Twinning |publisher=www.ghajnsielem.com |access-date=10 October 2009 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.amazingdusseldorf.com/community-local/people/twin-towns.html |title=Twin Towns |publisher=www.amazingdusseldorf.com |access-date=29 October 2009 |archive-date=17 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017104519/http://www.amazingdusseldorf.com/community-local/people/twin-towns.html |url-status=live }} For example, Coventry twinned with Stalingrad and later with Dresden as an act of peace and reconciliation, all three cities having been heavily bombed during the war.{{cite web |url = http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/local-news/what-point-coventrys-twin-towns-3038605 |title=Coventry's twin towns |access-date=6 August 2013 |last=Griffin |first=Mary |date=2 August 2011 |work=Coventry Telegraph |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130806032050/http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/local-news/what-point-coventrys-twin-towns-3038605 |archive-date=6 August 2013 }}{{cite web |url = http://www.coventry.gov.uk/directory/25/twin_towns_and_cities |title=Coventry{{mdash}}Twin towns and cities |access-date=6 August 2013 |work=Coventry City Council. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130412062545/http://www.coventry.gov.uk/directory/25/twin_towns_and_cities |archive-date=12 April 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{cite press release |url = http://www.ukprwire.com/Detailed/Travel_Tourism/Disney_seeks_UK_twin_55125.shtml |title=Disney seeks UK twin |publisher=www.ukprwire.com |access-date=30 October 2009|url-status = usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703150003/https://www.ukprwire.com/Detailed/Travel_Tourism/Disney_seeks_UK_twin_55125.shtml|archive-date=July 3, 2011 }} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.bath-alkmaar.eu/origins.asp |title=Bath Alkmaar Twinning Association {{!}} ORIGINS |website=www.bath-alkmaar.eu |language=en |access-date=23 June 2017 |archive-date=26 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026083955/http://www.bath-alkmaar.eu/origins.asp |url-status=dead }} Similarly, in 1947, Bristol 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, a link that still exists.{{cite web|url=http://reading-dusseldorf.org.uk/|title=Reading-Düsseldorf Association – Devoted to promoting & developing friendship between Reading and Düsseldorf|access-date=10 October 2019|archive-date=10 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010133625/http://reading-dusseldorf.org.uk/|url-status=live}} 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."{{cite web

|url = http://www.paris.fr/portail/english/Portal.lut?page_id=8139&document_type_id=5&document_id=29903&portlet_id=18784

|archive-url = https://archive.today/20120905235843/http://www.paris.fr/portail/english/Portal.lut?page_id=8139&document_type_id=5&document_id=29903&portlet_id=18784

|url-status=dead

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|title=Twinning with Rome

|access-date=27 May 2010 }}{{cite web |url = http://www.paris.fr/portail/accueil/Portal.lut?page_id=6587&document_type_id=5&document_id=16468&portlet_id=14974 |work=Mairie de Paris |title = Les pactes d'amitié et de coopération |access-date=14 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071011162140/http://paris.fr/portail/accueil/Portal.lut?page_id=6587&document_type_id=5&document_id=16468&portlet_id=14974 |archive-date = 11 October 2007 }}

Within Europe, town twinning is supported by the European Union. The support scheme was established in 1989. In 2003 an annual budget of about {{€|12 million|link=yes}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.twinning.org/ |title=Twinnings |publisher=Twinning.org |access-date=16 June 2009 |archive-date=17 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517052627/http://www.towntwinning.org.uk/ |url-status=live }} 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).{{cite web |url = http://www.org.up.wroc.pl/kgp/mf/Furmankiewicz-Town-twinning%20Pl-Belgeo1-2_2005.pdf |title=Town-twinning as a factor generating international flows of goods and people. |access-date=29 July 2013 |last=Furmankiewicz |first=Marek |date=21 March 2004 |publisher=Institute of Geography and Regional Development, University of Wrocław, Poland |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130729051753/http://www.org.up.wroc.pl/kgp/mf/Furmankiewicz-Town-twinning%20Pl-Belgeo1-2_2005.pdf |archive-date=29 July 2013 |url-status=dead}}

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.{{cite news |url=http://www.suttonguardian.co.uk/news/9075012.Murals_for_twin_towns_to_get_new_lease_of_life/ |newspaper=Sutton Guardian |date=12 June 2011 |title=Murals for Sutton twin towns to get new lease of life |access-date=10 September 2014 |archive-date=26 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826161036/http://www.suttonguardian.co.uk/news/9075012.Murals_for_twin_towns_to_get_new_lease_of_life/ |url-status=live }} {{cite news |url=http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/londonnews/9075012.Murals_for_twin_towns_to_get_new_lease_of_life/ |date=12 June 2011 |title=Murals for Sutton twin towns to get new lease of life |newspaper=London News |access-date=10 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911001637/http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/news/londonnews/9075012.Murals_for_twin_towns_to_get_new_lease_of_life/ |archive-date=11 September 2014 }} 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.{{cite press release |url = http://www.sutton.gov.uk/suttonpress/index.aspx?articleid=13521 |archive-url = https://archive.today/20140825233230/http://www.sutton.gov.uk/suttonpress/index.aspx?articleid=13521 |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 August 2014 |title = Revealing Sutton's twinning heritage 06.06.11: A set of murals celebrating Sutton's links with its continental twin towns is to be given a new lease of life. |publisher=London Borough of Sutton press office |date=6 June 2011 |access-date=10 September 2014 }}

Another example of the use of public art is the wall sculpture of the partner cities of Munich, Germany.

A recent study has concluded that geographical distance has very little, if any, influence upon communities' selections of a twin town.{{cite arXiv |eprint=1301.6900 |title=Not all paths lead to Rome: Analysing the network of sister cities |last1=Kaltenbrunner |first1=Andreas |last2=Aragon |first2=Pablo |last3=Laniado |first3=David |last4=Volkovich |first4=Yana |date=16 February 2013 |class=cs.SI }} Twinned towns are often chosen because of similarities between them; thus about 15 towns in Wales are twinned with towns in Brittany, and Oxford is with Bonn, Leiden, Grenoble and other university cities. In Italy, two sets of twins are Rovigo with Viernheim, 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, 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, agreed to twin their municipalities to promote tourism in both places, playing on their names.{{cite web |url = http://www.theworld.org/2012/04/a-tale-of-dull-and-boring-sister-cities/ |title = A Tale of Dull and Boring Sister Cities |access-date = 15 July 2013 |last = LeVeille |first = David |publisher = The World.org |archive-date = 30 June 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130630235810/http://www.theworld.org/2012/04/a-tale-of-dull-and-boring-sister-cities/ |url-status = dead }}{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-18336146 |title=Boring in Oregon votes to pair with Dull in Perthshire |newspaper=BBC News |access-date=26 April 2016 |date=6 June 2012 |archive-date=4 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604033858/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-18336146 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Gambino |first=Lauren |url = http://www.kval.com/politics/Dull-and-Boring-Sounds-exciting-no-192372601.html |publisher=KVAL |title=Dull and Boring? Sounds exciting |url-status=dead |access-date=22 February 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131022213916/http://www.kval.com/politics/Dull-and-Boring-Sounds-exciting-no-192372601.html |archive-date=22 October 2013}}

Recently some towns have made novelty twinning arrangements with fictional or virtual locations. For example, Wincanton, England is partnered with Ankh-Morpork from Terry Pratchett's Discworld books{{cite news |author= |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2549557.stm |title=Pratchett city twins with real town |date=6 December 2002 |access-date=5 September 2013 |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |archive-date=17 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217223505/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2549557.stm |url-status=live }} and the Isle of Skye, Scotland is twinned with the virtual Skylands.{{Cite web |last=Service |first=Chief Executive's |title=Isle of Skye meets its virtual twin |url=https://www.highland.gov.uk/news/article/7259/isle_of_skye_meets_its_virtual_twin |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=www.highland.gov.uk |language=en}}

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 and 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.{{cite news |author= |url=http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Mayor-s-mission-Bristol-New-Orleans-UK/story-20713414-detail/story.html |title=How Bristol could become the New Orleans of the UK |date=27 February 2014 |access-date=17 August 2014 |newspaper=Bristol Post |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819131717/http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Mayor-s-mission-Bristol-New-Orleans-UK/story-20713414-detail/story.html |archive-date=19 August 2014 }} Annecy, France and Nerima, Tokyo have for several years shared a partnership based on their "co-existent animation industry".{{cite web|url=http://www.city.nerima.tokyo.jp/kusei/keikaku/shisaku/kumin/shogyo/anime.files/text_english.pdf|title='Stimulation Project for the Coexistent Animation Industry Cluster in Nerima', Nerima City, January 2009|access-date=10 October 2019|archive-date=1 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301011117/https://www.city.nerima.tokyo.jp/kusei/keikaku/shisaku/kumin/shogyo/anime.files/text_english.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.jlgc.org.uk/en/pdfs/casestudies/march2011-popcultureplacebranding.pdf|title='Using pop culture to assert distinctiveness of place', Japan Local Government Centre, London, March 2011|access-date=10 October 2019|archive-date=5 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305145614/https://www.jlgc.org.uk/en/pdfs/casestudies/march2011-popcultureplacebranding.pdf|url-status=live}}

{{Main list|List of twin towns and sister cities in North America}}

File:Dull and Boring.JPG is twinned with Boring, Oregon.]]

File:Los Angeles City Hall with sister cities 2006.jpg with twin towns fingerpost]]

File:Thessaloniki stele, Melbourne.jpg stele, in sister city Melbourne{{cite web |url = http://www.kedke.gr/uploads/twinnedcities.pdf |title = Greek twinnings |access-date = 25 August 2013 |work = Central Union of Municipalities & Communities of Greece |archive-date = 30 June 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170630221808/http://www.kedke.gr/uploads/twinnedcities.pdf |url-status = dead }}]]

Toledo, United States twinned with Toledo, Spain in 1931, and was the first city in North America to engage in town twinning. Vancouver, Canada twinned{{cite web|title=1944|url=https://www.vancouverhistory.ca/archives_1944.htm|website=www.vancouverhistory.ca|access-date=21 May 2020|archive-date=27 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127155150/http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/archives_1944.htm|url-status=live}} with Odesa, Ukraine in 1944, was the first twinned city in Canada and the second in North America, while Denver, United States, twinned with Brest, France, 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.{{cite web |title=Liberal wins 60th Int'l Pancake race |work=United Press International (UPI) |url=http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/02/24/Liberal-wins-60th-Intl-Pancake-race/UPI-47121235507048/ |access-date=30 April 2011 |archive-date=22 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022142358/http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/02/24/Liberal-wins-60th-Intl-Pancake-race/UPI-47121235507048/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url = http://olney100.ning.com/video/pancake-race-2007-1 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100206193125/http://olney100.ning.com/video/pancake-race-2007-1 |url-status=dead |archive-date = 6 February 2010 |title=Pancake Race 2007 |access-date=26 April 2016 }} 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, both centers for primary medical research, twinned in 1967. Ontario, California, 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, Japan.{{cite web |title=Sister City |url=https://www.oakville.ca/culturerec/sister-city.html |website=Town of Oakville Website |access-date=14 April 2020 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807043628/https://www.oakville.ca/culturerec/sister-city.html |url-status=dead }}

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 and Bologna, Italy arose from shared industries in biotechnology and education, and a "similar attitude towards food,"{{cite web |title=Mission |url=http://www.portland-bologna.org/?page_id=2 |publisher=Portland Bologna Sister City Association |access-date=16 July 2012 |archive-date=20 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220070649/http://www.portland-bologna.org/?page_id=2 |url-status=live }} whereas Chicago's link with Warsaw, Poland began with Chicago's historic Polish community.{{cite news |last=Leroux |first=Charles |title=Chicago has assembled a sorority of sister cities |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2001/07/31/chicago-has-assembled-a-sorority-of-sister-cities/ |access-date=16 July 2012 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=31 July 2001 |archive-date=7 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007024048/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-07-31/features/0107310017_1_sister-cities-mayor-richard-j-daley-multinational-city |url-status=live }} 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 (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.{{cite web|url=http://www.sister-cities.org/about/press/FactSheet-FINAL-pdf.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324095638/http://www.sister-cities.org/about/press/FactSheet-FINAL-pdf.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Sister Cities International Fact Sheet|archive-date=24 March 2012|access-date=10 October 2019}}

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's Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream company opened a factory in the Republic of Karelia in Russia and offered the same profit-sharing plan to its Russian employees.

{{Main list|List of twin towns and sister cities in South America}}

{{Main list|List of twin towns and sister cities in Asia}}

File:Isfahankualalumpur.jpg (top) and Kuala Lumpur Avenue in Isfahan (bottom)]]

China's sister city relationships are managed by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, a united front organization.{{cite web|url=https://sinopsis.cz/en/friendship-and-social-credit/|title=Bilateral dialogue with the PRC at both ends: Czech-Chinese "friendship" extends to social credit|last1=Lomová|first1=Olga|last2=Lulu|first2=Jichang|date=28 July 2019|website=Sinopsis|access-date=22 April 2020|last3=Hála|first3=Martin|archive-date=4 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504022738/https://sinopsis.cz/en/friendship-and-social-credit/|url-status=live}} Sister city initiatives are an increasingly widespread mechanism for Chinese public diplomacy.{{Cite book |last1=Curtis |first1=Simon |title=The Belt and Road City: Geopolitics, Urbanization, and China's Search for a New International Order |last2=Klaus |first2=Ian |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300266900 |location=New Haven and London |publication-date=2024 |pages=171 |doi=10.2307/jj.11589102 |jstor=jj.11589102}} From the early 2000s until 2024, the number of China's sister city relationships doubled. More than one-third of Chinese sister city relationships are with sister cities in the east Asia Pacific region.

Town twinning is supported in Japan by the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, a joint agency of local governments established by the Japanese government in 1988 (similar to Sister Cities International, 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.{{cite web|title=Osaka City Government Economic Strategy Bureau|url=https://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/contents/wdu020/keizaisenryaku/english/international_network.html|access-date=27 February 2021|website=city.osaka.lg.jp|archive-date=15 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415203553/https://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/contents/wdu020/keizaisenryaku/english/international_network.html|url-status=dead}} China mostly uses the term "friendship cooperation cities" rather than "sister cities", as the Chinese words for sisters, "姐妹" (reading: jiěmèi, literally elder sister and younger sister), could imply a hierarchical relationship. In the 2010s, Tokyo began to actively promote 'city diplomacy' with other global cities at the initiative of governor Yoichi Masuzoe.{{cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/07/23/tokyo-governor-seeks-better-ties-with-seoul/|title=Tokyo Governor Seeks Better Ties With Seoul|first=Alexander|last=Martin|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=26 April 2016|date=23 July 2014|archive-date=13 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313141847/http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/07/23/tokyo-governor-seeks-better-ties-with-seoul/|url-status=live}}

{{Main list|List of twin towns and sister cities in Africa}}

{{Main list|List of twin towns and sister cities in Oceania}}

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. These similarities usually arise from sharing the same or related language or having been a colony or previously conquered.

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 part of Azerbaijan, even though it was controlled at the time and until 2020 by the military forces of Armenia and the unrecognised Republic of Artsakh.{{cite web|url=http://en.apa.az/news/192611|title=APA – Gyöngyös city of Hungary fraternize with Azerbaijan's occupied town of Shusha – PHOTOSESSION|access-date=26 April 2016|archive-date=5 August 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130805044408/http://en.apa.az/news/192611|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/3225741.stm|title=Nablus twinning bid rejected|work=BBC News|access-date=26 April 2016|date=30 October 2003}}

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 Edirne–Haskovo were terminated by Turkey.{{cite news |last1=Gotev |first1=Georgi |title=Turkey blackmails Bulgarian municipalities over the Armenian genocide |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/regional-policy/news/turkey-blackmails-bulgarian-municipalities-over-the-armenian-genocide/ |access-date=10 January 2021 |work=www.euractiv.com |date=15 March 2016 |archive-date=12 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112123524/https://www.euractiv.com/section/regional-policy/news/turkey-blackmails-bulgarian-municipalities-over-the-armenian-genocide/ |url-status=live }}

China manages sister city relationships through the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC). In April 2019, CPAFFC president Li Xiaolin said, “Friendship city relations have become one of the important channels to implement the Belt and Road Initiative.”{{cite book|last=Allen|first=Bethany|title=Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World|date=1 August 2023|page=59|publisher=Harper}} In January 2020, Shanghai canceled its sister city relationship with Prague after Prague's mayor signed a sister city relationship with Taipei.

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.{{cite web|date=18 November 2020|title=Tennessee Senator Blackburn urges federal oversight over China's 'Sister City' program|url=https://newschannel9.com/news/local/tennessee-senator-blackburn-urges-federal-oversight-over-chinas-sister-city-program|access-date=19 November 2020|website=WTVC|archive-date=18 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118193629/https://newschannel9.com/news/local/tennessee-senator-blackburn-urges-federal-oversight-over-chinas-sister-city-program|url-status=live}} In 2024, Indiana banned localities from entering into sister city agreements with six "foreign adversary" countries.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-03-18 |title=Indiana bans sister-city agreements with 'foreign adversaries' |url=https://dailyjournal.net/2024/03/18/indiana-bans-sister-city-agreements-with-foreign-adversaries/ |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=Daily Journal |language=en-US |archive-date=20 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320165016/https://dailyjournal.net/2024/03/18/indiana-bans-sister-city-agreements-with-foreign-adversaries/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=Magnier |first=Mark |date=August 9, 2024 |title=US-China sister-city project, meant to build bridges, targeted as the two countries spar |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3273969/us-china-sister-city-project-meant-build-bridges-targeted-two-countries-spar |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240809161415/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3273969/us-china-sister-city-project-meant-build-bridges-targeted-two-countries-spar |archive-date=August 9, 2024 |access-date=August 9, 2024 |work=South China Morning Post}}

• In 2011, several British towns ended their twinning arrangements.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16408111 | title=Why are towns un-twinning? | work=BBC News | date=5 January 2012 }}
• In 2012, the city of Nanjing suspended their sister city relationship with Nagoya after Nanjing Massacre denialist statements by Nagoya's mayor, Takashi Kawamura.{{cite web | last=Wang | first=Chuhan | title=Nanjing suspends official contact with Nagoya | url=http://english.cntv.cn/20120222/107289.shtml | publisher=CNTV | date=22 February 2012 | access-date=9 May 2018 | archive-date=5 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305022220/http://english.cntv.cn/20120222/107289.shtml | url-status=dead }}
• In 2013, the Italian cities of Milan, Venice, and Turin, formerly twinned with Saint Petersburg, suspended their links due to Russia's passage of anti-gay legislation.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/9712066/Milan-severs-twin-city-ties-with-St-Petersburg-over-homosexual-propaganda-ban.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/9712066/Milan-severs-twin-city-ties-with-St-Petersburg-over-homosexual-propaganda-ban.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Milan severs twin city ties with St Petersburg over 'homosexual propaganda' ban |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=29 November 2012 |access-date=30 November 2012}}{{cbignore}}Claire Bigg, [https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-sister-cities-gay-law/25051513.html Sister Cities Ramp Up Russia Boycott Over Antigay Law] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108062906/https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-sister-cities-gay-law/25051513.html |date=8 January 2018 }}, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (19 July 2013). Activists in California circulated petitions urging California cities and counties with relationships with Russian counterparts to take similar steps.{{cite news|first=Matthew S.|last=Bajko|title=Political Notebook: Cities asked to suspend ties with Russian counterparts|date=15 August 2013|url=http://bayareareporter.net/news/article.php?sec=news&article=69013|work=The Bay Area Reporter|access-date=27 August 2013|archive-date=11 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211080351/http://bayareareporter.net/news/article.php?sec=news&article=69013|url-status=dead}}
• In 2014, Prague terminated its partnership with Saint Petersburg and Moscow because of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Moscow had been Prague's partner city since 1995.{{cite journal|url=http://www.praguepost.com/prague-news/41312-prague-suspends-partnership-with-russian-cities |title=Prague suspends partnership with Russian cities |date=2 September 2014 |journal=Prague Post |access-date=12 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140912121824/http://praguepost.com/prague-news/41312-prague-suspends-partnership-with-russian-cities |archive-date=12 September 2014 }}
• In 2017, the mayor of Osaka, Hirofumi Yoshimura, ended the city's 60-year relationship with San Francisco due to the erection of a memorial to comfort women in downtown San Francisco.{{Cite news |last=Fortin |first=Jacey |date=2017-11-25 |title='Comfort Women' Statue in San Francisco Leads a Japanese City to Cut Ties |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/world/asia/comfort-women-statue.html |url-status=live |access-date=2023-02-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123150744/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/world/asia/comfort-women-statue.html |archive-date=23 January 2018}}{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Adam |date=25 November 2017 |title=Osaka mayor to end sister city status with San Francisco over 'comfort women' statue |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/11/25/osaka-mayor-to-end-sister-city-status-with-san-francisco-over-comfort-women-statue/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=23 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108063110/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/11/25/osaka-mayor-to-end-sister-city-status-with-san-francisco-over-comfort-women-statue/ |archive-date=8 January 2018}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/130802/japan-city-mayor-lodges-protest-over-comfort-women-mem |title=Japan city mayor lodges protest over "comfort women" memorial cost |work=GlobalPost |access-date=26 April 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120143/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/130802/japan-city-mayor-lodges-protest-over-comfort-women-mem |archive-date=4 March 2016 }}
• In July 2020, the town council of Nieuwegein, a Dutch city south of Utrecht, voted to end its friendship with Puławy in eastern Poland, citing "gay free zones" as the reason.{{Cite news|last=Boffey|first=Daniel|date=16 July 2020|title=Dutch town ends ties with Polish twin declared 'gay-free zone'|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/16/dutch-city-ends-ties-with-polish-twin-declared-gay-free-zone-nieuwegein-pulawy|access-date=24 July 2020|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=19 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719220033/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/16/dutch-city-ends-ties-with-polish-twin-declared-gay-free-zone-nieuwegein-pulawy|url-status=live}}
• 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.{{Cite news |date=2022-02-28 |title=Live: Video shows devastating impact of Russian barrage in Kharkiv, thousands of refugees flee |language=en-AU |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-01/ukraine-russia-invasion-war-kyiv-kharkiv/100870192 |access-date=2022-03-01 |archive-date=1 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301091645/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-01/ukraine-russia-invasion-war-kyiv-kharkiv/100870192 |url-status=live }}
• In March 2022, Doncaster cut ties{{Cite web |date=2022-03-01 |title=Doncaster cuts ties with Russian twin-town of Ozyorsk as Mansion House lights up for Ukraine |url=https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/politics/doncaster-cuts-ties-with-russian-twin-town-of-ozyorsk-as-mansion-house-lights-up-for-ukraine-3591070 |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=Doncaster Free Press |language=en |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324055134/https://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/politics/doncaster-cuts-ties-with-russian-twin-town-of-ozyorsk-as-mansion-house-lights-up-for-ukraine-3591070 |url-status=live }} with their twin-town Ozyorsk due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• On 22 March 2022, Coventry voted to temporarily pause the city's link with Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) and explore twinning with Mariupol instead due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Morgan |date=2022-03-22 |title=Coventry Council decides to pause twinning links with Volgograd |url=https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-council-decide-pauses-twinning-23471343 |access-date=2022-03-22 |website=CoventryLive |language=en |archive-date=22 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322195337/https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/coventry-council-decide-pauses-twinning-23471343 |url-status=live }}
• On March 28, 2022, Oak Ridge, Tennessee temporarily suspended its relationship with Obninsk due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{cite web|date=March 28, 2022 |title=Oak Ridge votes not to entirely dissolve ties with Russian sister city after community feedback|url=https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/sister-city-organization/51-3cdab42a-6759-4902-8c17-1efc132b0f36|access-date=January 28, 2025|website=WBIR}}
• In July 2022, the city of Eugene, Oregon suspended its ties to Irkutsk due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.{{Cite web |date=2022-07-20 |title=Eugene suspends sister city in Russia |url=https://www.klcc.org/politics-government/2022-07-20/eugene-suspends-sister-city-in-russia |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=KLCC {{!}} NPR for Oregonians |language=en |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030031945/https://www.klcc.org/politics-government/2022-07-20/eugene-suspends-sister-city-in-russia |url-status=live }}
• In February 2023, the mayor of Barcelona broke ties with twin city Tel Aviv citing Israeli apartheid as the reason.{{cite web |title=Barcelona mayor severs ties with twin city of Tel Aviv, 'apartheid' |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-731015 |website=The Jerusalem Post |date=9 February 2023 |access-date=27 February 2023 |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230209032942/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-731015 |url-status=live }}

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, 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, Ethiopia, and Patmos, Greece

SporazumSuresnes.jpg|Kragujevac and Suresnes twinning agreement

Zalaegerszeg testvérvárosait jelző tábla.jpg|Zalaegerszeg, Hungary twinnings

• Council of Local Authorities for International Relations
• Cross-border town naming
• Douzelage
• Global city
• Lists of twin towns and sister cities
• List of twin towns and sister cities in Europe
• Paradiplomacy
• Partnership2Gether
• Sister Cities International
• Sister castle
• Twin cities
• Twinning (cooperation)

{{reflist}}

{{Commons|Town twinning}}

{{wikivoyage|Twin towns}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061222193012/http://www.ccre.org/champs_activites_liste_news_en.htm?ID=3115 Town twinning in Europe's municipalities, towns and regions]
• [http://www.twinning.org/ Twinning in Europe]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090517052627/http://www.towntwinning.org.uk/ UK Town Twinning Portal]
• {{cite web|url = http://admin5.geniebuilder.com/users/ccre/bases/T_599_46_3524.pdf |title = Twinnings for Tomorrow's World – A Practical Handbook |publisher=CEMR Council of European Municipalities and Regions |access-date=11 January 2010 |location=Brussels |ref = CEMR69 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080513123252/http://admin5.geniebuilder.com/users/ccre/bases/T_599_46_3524.pdf |archive-date = 13 May 2008 |df = dmy }}

{{Twin towns}}

{{Diplomacy}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Cities by type

Category:Cultural exchange

Category:International relations

Category:Municipal international relations

Category:Types of towns