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Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are born in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time. The term Twin Cities is used in the United States often to refer to the cities Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Cities twinned geographically do not necessarily match demographically, economically, or politically. In the normal course of things, cities which grow into each other's space in this way lose their individual identity and whatever border or barrier still separates them becomes irrelevant until they fuse into one new city. One famous example of this is Budapest in Hungary, which began as two settlements (Buda and Pest) facing each other across the Danube at a strategic fording place along a trade route, with another being London, England, which resulted in the merger of two cities: the City of London and the City of Westminster. But there are twin cities which have been able to resist this final union and have maintained individual identity against the tides of history, economics and demographics. Twin cities often share an airport, into whose airport code are integrated the initials of both cities; DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) and MSP (Minneapolis-St. Paul) are well-known examples.
Examples
A remarkable example of twin cities: Plaza Internacional of the Frontera de la Paz. On the left, Santana do Livramento (Brazil); on the right, Rivera (Uruguay).
Asia
- The capital of the medieval Khazar Empire, Atil-Khazaran, which was situated on the western and eastern banks of the Volga River, respectively.
- Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan
- Hyderabad and Secunderabad, India
- Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, India
- Ramallah and al-Bireh, in the West Bank
- Taipei and Keelung, Taiwan
- Taoyuan and Jhongli, Taiwan
- Seoul and Incheon, South Korea
Europe
- Brighton and Hove, UK, though there are several other smaller towns like Worthing which make up the metropolitan area.
- Ludwigshafen and Mannheim, Germany
- Ulm and Neu-Ulm, Germany
- Mainz and Wiesbaden, Germany
- Porsgrunn and Skien, Norway
- Sandnes and Stavanger, Norway
- Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg, Norway
North America
- Minneapolis and Saint Paul The most well-known twin cities
- Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin, often referred to as the "Twin Ports"
- Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec; formerly included Hull, Quebec until Hull (and also other municipalities) merged with Gatineau in 2002.
- Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario (occasionally mentioned with nearby Cambridge), popularly abbreviated as "Kitchener-Waterloo" or "K-W"[1]
- Corte Madera, California and Larkspur, California.[2]
- Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan
- Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario
- Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, New York
- Leominster and Fitchburg, Massachusetts
- Dallas and Fort Worth
- Champaign, Illinois and Urbana, Illinois
- Lewiston and Auburn, Maine, sometimes locally referred to as "LA" or the Twin Cities.
- Bossier City and Shreveport, Louisiana.[3]
- Monroe, Louisiana and West Monroe, Louisiana.[4]
- Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Tamaulipas
- Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and El Paso, Texas, U.S. exemplify a chain of twin cities on the Mexico-US border, particularly within the Rio Grande valley.
- Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico
- Rosenberg, Texas and Richmond, Texas
- Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri
- Bluefield, Virginia and Bluefield, West Virginia
- Bristol, Virginia and Bristol, Tennessee
- Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico
- Calexico, California and Mexicali, Mexico
- Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas
- Sarasota, Florida and Bradenton, Florida
- San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico
- Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
- Kalamazoo, Michigan and Battle Creek, Michigan
- Gulfport, Mississippi and Biloxi, Mississippi
- Little Rock, Arkansas and North Little Rock, Arkansas
- Kenosha, Wisconsin and Racine, Wisconsin
- Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington
- Seattle, Washington and Tacoma, Washington
- Bryan, Texas and College Station, Texas
- Reno, Nevada and Sparks, Nevada
- Waterloo, Iowa and Cedar Falls, Iowa
- Omaha, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa
- St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois
- Lansing, Michigan and East Lansing, Michigan
- Sacramento, California and West Sacramento, California
- Eugene, Oregon and Springfield, Oregon
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Camden, New Jersey
- Bismarck, North Dakota and Mandan, North Dakota
- Pierre, South Dakota and Fort Pierre, South Dakota
- Sioux City, Iowa and South Sioux City, Nebraska
- Fort Smith, Arkansas and Van Buren, Arkansas
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Hollywood, Florida
- Miami, Florida and Miami Beach, Florida
- Palm Beach, Florida and West Palm Beach, Florida
- Lakeland, Florida and Winter Haven, Florida
- Columbus, Georgia and Phenix City, Alabama
- Auburn, Alabama and Opelika, Alabama
- Anniston, Alabama and Oxford, Alabama
- Benton Harbor, Michigan and St. Joseph, Michigan
- Peoria, Illinois and East Peoria, Illinois
- Bloomington, Illinois and Normal, Illinois
- Lancaster, California and Palmdale, California
- Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota
- Midland, Texas and Odessa, Texas
- San Francisco, California and Oakland, California
South America
- Rivera, Uruguay and Santana do Livramento, Brazil.
- Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, Chile
- La Serena and Coquimbo, Chile
- Concepción and Talcahuano, Chile
Australia
- Townsville and Thuringowa
- Albury and Wodonga
- Coolangatta and Tweed Heads
Fictional twin cities
- Gotham City (the home of Batman) and Metropolis (the home of Superman) have sometimes been presented as twin cities, mainly in 1970s and 1980s stories by DC Comics. The two cities were shown as located on opposite sides of a large bay.
- Central City and Keystone City, from the current Flash comics, are shown as twin cities; earlier comics presented each city as located in the same space but on different parallel Earths.
- Ankh-Morpork, from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, is referred to as "the twin cities of proud Ankh and pestilent Morpork", but has been a single political entity in all the books thus far.
- Sodom and Gomorrah (existence under debate.)
Tri-Cities
United States
- The Tri-Cities, Washington, consisting of Richland, Pasco, and Kennewick, Washington, along the banks of the Columbia River
- The Tri-Cities, Tennessee, Tennessee and Virginia, consisting of the twin cities of Bristol, Tennessee/Bristol, Virginia, Kingsport, and Johnson City
- The Research Triangle in North Carolina, consisting of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.
- The Piedmont Triad in North Carolina, consisting of Greensboro, Winston-Salem (itself a merged city), and High Point.
- The Tri-Cities (Michigan) in Michigan, consisting of Bay City, Saginaw, and Midland in the Saginaw Valley
- In Illinois and Iowa: three of the four Quad Cities—Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and Davenport in Iowa—were formerly known as the Tri-Cities, before the inclusion of East Moline, Illinois and later, Bettendorf, Iowa
- The Capital District in New York, consisting of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy
- In Colorado: the towns of Firestone, Frederick, and Dacono (known as the "tri-towns")
- In Nebraska: Grand Island, Kearney, and Hastings in the south-central part of the state
- Tri-Cities, Virginia, consisting of Petersburg, Colonial Heights, and Hopewell in the Greater Richmond Region
- In New Hampshire: Dover, Somersworth, and Rochester in the Seacoast Region
- In Florida: the Tampa Bay Area, consisting of Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Petersburg
- In Oklahoma: Tuttle, Newcastle, and Blanchard (sometimes with the town of Bridge Creek)
- In California: Anaheim, Orange, and Santa Ana, the three oldest cities in Orange County
- In California: Yorba Linda, Placentia, and Brea, three cities in northeast Orange County that all meet at Tri-Cities Park.
- In California: Chino Hills, Diamond Bar, and Brea, representing San Bernardino, Los Angeles, and Orange counties, respectively
- In California: Carlsbad, Oceanside and Vista in northwest San Diego County
- In California: Fremont, Newark, and Union City, the three southernmost cities in Alameda County
- In California: Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria, sometimes referred collectively as the South Coast, being on the a south-facing coast in Santa Barbara County. The term 'tri-cities' is only rarely used as a reference to them, and is considered somewhat old.
- Binghamton, Endicott and Johnson City, New York
Canada
- Tri-Cities (British Columbia), consisting of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Port Moody, located east of Vancouver
- Penetenguishene, Ontario, Victoria Harbour, Ontario, Midland, Ontario, and Port McNicoll, Ontario
- Ingersoll, Ontario, Tillsonburg, and Woodstock
Asia
- Warangal in India, Andhra Pradesh consists of the towns of Warangal, Hanamkonda, and Kazipet.
- The second Tricity in North India consists of the towns of Chandigarh, Panchkula and SAS Nagar (Mohali).
- Wuhan in China consists of the towns of Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang in Hubei Province
- Near Iguazu Falls: Foz do Iguaçu, Brazi, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, and Puerto Iguazu, Argentina.
Europe
Quad Cities
- Quad Cities of Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa, and Rock Island and Moline, Illinois. Also includes a fifth member, East Moline, Illinois.
- The Florence-Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Area in Alabama is locally referred to as "the Quad Cities", with Florence and Muscle Shoals dominating smaller Sheffield and Tuscumbia.
Examples of cities formed by merging
- London grew from its cores in the City of London and the City of Westminster to encompass many other towns and villages.
- Budapest is the amalgamation of Buda and Pest.
- Minneapolis. St. Anthony (not to be confused with St. Anthony Village, a modern city which is a suburb of Minneapolis) was a twin city to Minneapolis in the two cities' youth. Minneapolis, the larger of the two, annexed St. Anthony in the late 1800s.
- New York City (five boroughs, historically especially between Manhattan and Brooklyn)
- Hong Kong (Victoria City and Kowloon)
- Thunder Bay, Ontario (Fort William and Port Arthur).
- Lloydminster, Canada, on the Saskatchewan-Alberta border, was formed as a single entity in 1903, when both future provinces were part of the Northwest Territories, but was divided into two separate entities in 1905 because the border between the newly created provinces bisected the community. In 1930, the two towns were reunited as a single town under the shared jurisdiction of both provinces, and Lloydminster was reincorporated as a single city in 1958.
- Halifax and Dartmouth (Canada) were forcibly merged in 1996 along with Bedford and Halifax County to create the Halifax Regional Municipality.
- Berlin (Berlin and Cölln)
- Wuppertal (Barmen and Elberfeld)
Resistance to merging
Bloomington and Normal, Illinois have always rebuffed any merger referendum, and where the original boundary is the appropriately named "Division Street". In England, the cities of Leeds and Bradford are very close, but have strong separate identities and would not see themselves as part of the same entity. Both cities have individual cathedrals and councils, as well as having separate sports teams.
