The modern concept of town twinning has its roots in the Second World War. More specifically, it was inspired by the bombing of Coventry on 14 November 1940, known as the Coventry Blitz. The idea emerged as a way of establishing

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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",

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The earliest known town twinning in Europe was between Paderborn, Germany, and Le Mans, France, in 836. Starting in 1905, Keighley in West Yorkshire, England, had a twinning arrangement with French communities Suresnes and Puteaux. The first recorded modern

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China's sister city relationships are managed by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. Town twinning is supported in Japan by the

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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

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Twinning towns and cities is sometimes done for political purposes. The Hungarian city Gyöngyös was twinned with the Azerbaijani city of Shushain 2013, signing the twinning agreement with representatives from the Azerbaijani government; Hungary

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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 with Odessa, Ukraine in 1944 was the first in Canada and second in North America while Denver, United Statestwinned

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