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Twin cities are a special case of two neighboringcities or urban centres that grow into a singleconurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in status and size, though not necessarily equal; a city and a substantially smaller suburb would not typically qualify, even if they were once separate.Tri-cities andquad cities are similar groups of three or four municipalities.
A common – but not universal – scenario is two cities that developed concurrently on opposite sides of a river. For example,Minneapolis andSaint Paul inMinnesota – one of the most widely known pairs of "Twin Cities" – were founded several miles apart on opposite sides of theMississippi River, and competed for prominence as they grew.
In some cases, twin cities are separated by a state border, such asAlbury (New South Wales) andWodonga (Victoria) in Australia, on opposite sides of theMurray River. InPakistan,Islamabad andRawalpindi are twin cities located in northwesternPunjab region: Islamabad is administratively being part of theIslamabad Capital Territory, and Rawalpindi is in theprovince of Punjab. Cities on opposite sides of international borders sometimes share enough cultural and historical identity to be seen as twins, such asHaparanda (Sweden) andTornio (Finland),Leticia (Colombia) andTabatinga (Brazil), orValga (Estonia) andValka (Latvia).
In some cases twin cities eventually merge into a single legal municipality, such asBuda andPest merging in 1873 intoBudapest, Hungary;Brooklyn andNew York City being consolidated in 1898; and the three ancient cities ofHankou,Hanyang, andWuchang joining in 1927 intoWuhan.
As a single urban area, twin cities may share an airport whoseairport codes include both cities' initials, e.g.DFW (Dallas–Fort Worth),LBA (Leeds–Bradford),MSP (Minneapolis–Saint Paul),RDU (Raleigh andDurham), andCAK (Akron–Canton).
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| Border towns | Countries |
|---|---|
| Astara andAstara |  Azerbaijan / Iran |
| Erenhot andZamyn-Üüd |  China / Mongolia |
| Dandong andSinuiju | China / North Korea |
| Changbai andHyesan | |
| Ji'an andManpo | |
| Manzhouli andZabaykalsk | China / Russia |
| Heihe andBlagoveshchensk | |
| Dongxing andMong Cai | China / Vietnam |
| Hekou andLao Cai | |
| Johor Bahru andSingapore[1] |  Malaysia / Singapore |
| Vientiane andNong Khai |  Thailand / Laos |
| Dansavan andLao Bao | Laos /Vietnam |
| Al Ain andAl Buraimi |  United Arab Emirates / Oman |
| Agartala andAkhaura |  India / Bangladesh |
| Eilat andAqaba |  Israel / Jordan |
| Jincheng andXiamen |  Taiwan /China |
| Twin towns | Country |
|---|---|
| Cairo andGiza.[2] Triple cities if countingShubra El Kheima. |  Egypt |
| Port Said andPort Fuad | |
| Sekondi-Takoradi |  Ghana |
| Asaba andOnitsha |  Nigeria |
| Jimeta andYola | |
| Johannesburg andPretoria,Gauteng Province |  South Africa |
| Twin towns | Country |
|---|---|
| Victoria andKowloon,colonial Hong Kong—although, in both colonial Hong Kong and theHong Kong Special Administrative Region, Victoria is the only city recognised by law; they were widely considered to be separate cities until at least the mid-1970s.[7] |  British Hong Kong |
| Wuhan (merger ofWuchang,Hankou,Hanyang) | China |
| Chirala-Perala | India |
| Bangalore Cantonment andBengaluru Pete along with their suburbs merged to form modernBangalore | |
| Fukuoka (merger of east side of Naka river, Hakata, and the west side, Fukuoka) |  Japan |
| Ise (merger ofUji,Yamada) | |
| Joetsu (merger ofTakada,Naoetsu) | |
| Naha andShuri, Okinawa, once separate cities. Shuri became integrated as a district of Naha. | |
| Zhongli andTaoyuan, merged intoTaoyuan City. | Taiwan |
| Saigon andCholon, merged into Saigon-Cholon, nowHo Chi Minh City. |  South Vietnam |
| Twin towns | Country |
|---|---|
| Knokke andHeist-aan-Zee. United intoKnokke-Heist |  Belgium |
| Gradec andKaptol. United intoZagreb |  Croatia |
| Frýdek and Místek. United intoFrýdek-Místek |  Czech Republic |
| Barmen andElberfeld. United intoWuppertal. |  Germany |
| Kouvola andKuusankoski. United into Kouvola. |  Finland |
| Äänekoski andSuolahti. United into Äänekoski. | |
| West Berlin,West Germany andEast Berlin. United intoBerlin. |  East Germany |
| Buda andPest. United intoBudapest. |  Hungary |
| Bielsko and Biała. United intoBielsko-Biała. |  Poland |
| Skanör andFalsterbo. United intoSkanör med Falsterbo. |  Sweden |
| City of London andCity of Westminster. Absorbed intoLondon. |  United Kingdom |
| Berwick-upon-Tweed andTweedmouth, until the former was taken by England from Scotland. |
| Twin city | Country |
|---|---|
| Albury andWodonga |  Australia |
| Canberra andQueanbeyan | |
| Darwin andPalmerston | |
| Echuca andMoama | |
| Forster andTuncurry | |
| Gold Coast andTweed Heads | |
| Harden andMurrumburrah | |
| Kalgoorlie andBoulder | |
| Perth andFremantle | |
| Townsville andThuringowa | |
| Napier andHastings |  New Zealand |
| Lower Hutt andUpper Hutt |
| Border towns | Bordering countries |
|---|---|
| Xinhui,Taishan,Kaiping, andEnping together formedSiyi area inJiangmen,Guangdong | China |
| Helsinki,Espoo,Kauniainen andVantaa inUusimaa; together form the largest metropolis in the country and its actual capital area. | Finland |
| Pattaya-Chonburi Metropolitan Area consists of theCity of Pattaya,Town of Chonburi,Portal town of Laem Chabang andTown of Sattahip on the west coast ofChonburi Province, Thailand | Thailand |
| TheWest Yorkshire Built-up Area consists of the cities ofLeeds,Bradford andWakefield, and the large town ofHuddersfield, United Kingdom. | United Kingdom |
| TheFlorence-Muscle Shoals Metropolitan Area in Alabama, is locally referred to as "the Quad Cities", withFlorence,Muscle Shoals,Sheffield, andTuscumbia, Alabama. Formerly, when Muscle Shoals was a mere village, this region was known as "Tri-Cities", Alabama. In fact, all except Florence are incorporated as towns. |  United States |
| Quad Cities ofDavenport andBettendorf, Iowa, andRock Island andMoline, Illinois. It also includes a fifth member,East Moline, Illinois. | |
| Allentown/Bethlehem, Pennsylvania andEaston, Pennsylvania/Phillipsburg, New Jersey; the collective area is often called theLehigh Valley | |
| TheQuad Cities of Minnesota, consist ofVirginia,Eveleth,Gilbert, andMountain Iron. | |
| The cities ofPullman, Washington,Moscow, Idaho,Lewiston, Idaho andClarkston, Washington, have marketed themselves as "Quad Cities."[10] |
