Sister City Program

San Francisco has Sister City relationships with 14 partner cities. A Sister City relationship is a broad-based, officially approved, long-term partnership between two communities in two countries. A Sister City relationship becomes official with a signing ceremony of the top-elected officials of the two local jurisdictions. Sister City partnerships have the potential to carry out the widest possible diversity of activities of any international program, including every type of municipal, business, professional, educational and cultural exchange or project. Sister City programs are also unique in that they inherently involve the three main sectors in a community: local government, businesses, and a wide variety of citizen volunteers (civil society or non-profit organizations).

In the fifty years of the Sister City program, exchanges have taken place in virtually all areas of the community - sports, art, culture, education, government and business - all of which have contributed to increased cross-cultural dialogue and understanding.

San Francisco Sister Cities