Raleigh Has Sisters All Over the World

In 1931, the oldest formally recognized sister city in the world was created, with one half of it being the first formalized partnership in the United States:

Toledo, Ohio & Toledo, Spain.

There is some great history here (linked at the end), but the formalized agreement between these two cities inspired later partnerships, such as Bristol, England and Hanover, Germany, in 1947.

The success these partnerships had was built on sharing services and an exchange of goods across cultural barriers. They were the model cities for the creation of Sister Cities International.

So in 1956, SCI became an international program launched by President Eisenhower. The Sister Cities International website credits him with this quote:

Fast forward to 1984, and Raleigh Mayor Pro Tempore, Ed Walters suggests to City Council that Raleigh join in this mission. The goal being to promote friendly relations and mutual understanding with a similar city in a foreign country.

After the $350 membership was covered by City Council, a 9-member committee, led by Walters himself began planning an International Festival for Raleigh.

In the 3rd year of this event, during opening ceremonies, Kingston Upon Hull (also called Hull) was officially announced as our first sister city in 1986.

Raleigh’s oldest sister lies on the North Bank of the River Humber, just 22 miles from the North Sea (near the East Coast of the UK for those bad with maps).

The city is known for its booming post-WWII revival where new retail, housing, and public service works led it to become the 2017 City of Culture in the UK.

Learn more about Hull — at their own tourism website.

Our French sister sits on the Oise River near one of France's great national forests, about an hour or so from Paris. We share a park near NC State with their name on it and they have a traffic circle with our name on it.

Learn more about Compiègne — from an article by France Today.

The only picture I could find was from Google Maps and you can’t cite Google Maps locations — so here is the link to the maps location instead.

Our German sister is a Baltic Sea port city in the former East Germany. Its university opened in 1419, about 370 years before Raleigh was even founded, and their St. Mary’s Church features a 15th-century astronomical clock.

Both cities have an active relationship, with City Council members from Germany visiting often to celebrate the partnerships.

Learn more about Rostock — at the hanse network city site.

The largest city and capital of Kenya. A place many refer to as the “Green City in the Sun”. Fittingly for our sister, Nairobi has spent the last decade earning the nickname "Silicon Savannah" as East Africa's tech hub. Our two cities coordinate at a council level on growing cities fast without leaving neighborhoods behind.

Read a bit more about them — in Brilliant Africa.

Mexico's second-largest metro area and the capital of Jalisco. It is considered the birthplace of both mariachi and tequila. It's also home to the largest Spanish-language book fair in the world and much like ourselves and Nairobi, offers a booming tech scene as well.

We celebrate the relationship with the city here in Raleigh with Día de los Muertos and other city events held throughout the year.

Learn more about Guadalajara — from their wiki page.

The famous rock at the western gateway of the Mediterranean, a naval stronghold for over 1,000 years, located at the tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

It is known for its siege tunnels, Europe’s only wild population of monkeys, and a clear view across the strait to North Africa. Raleigh began the process of becoming their FIRST sister city in 2019, officially partnering in 2021.

Learn more about Gibraltar — at visitgibraltar.gi.

Syr is a mountain town in northern Lebanon, up in the highlands near it's second-largest city, Tripoli. This region is known for its natural grottos, heavy reliance on agriculture due to its underground water, and a Roman Temple from the second century.

Learn more about Syr El Denniyeh — via The 961 of Lebanon.

Note: As of 2022-24, I found record of this city being official but there is very little information on their main website for it.

Our newest sister as of June of this year, is one of 25 districts (gu) in Seoul, South Korea. Like many cities we partner with, the partnership has a focus around rapidly growing places that focus on community and public space development.

Gangseo is a modern city located in South of the Han River and shares a large district with Busan. It draws visitors with its massive Botanical Gardens, Art Museum, and wide open natural spaces built into the city.

Learn more about Gangseo-gu — from their Wiki page.

Sister Cities International pushes for solving issues facing communities through international partnerships, despite separations by geography, culture, government, and distance.

A good way to get involved is to reach out to your local Ambassadors for each of their cities, attend a local event, and to be a daily steward for travel and cross-cultural connections.

City partnerships can come and go, here are a few cities that do not seem to have an active contact or partnership anymore as of the 2025-26 Annual Report: Shinyanga, Tanzania (1987), Kolomna, Russia (1997), and Xiangyang, China (2009)

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