Support Us Button Widget

Get to know San Antonio’s sister cities

Learn the history San Antonio’s friendship + sisters cities.

SATXtoday: pavilion of Gwangju

The pavilion of Gwangju is a hand-built gift from San Antonio’s sister city in Gwangju, Korea.

Photo by Heather Villagran, via Unsplash

Did you the Alamo City has friends and family all over the world? Here’s everything you need to know about San Antonio’s sister + friendship cities.

What is a Friendship City?

Friendship cities are formal relationship building blocks on the road to becoming designated sister cities. The mayor has the power to declare a “Memorandum of Understanding” as a way of opening a path to a friendship city. Our friends include Suzhou, China, Mexico City, Mexico, and Baguio, Philippines.

What is a Sister City?

Becoming “sisters” requires approval from both cities’ respective city councils in order to be official. The international program, Sister Cities International, was created after WWII for economic development, cultural, and technical exchanges between US cities, counties, and states with communities worldwide. From 1953 on, we’ve made twelve cities around the world our “sisters”, from Kumamoto, Japan, Monterrey, Mexico, to Santa Cruz de Tenerife from Canary Islands and more.

Here’s the list of our sister cities and when they became official:

Fun fact: San Antonio won the “Sister Cities International 2019 Award for Best Overall Program” for a city population greater than 300,001.

More from SATXtoday
From city employee political activity guidelines to raising the salary of city council members and the mayor, see what our city voted on.
Learn how to dispose of old pumpkins and leaves ahead of the holidays.
Learn about special events and discounts honoring San Antonio veterans
VIA has your voting transportation needs covered on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
If you don’t have coffee already in hand, consider this your sign to grab some.
Altares, ofrendas, live music, and art installations. Find it all at Pearl this weekend.
Stay the night — you might just stay for the rest of your life.
The good vibes are coming to The RIM area.
Whether you’re a weekend warrior or the next Tiger Woods, these 21 golf courses in San Antonio are sure to make for a good round.
We want to know — which River City restaurant or meal sparks nostalgia in your heart and belly, and why?