List of sister cities in Maryland

This is a list of sister states, regions, and cities in the U.S. state of Maryland . Sister cities, known in Europe as town twins, are cities which partner with each other to promote human contact and cultural links, although this partnering is not limited to cities and often includes counties, regions, states and other sub-national entities.

Many Maryland jurisdictions partner with foreign cities through Sister Cities International, an organization whose goal is to, "Promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation." ^[1] The first sister city relationship in Maryland, however, was between Salisbury, Maryland and Salisbury, England, and predated Sister Cities International. Sister cities interact with each other across a broad range of activities, from health care and education to business and the arts. ^[2] The partnerships in this list vary in how formalized their relationships are. Recently, a number of Maryland cities have partnered with cities in Estonia through a program developed by the Maryland National Guard after Estonia gained its independence from the Soviet Union. ^[3]

Sister states, regions and cities of Maryland

A major street in the city of Huainan, northern Anhui Province, one of Maryland's sister regions.

Maryland Jurisdiction	Sister State, Region, or City	Country	Since
State of Maryland	Anhui Province	China	1980 [4]
	Tartu	Estonia	2003 [3]
	Gyeongsangnam-do Province	South Korea	1991 [4]
	Jalisco State	Mexico	1993 [4]
	Kanagawa Prefecture	Japan	1981 [4]
	Bong County	Liberia	2007 [4]
	Maryland County	Liberia	2007 [4]
	Łódź Voivodeship	Poland	1993 [4]
	Nord-Pas de Calais	France	1981 [5]
	State of Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	1999 [4]
	Saint Petersburg Leningrad Oblast	Russia	1993 [4] [6]
	Wallonia Region	Belgium	1989 [4]
	County Cork	Ireland	[7]

Sister cities of Maryland cities and counties

Maryland Jurisdiction	Sister State, Region, or City	Country	Since
Annapolis	Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia	Canada	1980 [8]
	Changsha, China	China	Unknown [9]
	Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway	Scotland, UK	1987 [10] [11]
	Newport	Wales, UK	1982 [8]
	Niterói, Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	1982 [8]
	Tallinn, Harju County	Estonia	1999 [8]
	Wexford, County Wexford	Ireland	1993 [8]
Baltimore	Alexandria, Alexandria Governorate	Egypt	1995 [12] [13]
	Ashkelon, Southern District	Israel	2005 [12]
	Changwon	South Korea	2018 [13]
	Gbarnga, Bong County	Liberia	1973 [12]
	Genoa, Liguria	Italy	1985 [12]
	Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture	Japan	1978 [12]
	Luxor, Luxor Governorate	Egypt	1981 [12]
	Odesa, Odesa Oblast	Ukraine	1974 [12]
	Piraeus, Attica	Greece	1982 [12]
	Rotterdam, South Holland	Netherlands	1985 [12]
	Xiamen, Fujian	China	1985 [12]
Charles County	Jõgeva, Jõgeva County	Estonia	2012 [14]
	Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg	Germany	2002
Columbia	Cergy-Pontoise, Île-de-France	France	1977 [15]
	Tres Cantos, Community of Madrid	Spain	1990 [15]
Cumberland	Tapa, Lääne-Viru County	Estonia	2000 [16]
District Heights	Mbuji-Mayi, Kasai-Oriental Province	DR Congo	2008 [17]
	Thomonde, Centre	Haiti	[ citation needed ]
Frederick	Aquiraz, Ceará	Brazil	2006 [18]
	Mörzheim, Landau	Germany	1982 [19]
	Schifferstadt, Rhineland-Palatinate	Germany	1982 [19]
Frostburg	Viljandi, Viljandi County	Estonia	2000 [16]
Grantsville	Tõrva, Valga County	Estonia	2000 [16]
Hagerstown	Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia	Germany	1952 [20]
Havre de Grace	Sillamäe, Ida-Viru County	Estonia	2000 [16]
McHenry	Otepää, Valga County	Estonia	2000 [16]
Montgomery County	Gondar, Amhara	Ethiopia	[ citation needed ]
	Morazán Department	El Salvador	2011 [21]
Oakland	Tőrca, Valga County	Estonia	[ citation needed ]
	Valga, Valga County	Estonia	2000 [16]
Ocean City	Finale Ligure, Liguria	Italy	1996 [22]
	Pärnu, Pärnu County	Estonia	2003 [23]
Prince George's County	Rishon Le Zion, Central District	Israel	1990 [24]
	Royal Bafokeng Nation, North West Province	South Africa	1998 [25]
	Ziguinchor, Casamance	Senegal	1987 [26]
Riverdale Park	Ipala, Chiquimula	Guatemala	2008 [27]
Rockville	Jiaxing, Zhejiang ("friendly" relations)	China	2008 [28]
	Pinneberg, Schleswig-Holstein	Germany	1957 [29]
	Yilan City, Yilan County	Taiwan	2019 [30]
Salisbury	Salisbury, Wiltshire	England, UK	1932 [31]
	Tartu, Tartu County	Estonia	1999 [32]
	Salinas, Santa Elena	Ecuador	2017 [33]
Westminster	Paide, Järva County	Estonia	2002 [34]

References

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2. "Frequently Asked Questions". Sister Cities International. Archived from the original on June 15, 2007. Retrieved June 26, 2007.
3. Teel, Mark. "Maryland-Estonia State Partnership Program". Estonian Advantage. American Chamber of Commerce in Estonia. Archived from the original on December 7, 2006. Retrieved July 9, 2007.
4. "Maryland Sister State Program". Office of the Secretary of State of Maryland. Archived from the original on July 30, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
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7. "Membership Directory New – Sister Cities International (SCI)" . Retrieved March 14, 2025.
8. Kaley, Kevin (April 19, 1999). "Closer ties with sister cities?". Capital-Gazette Communications, Inc. The Capital (Annapolis, MD.).
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10. "Annapolis Tartan Day". City of Annapolis, MD. April 3, 2007. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved June 27, 2007.
11. "Dumfries Male Voice choir celebrates 60 years". www.dailyrecord.co.uk. March 12, 2010. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
12. "Mayor's Office of International Affairs". City of Baltimore. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved October 23, 2008.
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15. "International Student Exchange - Sister Cities Program". The Columbia Association. Archived from the original on October 9, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
16. "Mayor and City Council Year 2000 Minutes". City of Cumberland, MD. July 11, 2000. Archived from the original on October 11, 2006. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
17. McGill, Natalie (April 24, 2008). "District Heights, Congo city form relationship". The Gazette. Gaithersburg, Md. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
18. Mullen, Katharine (November 16, 2006). "City of Frederick gains a new sister city at ceremony tonight". The Gazette. Retrieved June 26, 2007.
19. "August 3, 2003 City Council Minutes". City of Frederick, MD. August 3, 2003. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
20. "Augustoberfest". City of Hagerstown, MD. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
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23. "Council Meeting Minutes". Town of Ocean City, Maryland. November 12, 2003. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2007.
24. "Rishon LeZion - One of a Large Family of "Twinned" Cities". Rishon LeZion. Archived from the original on June 24, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2007.
25. Pierre, Robert (March 5, 1998). "Pr. George's Receives Royalty in Sisterly Relationship; County and Nation in South Africa Establish Ties". The Washington Post.
26. "County Executive Returns From Successful Business Development and Goodwill Mission in Senegal". Prince George's County. March 28, 2005. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved June 27, 2007.
27. McGill, Natalie (April 23, 2009). "Riverdale Park and Ipala celebrate sister city partnership". The Gazette. Gaithersburg, Md. Archived from the original on May 22, 2014. Retrieved September 25, 2013.
28. "Rockville to welcome another Sister City: Jiaxing, China". gazette.net. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
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30. "Rockville, MD". Rockville, MD. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
31. "Delegation From Salisbury, England, Visits SU". Salisbury University . September 27, 2006. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
32. "City Council Minutes". City of Salisbury, Maryland. May 24, 1999. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
33. "City of Salisbury Announces Partnership with Salinas, Ecuador - City of Salisbury MD". City of Salisbury MD. March 14, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
34. "Westminster Maryland-Paide, Estonia Partner City Program". City of Westminster, Maryland. January 15, 2004. Archived from the original on July 2, 2007. Retrieved July 7, 2007.