What is town twinning?

Twin towns are a form of agreement between towns to promote cultural and commercial ties. The modern concept of town twinning, conceived after the Second World War in 1947, is intended to foster friendship and understanding between different cultures and between former foes as an act of peace and reconciliation, and to encourage trade and tourism. The first recorded modern twinning agreement was between Keighley, UK, and Poix-du-Nord in Nord, France, in 1920 following the end of the First World War. The practice continued after the Second World War to the present day. As of 1995, the European Union had almost 10,000 towns involved. The EU started to support town twinning financially in 1989.