The Oakland Sister Cities Program, which although an official City of Oakland program, is mainly operated by various community groups who oversee a variety of cultural exchange activities between Oakland and each of the sister cities.
Oakland has a Sister City relationship with the following international cities:
- Fukuoka, Japan (1962) www.city.fukuoka.jp
- Funchal, Madeira, Portugal (1967) www.funchal.pt
- Nakhodka, Russia (1975) www.oakland-nakhodka.org
- Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana (1975)
- Dalian, China (1982) www.dl.gov.cn
- Ocho Rios, Jamaica (1986)
- Santiago de Cuba, Cuba (2000)
- Agadir, Morocco (2004)
- Danang, Vietnam (2005) www.danang.gov.vn
- Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (2006)
The City of Oakland website also lists:
- Livorno, Italy
- Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Wikipedia also lists:
- Benin City, Nigeria (2010)
- Port-de-Paix, Haiti (2011)
- Oakleigh, Australia (2020)
- Foshan, China (unknown)
- Bauchi, Nigeria (unknown)
Wikipedia references the broken website sister-cities.org. The City of Oakland website references the more up to date sistercities.org, but the city database there is missing.
These cultural exchange programs were created to strengthen international partnerships, promote cultural understanding, increase cooperation, advance education, stimulate business relationships for the economic benefit of both cities and encourage peace.
Some of the activities Sister Cities engage in include educational student exchanges; government receptions; artist visits; humanitarian aid and the promotion of trade and commerce.
Links and References
- Oakland May Adopt Sister-City In Japan Oakland Tribune May 8, 1962
- Funchal Becomes a Sister City Oakland Tribune August 11, 1967
- Oakland To Add Third Sister City Oakland Tribune December 1, 1974
- Oakland Gets 4th Sister City Oakland Tribune October 24, 1975
- Oaklanders to visit sister city in China Oakland Tribune August 17, 1981
- Sister-city mayor sees similarities with Oakland Oakland Tribune March 29, 1982 (p2)
