Colorado Springs Sister Cities

Fujiyoshida (富士吉田市, Fujiyoshida-shi) is a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. The city has an estimated population of about 50,000 people. Fujiyoshida is famous for lying at the northern base of Mount Fuji, and is built upon old lava flows. It is considered a high-elevation city in Japan, at 2,140 to 2,800 feet (650 to 850 metres) above sea level. The city is also located between two of the Fuji Five Lakes with the Katsura River flowing through the eastern part of the city.  

Kitaguchi Hongū Fuji Sengen Jinja, a Shinto shrine dedicated to the kami (gods) of Mount Fuji, is the historical starting point for pilgrims climbing the mountain. The main structure was originally built in 788 and underwent reconstruction in the 17th century. Additional buildings include a shrine dedicated to Takeda Shingen (1521–1573), and a red torii which is taken down and rebuilt every "Fuji Year" (60 years). The shrine has a local history museum which displays items from Fujiyoshida's past including household items, farm implements, clothing and samples of the cities' famous textiles. Other attractions include the Fuji-Q Highland an amusement park, the Mt. Fuji Visitors Center, the Mt. Fuji Radar Dome Museum, Arakurayama Sengen Park, and the beautiful Chūrei-tō pagoda, built on a hilltop facing Mount Fuji.   

This is based on Wikipedia-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujiyoshida 

Kaohsiung City, 高雄市, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of 2,952 km2 (1,140 sq mi). Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million people as of October 2023 and is Taiwan's third most populous city and largest city in southern Taiwan.[4] 

Since it was founded in the 17th century, Kaohsiung has grown from a small trading village into the political and economic center of southern Taiwan, with key industries such as manufacturing, steel-making, oil refining, freight transport and shipbuilding. It is classified as a "Gamma −" level global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network,[5] with some of the most prominent infrastructures in Taiwan. Kaohsiung is of strategic importance to the nation as the city is the main port city of Taiwan; the Port of Kaohsiung is the largest and busiest harbor in Taiwan and more than 67% of the nation's exports and imports container throughput goes through Kaohsiung. 

It also hosts the Republic of China Navy fleet headquarters and its naval academy. More recent public works such as Pier-2 Art Center, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts and Kaohsiung Music Center have been aimed at growing the tourism and cultural industries of the city. Based on Wikipedia-- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaohsiung  

Bishkek (Kyrgyz: Бишкек, IPA: [biʃˈkek]; Russian: Бишкек), is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek has a population of 1,074,075, as of 2021, and is the primary city of Kyrgyzstan. It is the sole metropolis in the country, and about 17% of all inhabitants of the country live in Bishkek's metropolitan area. 

Bishkek is situated at an altitude of about 800 metres (2,600 ft), just off the northern fringe of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too Range, an extension of the Tian Shan mountain range. These mountains rise to a height of 4,895 metres (16,060 ft). North of the city, a fertile and gently undulating steppe extends far north into neighbouring Kazakhstan. The river Chüy drains most of the area.  

Bishkek is a city of wide boulevards and marble-faced public buildings combined with numerous Soviet-style apartment blocks surrounding interior courtyards. There are also thousands of smaller, privately built houses, mostly outside the city centre. Streets follow a grid pattern, with most flanked on both sides by narrow irrigation channels, which provide water to trees which provide shade during the hot summers.

Nuevo Casas Grandes is a city and the seat of the Nuevo Casas Grandes Municipality in northern Mexico. It is located in the northwestern part of the state of Chihuahua, on the Casas Grandes or San Miguel river, situated in a wide, fertile valley on the 4,000-foot Mesa del Norte of the Plateau of Mexico. Nearby is the Sierra Madre Occidental. 

In 2020, the population in Nuevo Casas Grandes was 65,753 inhabitants.  The city was founded in the 1870s. Nuevo Casas Grandes got its name from another town about a mile away called Casas Grandes. A train station was built in that area and soon people migrated near it. Many of the region's inhabitants were of Native American ethnic groups closely related to those of the American Southwest. 

The area around Nuevo Casas Grandes is noted for its great historical and archaeological heritage. Five miles southwest of Nuevo Casas Grandes is the most important archaeological site in northern Mexico, the Casas Grandes or Paquimé Archaeological Zone highlighted by the new Paquimé (which, translated to Spanish, means "Big Houses" or Casas Grandes) Museum. Nuevo Casas Grandes is also world-famous for the nearby pottery village of Mata Ortiz an ejido and its revival of pottery in the ancient Paquimé tradition. 

Nearby Nuevo Casas Grandes are Mennonite and Mormon communities. Both of those groups are bilingual with Spanish as their second language. However most of the Mormons in the region are of Mexican descent and speak Spanish as their mother tongue. The Mennonites are Old Colony Mennonites (not to be confused with Old Order Mennonites who live in Canada, the United States and Belize) and speak a German dialect called Plautdietsch as their primary language in addition to Standard German and Spanish, while those in the Mormon community are of American descent and speak English.

Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 19 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, having previously been the administrative centre of the City of Bankstown prior to 2016. It is the most populous suburb within the City of Canterbury-Bankstown. In the 2021 census, Bankstown recorded a population of 34,933 people.  

Bankstown has one of the most ethnically diverse communities in Australia. Bankstown is considered one of the most multicultural areas in the country with over 60 different languages spoken by the people of this suburb. 

Bankstown's central business district is clustered around Bankstown railway station. The commercial area beside the railway station is known as Bankstown Plaza, while the ethnic diversity of the area has resulted in a host of restaurants, eateries and cafes.  Bankstown is the seat of major industry including the aviation, engineering and maintenance at Bankstown Airport. Other employers include small industrial operations, the public service and the retail industry.  

Olympia also known as "Ancient Olympia" with a population of 16,431, is a small town in Elis on the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, famous for the nearby archaeological site of the same name. This site was a major Panhellenic religious sanctuary of ancient Greece, where the ancient Olympic Games were held every four years throughout Classical antiquity, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD.[2] They were restored on a global basis in 1894 in honor of the ideal of peaceful international contention for excellence. 

The first Olympic festival was organized on the site by the authorities of Elis in the 8th century BC – with tradition dating the first games at 776 BC.These prestigious ancient games took place during the festival of Zeus at Olympia. After suppression of the ancient Olympic Games in 394 AD by Theodosius I, the spirit of the games, international peaceful competition by individuals for excellence, continued. The games were resurrected in 1894 based on the ancient model, but more international than ever. The ideology of the new games turned to the site of ancient Olympia for its inspiration, where even the ruins assumed a symbolic significance.  

The Olympic flame of the modern-day Olympic Games is lit by reflection of sunlight in a parabolic mirror in front of the Temple of Hera and then transported by a torch to the place where the Games are held. When the modern Olympic Games came to Athens in 2004, the men's and women's shot put competition was held at the restored Olympia stadium[27][28]The sacred precinct, named the Altis, was primarily dedicated to Zeus, although other gods were worshipped there.  

The sacred precinct, named the Altis, was primarily dedicated to Zeus, although other gods were worshipped there. The games conducted in his name drew visitors from all over the Greek world as one of a group of such "Panhellenic" centres, which helped to build the identity of the ancient Greeks as a nation. Despite the name, it is nowhere near Mount Olympus in northern Greece, where the Twelve Olympians, the major deities of Ancient Greek religion, were believed to live. 

Kranj is the third-largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 37,941 (2020). It is the seat of the City Municipality of Kranj. It is located approximately 20 kilometres (12 miles) northwest of the national capital Ljubljana in the traditional region of Upper Carniola (northwestern Slovenia). Kranj is a mainly industrial city with significant electronics and rubber industries. 

The nucleus of the city is a well-preserved medieval old town, built at the confluence of the Kokra and Sava rivers. The city is served by the Kranj railway station on the route from Ljubljana to Munich, Germany (via Jesenice and Villach, Austria) and a highway. Slovenia's national airport, Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport (in Brnik) is also very close to Kranj, considerably more so than to its nominal client, Ljubljana. 

The famous Kieselstein Castle was built in the mid-16th century by Baron Johann Jakob Khisl. Later owners included the families of Moscon, Ravbar, Apfaltrer, Auersperg, and Pagliaruzzi. The building was renovated in 1952 by the architect Jože Plečnik in his late period. The castle garden is currently used as a concert setting. 

The city is known for its sports facilities, including soccer, tennis and basketball, as well as the biggest aquatic centre in the country, which hosted the 2003 Men's European Water Polo Championship (along with Ljubljana, hosting the women's competition). The annual Teden Mladih (Youth Week) festival and Carniola Festival are very popular.