page_title: Colorado Springs, Colorado
section_title: Sister cities
hierarchical_section_title: Colorado Springs, Colorado / Sister cities
caption_attribution_description: Bishkek mayor Arstanbek Nogoev (left) presents a gift for Colorado Springs mayor Lionel Rivera to an airman at Manas Air Base
context_page_description: Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality that is the largest city by area in Colorado as well as the county seat and the most populous municipality of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is in east central Colorado, on Fountain Creek, 60 miles south of Denver.
  At 6,035 feet the city stands over 1 mile above sea level, though some areas are significantly higher and lower. Colorado Springs is near the base of Pikes Peak, which rises 14,115 feet above sea level on the eastern edge of the Southern Rocky Mountains.
  The United States Air Force Academy opened just north of Colorado Springs in 1958. The city is home to 24 national sports governing bodies, including the United States Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Training Center, and USA Hockey.
  The city had an estimated population of 478,221 in 2019, and a metro population of approximately 738,939, making it Colorado's second most populous city, behind Denver, and the 39th most populous city in the United States. The Colorado Springs, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area had an estimated population of 712,327 in 2016.
context_section_description: Sister cities of Colorado Springs include:
   Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi (Japan) 1962
   Kaohsiung (Taiwan) 1983
   Smolensk (Russia) 1993
   Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) 1994
   Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua (Mexico) 1996
   Bankstown, New South Wales (Australia) 1999
   Palmas, Tocantins (Brazil) 2002
  Colorado Springs's sister city organization began when it became partners with Fujiyoshida. The torii gate erected to commemorate the relationship stands at the corner of Bijou Street and Nevada Avenue, and is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. The torii gate, crisscrossed bridge and shrine, in the median between Platte and Bijou Streets downtown, were a gift to Colorado Springs, erected in 1966 by the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs to celebrate the friendship between the two communities. A plaque near the torii gate states that "the purpose of the sister city relationship is to promote understanding between the people of our two countries and cities". The Fujiyoshida Student exchange program has become an annual event.
  To strengthen relations between the two cities, the Colorado Springs Youth Symphony regularly invites taiko drummers from the city to participate in a joint concert in the Pikes Peak Center. The orchestra played in Bankstown, Australia, in 2002 and again in June 2006 as part of their tours to Australia and New Zealand.
  In 2006 and 2010, the Bankstown TAP (Talent Advancement Program) performed with the Youth Symphony and the Colorado Springs Children's Chorale as part of the annual "In Harmony" program.
  A notable similarity between Colorado Springs and its sister cities is their geographic positions: three of the seven cities are near the foot of a major mountain or mountain range, as is Colorado Springs.
caption: Bishkek mayor Arstanbek Nogoev presents a gift for Colorado Springs mayor Lionel Rivera to a US airman at Manas Air Base, in a ceremony aimed at reviving ties between the two sister cities.[195]
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