Cross-border town naming occurs where

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

s or

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

s with the same or equivalent names are divided between two different countries. This does not necessarily imply that those towns or villages are located in geographic proximity or that they are located near a current border ( divided cities). Reasons for this taking place may include the following: * The town or village existed before the border or even before the modern concept of a border. The border was added later (sometimes by war), dividing a community. * A community on one side of a border grows up to service the border and then takes the name of the adjacent community on the other side of the border. * Communities grow up on both sides of the border to service the border, taking the name of the border crossing. Most places are in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, but there are also some examples in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. In

, until the first half of the 20th century and again since the Schengen Agreement in the late 20th century, such divisions could be mostly ignored by the inhabitants.

Examples

Note that this list includes only places with similar names that are in someway connected (by history, geography or otherwise) across modern-day international borders. Towns that have the same name but bear no relationship to each other are also very common but not particularly notable.

Africa

Asia

Europe

North America

Towns and cities listed have names of a common origin across an international boundary; matching pairs across provincial or state boundaries (such as Kansas City or

Lloydminster Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administra ...

) are common but are not listed here.

South America

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Cross-border town ! Countries , - , Antofagasta de la Sierra and

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

, rowspan="3" , / , - , Coquimbito and Coquimbo , - , San Sebastián , - ,

Foz do Iguaçu Foz do Iguaçu (; "Iguazu River mouth"), colloquially referred to as Foz, is the Brazilian city on the border of Iguaçu Falls. Foz in Portuguese language, Portuguese means the mouth or end of a river and Iguaçu in Guarani language, Guarani or Tup ...

and

Puerto Iguazú Puerto Iguazú is a border city in the provinces of Argentina, province of Misiones Province, Misiones, Argentina. With a population of 82,227 (), it is the fourth largest city in the Misiones Province, Province, after Posadas, Misiones, Posadas, ...

, / , - , Guajará-Mirim and Guayaramerín , / , - , Oiapoque and Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock , / , - , Chuí and

Chuy Chuy () is a city in the extreme east of Uruguay, in the Rocha Department, northeast of Montevideo. It lies on the border with Brazil, separated from its Brazilian sister town of Chuí only by a shared avenue that serves as the border, and by the ...