The city of Nîmes in France became Fort Worth’s ninth sister city Thursday.

Nîmes Mayor Jean-Paul Fournier and Councilwoman Ann Zadeh, stepping in for Mayor Betsy Price, signed the municipal agreement at the Fort Worth Modern Art Museum.

The process of becoming sister cities began in 2017 when a Fort Worth search team visited Nîmes.

Twenty-one high school students from Nîmes arrived in Fort Worth Friday. They will spend 10 days on an educational exchange hosted by FWISD World Languages Institute and Fort Worth Country Day School.

Price will take a group to Nîmes Sept. 25 through Oct. 4 to sign the mutual agreement there. To join the group, contact beth@fwsistercities.org.

Fort Worth’s eight other sister cities are Bandung, Indonesia, Budapest, Hungary, Guiyang, China, Mbabane, Eswatini, Nagaoka, Japan, Reggio Emilia, Italy, Toluca, Mexico and Trier, Germany.