Sister cities of Ithaca, New York

The city of Ithaca /ˈɪθəkə/ is a city in central New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area (which also contains the separate municipalities of the town of Ithaca, the village of Cayuga Heights, the village of Lansing and other towns and villages in Tompkins County). The city of Ithaca sits on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, in Central New York. It is named for the Greek island of Ithaca.

Ithaca is best known for being home to Cornell University, an Ivy League school of over 20,000 students (most of whom study on Cornell’s Ithaca campus). Ithaca College is located just south of the city in the town of Ithaca, adding to Ithaca’s "college town" focus and atmosphere. Nearby is Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3). These three colleges influence Ithaca's seasonal population. In 2010, the city's population was 30,014, and the metropolitan area had a population of 101,564.

Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca is the North American seat of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama.