▁ 1 9 5 1 ▁through ▁mer ger ▁with ▁neighbor ing ▁town ▁of ▁K atori ▁and ▁the ▁villages ▁of ▁Kas ai ▁and ▁H ig ashi - O to . ▁It ▁expanded ▁further ▁on ▁February ▁ 1 1 , ▁ 1 9 5 5 ▁through ▁an nex ation ▁of ▁the ▁neighbor ing ▁villages ▁of ▁M iz u ho , ▁Shin sh ima , ▁T sun omi ya ▁and ▁Ok ura . ▁In ▁March ▁ 1 9 9 6 , ▁S aw ara ▁established ▁sister ▁city ▁relations ▁with ▁Nan j ing ▁in ▁China . ▁ ▁On ▁March ▁ 2 7 , ▁ 2 0 0 6 , ▁S aw ara , ▁along ▁with ▁the ▁towns ▁of ▁Kur imo yo , ▁Om ig awa ▁and ▁Yam ada ▁( all ▁from ▁K atori ▁District ), ▁was ▁merged ▁to ▁create ▁the ▁city ▁of ▁K atori , ▁and ▁thus ▁no ▁longer ▁exists ▁as ▁an ▁independent ▁municipality . ▁ ▁In ▁February ▁ 2 0 0 6 ▁( the ▁last ▁data ▁available ▁before ▁its ▁mer ger ▁into ▁K atori ), ▁the ▁city ▁had ▁an ▁estimated ▁population ▁of ▁ 4 7 , 2 4 4 ▁and ▁a ▁population ▁density ▁of ▁ 3 9 4 ▁persons ▁per ▁km ². ▁Its ▁total ▁area ▁was ▁ 1 1 9 . 8 8   km ². ▁ ▁Point s ▁of ▁interest ▁▁ ▁S aw ara ▁Municipal ▁Aqu atic ▁Botan ical ▁Garden ▁ ▁S aw ara ' s ▁town ▁center , ▁which ▁is ▁an ▁old ▁Japanese ▁merchant ▁town , ▁with ▁historical ▁canal . ▁ ▁Water fall ▁bridge