Basel
Coordinates: 47°34′N 7°36′E / 47.567°N 7.600°E
Basel (French: Bâle) is a city in the north of Switzerland. It is sometimes called Basle in English.[1] Basel is the capital of the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt.
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 Coat of arms | |
Location of Basel
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| Coordinates: 47°33′17″N 07°35′26″E / 47.55472°N 7.59056°E | |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Canton | Basel-Stadt |
| District | n.a |
| Government | |
| • Executive | Regierungsrat with 7 members |
| • Mayor | Regierungspräsident/in Beat Jans SP (as of 2020) |
| • Parliament | Grosser Rat with 100 members |
| Area | |
| • Total | 22.75 km2 (8.78 sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (Central European Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time) |
| Postal code(s) | 4000 |
| Surrounded by | Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), Saint-Louis (FR-68), Weil am Rhein (DE-BW) |
| Twin towns | Shanghai, Miami Beach |
| Website | www SFSO statistics |
The city has a population of about 170,000 people and is the third largest city in Switzerland after Zürich and Geneva.
Basel borders Germany and France in the north and the canton of Basel-Land in the south. The Rhine river flows through the city.
History
Basel was a prince-bishopric from 999 until 1803. Most of the city was destroyed in the 1356 Basel earthquake, the strongest earthquake ever recorded in Central Europe. Basel joined Switzerland in 1501.
Economy
Basel is well known for the many chemical and pharmaceutical companies that are located in the city, such as Novartis, Syngenta and Hoffmann-La Roche.
The only ports in Switzerland are located along the Rhine river in Basel, which makes the city important for imports and exports to and from Switzerland. Water transport using cargo ships on the Rhine river connects Basel with the seaport of Rotterdam. Basel ports are connected to the Swiss railway and road network.
Basel shares the international airport EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg with the French city Mulhouse.
Education
The University of Basel was founded in 1460 and is the oldest in Switzerland and one of the oldest in the world. Erasmus, Paracelsus, Daniel Bernoulli, Leonhard Euler and Friedrich Nietzsche worked here.
Gallery
Basel Minster
Town Hall
Cable ferry across the Rhine
View over the city with the Roche Headquarters in the front
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Basel Media
The Rhine with the old town of Basel to the right
The Roman theatre in Augusta Raurica, one of the most important Roman archaeological sites in Switzerland
1493 woodcut of Basel, from the Nuremberg Chronicle
Map of Basel in 1642, engraved by Matthäus Merian, oriented with SW at the top and NE at the bottom
First World Zionist Congress in Basel, 1897 (Stadtcasino)
Basel (in the upper left corner) as seen from Bettingen (television tower St. Chrischona) facing France
The main synagogue of Basel
The Rhine in Basel as Switzerland's gateway to the sea
Basel Bahnhof SBB, self-proclaimed "world's first international railway station"
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References
Other websites
- Official website of the city of Basel Archived 2005-04-26 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
