Basel

Basel
Basle
Basel; Basle
Municipality
	View from the Rhine
	Coat of arms
	Location of Basel; Basle
	Basel; Basle Basel; Basle
	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 SPS/PSS; (as of 2020)
• Parliament	Grosser Rat ; with 100 members
Area
• Total	23.85 km2 (9.21 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2018)
• Total	177,595
• Density	7,400/km2 (19,000/sq mi)
Demonyms	German: Basler(in), French: Bâlois(e), Italian: Basilese
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code(s)	4000
SFOS number	2701
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.bs.ch ; SFSO statistics

47°34′N 7°36′E / 47.567°N 7.600°E / 47.567; 7.600

Basel (French: Bâle) is a city in the north of Switzerland. It is sometimes called Basle in English.^[4] Basel is the capital of the Swiss canton of Basel-Stadt.

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.