Basel facts for kids

Basel
Basle
Quick facts for kids Basel; Basle
	View from the Rhine
	Coat of arms
	Coat of arms
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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
Area
• Total	23.91 km2 (9.23 sq mi)
Postal code	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

Basel (French: Bâle) is a city in the north of Switzerland. It is sometimes called Basle in English. 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. 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

Images for kids

The Rhine river with the old town of Basel to the right
The Roman theatre in Augusta Raurica
1493 woodcut of Basle, 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."
Basel tram network
Tram in the city centre (Bankverein)
University Children's hospital Basel
Novartis Campus Basel
Roche Tower, the tallest building in Switzerland
Art Basel (2009)
Inauguration ceremony of the University of Basel, 1460
The Gymnasium Leonhard
Tinguely's Carnival Fountain (Fasnachtsbrunnen)
Elisabethenkirche (inside)
Wildt'sches Haus, Petersplatz
The Kunstmuseum Basel, oldest public museum of art in Europe
The Fondation Beyeler by Renzo Piano, located in Riehen
The Antelope House at Zoo Basel
St. Jakob-Park
Roger Federer at the 2010 Australian Open
St. Alban Gate
Rathaus, Basel's Town Hall
Protestant Cathedral
Gemsberg
University of Basel (est. in 1460)
Barfüsserplatz
Münsterplatz
Wettsteinbrücke
Global seat of the Bank for International Settlements
Haus zum Kirschgarten
Spalentor