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Basel facts for kids

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Basel
Basle
View from the Rhine
View from the Rhine
Coat of arms of BaselBasle
Coat of arms
BaselBasle is located in Switzerland
BaselBasle
Basel
Basle
Location in Switzerland
BaselBasle is located in Canton of Basel-Stadt
BaselBasle
Basel
Basle
Location in Canton of Basel-Stadt
Country Switzerland
Canton Basel-Stadt
District n.a
Area
 • Total 23.85 km2 (9.21 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.

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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Basilea para niños

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