Riehen Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Riehen

Coat of arms

Switzerland

n.a.

Area

• Total

10.87 km² (4.20 sq mi)

Elevation

278 m (912 ft)

Population

(Jul 2021 )

• Total

21,788

• Density

2,004.4/km² (5,191.4/sq mi)

Postal code

4125

Surrounded by

Basel, Bettingen, Birsfelden (BL), Grenzach-Wyhlen (DE-BW), Inzlingen (DE-BW), Lörrach (DE-BW), Weil am Rhein (DE-BW)

Twin towns

Miercurea Ciuc (Romania), Mutten (Switzerland)

Riehen (Swiss German: Rieche) is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton.

Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a privately owned art gallery) as well as a toy museum.

Riehen was the first municipality in Switzerland to elect a woman, Trudy Späth-Schweizer to political office, in 1958.

History
Neighbourhood
Geography
Images for kids
See also

History

Riehen is first mentioned in 1157 as Rieheim.

Neighbourhood

Riehen is bounded by two different municipalities in Switzerland and Germany.

	Lörrach (D)
Weil am Rhein (D)		Inzlingen (D)

Basel	Birsfelden	Bettingen Grenzach-Wyhlen (D)

Geography

Canal near Riehen

Riehen has an area, as of 2009^[update], of 10.86 square kilometers (4.19 sq mi). Of this area, 2.78 km² (1.07 sq mi) or 25.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 2.74 km² (1.06 sq mi) or 25.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 5.19 km² (2.00 sq mi) or 47.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.23 km² (0.089 sq mi) or 2.1% is either rivers or lakes.

Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 28.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 7.7%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 11.3%. Out of the forested land, 23.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 14.2% is used for growing crops and 7.3% is pastures, while 4.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.2% is in lakes and 1.9% is in rivers and streams.

The municipality is located on the right bank of the Rhine on the Swiss-German border between Wiese and the Chrischonahügel.