Zürich facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Zürich
From top: View over Zürich and the lake, the Opera House, Prime Tower at night, ETH main building and Fraumünster church in the old town.
Coat of arms
Zürich Location in Switzerland Show map of Switzerland Zürich Location in Canton of Zürich Show map of Canton of Zürich
Country	Switzerland
Canton	Zürich
District	Zürich
Area
• Total	87.88 km2 (33.93 sq mi)
Elevation	408 m (1,339 ft)
Highest elevation (Uetliberg)	871 m (2,858 ft)
Lowest elevation (Limmat)	392 m (1,286 ft)
Demonym(s)	German: Zürcher(in)
Postal code	8000–8099
Surrounded by	Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
Twin towns	Kunming, San Francisco, Srinagar

Zürich or Zurich (German: Zürich Swiss German: Züri) is a city in Switzerland. Zürich is the capital city of the Canton of Zürich. About 415,000 people live in the city and over 1.5 million live in the metropolitan area. This makes Zürich the biggest city in Switzerland.

Geography

Zürich is located in the north of Switzerland. It is at the northern end of Lake Zürich and is surrounded by hills. The rivers Limmat and Sihl flow through the city. The city is divided into twelve districts (known as Kreis in German), numbered 1 to 12.

History

The city was first built by the Romans. The Canton joined Switzerland in 1351.

Economy

In the city of Zürich, most of the people work in the commerce part of the economy. Zürich is one of the largest financial centres in the world. Many famous banks and insurance companies are located here, for example UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss Life and Swiss Re.

The airport of Zürich is located about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) to the north, in a town called Kloten. Zürich Airport ("Flughafen Zürich", IATA:ZRH) is the biggest airport in Switzerland. Zürich Main Station is the busiest train station in Switzerland with many national and international connections.

The headquarters of FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is also in Zürich.

Education

Zurich has two universities. ETH Zürich is ranked among the top universities in the world. Over 20 Nobel Prize winners have studied or worked there, for example Albert Einstein.. The other university is the University of Zürich. It is the largest university in Switzerland.

Gallery

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  The Limmat in the old town of Zürich.

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  The Grossmünster is one of the four big churches in the city.

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  Credit Suisse headquarters at Paradeplatz.

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  Areal image of the western part of Zürich in Altstetten.

Images for kids

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  Johann Balthasar Bullinger's imagining of Zürich in Roman times (engraving 1773)

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  A scene depicting the Old Zürich War in 1443 (1514, illustration in Federal Chronicle by Werner Schodoler)

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  The coat of arms on the Town Hall

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  Zürich's twelve municipal districts

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  Zürich from Waidberg

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  A paddle steamer on Lake Zürich

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  The busy Hauptbahnhof main hall

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  Augustinergasse in the old town

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  The Bahnhofstrasse seen from Paradeplatz

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  The 88-metre Sunrise Tower (2005) was the first approved high-rise building in twenty years.

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  Main building of the University of Zürich

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  Swiss television's building

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  Opening of the Zurich Film Festival (2008)

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  Zürich during the Street Parade (2008)

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  Opernhaus

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  Zürich at night

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  FIFA Headquarters

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  2007 Zürich Weltklasse

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  Part of "Oepfelchammer", in which the so-called "Balkenprobe" takes place

See also

In Spanish: Zúrich para niños