Zurich
| Zurich | ||||||||||
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| Population | 372,047 (Dec 2010) | |||||||||
| - Density | 4,049 /km (10,488 /sq mi) | |||||||||
| Area | 87.88 km (33.93 sq mi) | |||||||||
| Elevation | 408 m (1,339 ft) | |||||||||
| - Highest | 871 m - Üetliberg | |||||||||
| - Lowest | 392 m - Limmat | |||||||||
| Postal code | 8000–8099 | |||||||||
| SFOS number | 0261 | |||||||||
| Mayor (list) | Corine Mauch (as of 2009) SPS/PSS | |||||||||
| Twin towns | Kunming, San Francisco | |||||||||
| Website | www.stadt-zuerich.ch SFSO statistics | |||||||||
  Zurich | ||||||||||
Zurich (German: Zürich, German pronunciation: ; Swiss German: Züri) is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. While the municipality itself has approximately 380,500 inhabitants, the Zurich metropolitan area is an urbanised area of international importance constituted by a population of nearly 2 million inhabitants. Zurich is a mixed hub for railways, roads, and air traffic. Both Zurich Airport and railway station are the largest and busiest in the country.
Permanently settled for around 7,000 years, the history of Zurich goes back to its founding by the Romans, who, in 15 BC, called it Turicum. During the Middle Ages Zurich gained the independent and privileged status of imperial immediacy and, in 1519, was the place of origin and centre of the Protestant Reformation in German-speaking Switzerland, led by Ulrich Zwingli.
Zurich is a leading global city and among the world's largest financial centres. The city is home to a large number of financial institutions and banking giants. Also, most of the research and development centres are concentrated in Zurich and the low rate of tax attracts overseas companies to set up their headquarters there. According to several surveys from 2006 to 2008, Zurich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world as well as the wealthiest city in Europe.
An impressive number of museums and art galleries can be found in the city, including the Swiss National Museum and the Kunsthaus. Zurich also hosts one of the most important theatres in the German-speaking world.
Name
The Swiss standard German pronunciation of the name is ( listen). In Zurich German without the final consonant, Züri [ˈtsyɾi], although the adjective remains Zürcher [ˈtsyrxər]. The city is called Zurich in French, Zurigo in Italian, and Turitg [tuˈritɕ] in Romansh.
In English, the name is usually written Zurich, without the umlaut. It is pronounced (zewr-ik) or (zoor-ik); more recently sometimes also with /ts/ as in German.
The earliest known form of the city's name is Turicum, attested on a tombstone of the late 2nd century AD in the form STA(tio) TURICEN(sis) ("Turicum tax post"). Neither the name's linguistic origin (most likely Rhaetic or Celtic) nor its meaning can be determined with certainty. A possibility is derivation from *Turīcon, from the Gaulish personal name Tūros. The stress on the long vowel of the Gaulish name, [tuˈriːkon], was lost in German [ˈtsyːʁɪç] but is preserved in Italian Zurigo [dzuˈriːɡo].
A first development towards its later, Germanic form is attested as early as the 6th century with the form Ziurichi. From the 10th century onward, the name has more or less clearly been established as Zürich (Zurih (857), Zurich (924)).
Zurich is sometimes referred to as "Downtown Switzerland" for publicity reasons.
History
Early history
Old Swiss Confederacy
Modern history
Coat of arms
Government
Geography
Topography
The municipality of Zurich has an area of 91.88 square kilometres (35.48 sq mi), of which 4.1 km (1.6 sq mi) is made up of Lake Zurich. The area includes a section of the northern Swiss Plateau. The banks of the Limmat constitute the densest part of the city. The river is oriented in the southeast-northwest direction, with the flat valley floor having a width of two to three kilometres. The partially channelled and straightened Limmat does not flow in the central part of the valley, but always along its right (northeastern) side. The river Sihl meets with the Limmat at the end of Platzspitz, which borders the Swiss National Museum. The Limmat reaches the lowest point of the municipality in Oberengstringen at 392 m (1,286 ft) above sea level.
Climate
Zurich has, depending on the definition used, an oceanic or humid continental climate (Köppen Cfb/Dfb), with four distinct seasons. Decisive for the climate of Zurich are both the winds from westerly directions, which often result in precipitation and, on the other hand, the Bise (east or north-east wind), which is usually associated with high-pressure situations, but cooler weather phases with temperatures lower than the average. The Foehn wind, which plays an important role in the northern alpine valleys, has a limited impact on Zurich.
The annual mean temperature at the measuring station of the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology in Zurich (556 m [1,824 ft] above sea level on the slope of the Zürichberg, 150 m [490 ft] above the level of the city centre) is 8.5 °C (47.3 °F). The coldest month mean temperatures are measured in January with −0.5 °C (31.1 °F) and the warmest are measured in July with 17.6 °C (63.7 °F). On average there are 88 days in which the minimum temperature is below 0 °C (32 °F), and 26 days in which the maximum temperature is below 0 °C (32 °F). There are on average 30 summer days (above 25 °C [77 °F]) throughout the year, while hot days (with a temperature reaching 30 °C [86 °F]) are only three. The average high temperature in July are 23.6 °C (74.5 °F) and low temperature are 11.6 °C (52.9 °F). Spring and autumn are generally cool to mild. These values are relatively low compared to other stations on the plateau but they can be explained by the altitude of the station. In the Limmat valley more summer days and hot days can be expected. Zurich has an average of 1,482 hours of sunshine per year. The 1,136 millimetres (44.7 in) rainfall spread throughout the year. During the warmer half of the year and especially the three summer months, levels of rainfall are higher than those measured in winter. The meteorological station at Kloten gives an average precipitation of 1,031 millimetres (40.6 in).
Climate protection
The city of Zurich is among the world-leaders in protecting the climate by following a manifold approach. In November 2008 the people of Zurich voted in a public referendum to write into law the quantifiable and fixed deadline of one tonne of CO2 per person per annum by 2050. This forces any decision of the executive to support this goal, even if the costs are higher in all dimensions. Some examples are the new disinfection section of the public city hospital in Triemli (Minergie-P quality – passive house), the continued optimisation and creation of public transportation, enlargement of the bicycle-only network, research and projects for renewable energy and enclosure of speed-ways.
Urban area
The areas surrounding the Limmat are almost completely built over (residential, industrial areas, commercial zones). Also densely built, the sun-exposed and preferred residential locations on the hills overlooking Zurich, Waidberg and Zürichberg and the bottom section of the slope on the western side of the valley on the Üetliberg.
The green lungs of the city include the vast forest areas of Adlisberg, Zürichberg, Käferberg, Hönggerberg and Üetliberg. Major parks are also located along the lakeshore (Zurichhorn and Enge). Furthermore, the cultivated area through parks and gardens is loosened. Larger contiguous agricultural lands are located near Affoltern and Seebach. Of the total area of the municipality of Zurich (in 1996, without the lake), 45.4% are settlements, industry and commerce, 15.5% are transports, 26.5% are forests, 11%: is agriculture and 1.2% is water.
City districts
Transport
Demographics
Languages
The official language used by the government and in most publications is German, while the main language is Zurich German (Züritüütsch), which is a dialect of Alemannic. As of 2000, speakers with Alemannic or German as their mother-tongue make up 77.7% of the population. Italian follows behind at 4.7% of the population. Other native languages spoken by more than 1% of the population include South Slavic languages (2.2%)—this includes Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian, Macedonian, and Slovenian, Spanish (2.2%), French (2.1%), English (1.8%), Portuguese (1.6%), Albanian (1.5%).
Religion
After the Reformation led by Huldrych Zwingli, Zurich was a centre and stronghold of Protestantism in Switzerland. Over the course of the 20th century, a significant number of Catholics settled in the city, and Catholics instead of Protestants became the largest denomination - although not representing a majority of the total population; in 2000, Catholics were the largest single denomination at 33.3% of the population. At the end of 2009, a plurality of the population of the canton did not declare a religion, claimed no faith, or identified with a non-Christian religion. In the city of Zurich, at the end of 2010, 165,686 (or 45%) had no faith, did not respond, or identified with another confession, Catholics numbered 111,946 (30%), and members of the Swiss Reformed Church numbered 94,419 (or 25%)
Social
The level of unemployment in Zurich was 2.6% in August 2007. About 4% of the city population, 15,500, live either directly or indirectly on welfare payment from the state (April 2005).
Main sights
Churches
Museums
Parks and nature
Architecture
World heritage sites
The prehistoric settlements at Enge Alpenquai and Grosse Stadt Kleiner Hafner are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Economy
Zurich is a leading financial center and global city. The Greater Zurich Area is Switzerland's economic centre and home to a vast number of international companies. By far the most important sector in the economy of Zurich is the service industry, which employs nearly four fifths of workers. Other important industries include light industry, machine and textile industries and tourism. Most Swiss banks have their headquarters in Zurich and there are numerous foreign banks in the Greater Zurich Area. Located in Zurich, the Swiss Stock Exchange was established in 1877 and is nowadays the fourth most prominent stock exchange in the world. In addition Zurich is the world's largest gold trading centre. Ten of the country's 50 largest companies have their head offices in Zurich, among them UBS, Credit Suisse, Swiss Re and Zurich Financial Services.
Contributory factors to economic strength
The high quality of life has been cited as a reason for economic growth in Zurich. The consulting firm Mercer has for many years ranked Zurich as a city with the highest quality of life in the world. In particular, Zurich received high scores for work, housing, leisure, education and safety. Local planning authorities ensure clear separation between urban and recreational areas and there are many protected nature reserves. Other cities in the country, Bern and Geneva, were also listed among the top ten. Zurich is also ranked the sixth most expensive city in the world. In 2008, Zurich was ranked ninth. The city ranked behind Hong Kong and ahead of Copenhagen. It is the third most expensive city in Europe and second most expensive city in Switzerland after Geneva.
Zurich benefits from the high level of investment in education that is typical of Switzerland in general and provides skilled labour at all levels. The city is home to two major universities, thus enabling access to graduates and high technology research. Professional training incorporates a mix of practical work experience and academic study while, in general, emphasis is placed on obtaining a good level of general education and language ability. As a result the city is home to many multilingual people and employees generally demonstrate a high degree of motivation and a low level of absenteeism. Such characteristics are reflected in the high level of productivity the region enjoys and account for the opening of offices and research centres in the city by large corporations.
The Swiss stock exchange
Education and research
State universities by size in Canton Zurich
Only (federal) state Universities and higher education institutions,
Media
Many large Swiss media conglomerates are headquartered in Zurich, such as tamedia, Ringier and the NZZ-Verlag. Zurich is one of the most important media locations in the German speaking part of the country. This status has been recently reinforced by the increase in availability of online publications published in Zurich.
Television and radio
Print media
There are three large daily newspapers published in Zurich that are known across Switzerland. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), the Tages-Anzeiger and the Blick, the largest Swiss tabloid. All three of those newspapers publish Sunday editions. These are the "NZZ am Sonntag", "SonntagsZeitung" and "SonntagsBlick". Besides the three main daily newspapers, there are free daily commuter newspapers which are widely distributed: 20 Minuten (20 minutes), published weekdays in the mornings and Blick am Abend, weekdays but in the late afternoon.
There are a number of magazines from major publishers that are based in Zurich. Some examples are: Bilanz, Die Weltwoche, and Annabelle.
Culture
Opera, ballet and theaters
Food
The traditional cuisine of Zurich consists of traditional fare, reflecting the centuries of rule by patrician burghers as well as the lasting imprint of Huldrych Zwingli's puritanism. Traditional dishes include Zürcher Geschnetzeltes and Tirggel.
Nightlife and clubbing
Sports
The people of Zurich enjoy an active lifestyle and sport is an integral part of Swiss culture and society. The abundance of international sporting facilities make Zurich an attractive place for sport lovers and several international sport federations are located in the city.
Events
Notable people
People who were born or died in Zurich:
See also
References
Notes
External links
- Stadt Zürich (German) Official site
- City of Zurich Official Site, English Version
- Zürich Tourism Official site
- Zürich Info Zürich Informations
- Zürich Discussion Group
- 24 Hours in Zurich Travel Guide to Zurich
- Zurich Festivals Guide to events and festivals in Zurich
- Zurich travel guide from Wikitravel
- Touring Zurich – slideshow by The New York Times
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