GENEVA

'Geneva' (pronunciation //; French: 'Genève' //, German: //, Italian: 'Ginevra' //, Romansh: 'Genevra') is the second most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich), and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). It is situated where Lake Geneva (French ''Lac Léman'') flows into the Rhône River, and is the capital of the Republic and Canton of Geneva. In 2004-2005, the population of the canton was 441,000, that of the "commune" within the traditional city limits 185,526, and that of the metropolitan area — which extends into neighboring France and Swiss Canton of Vaud — about 960,000. Geneva is widely regarded as a global city, mainly due to the presence of numerous international organizations, including the headquarters of many of the agencies of the United Nations. A 2006 survey found Geneva to have the second highest quality of living in the world (after Zürich).^[1]
See Names of European cities in different languages for a list of the name of this city in other languages.

History

:''For the Catholic ecclesiastical history, see Lausanne and Geneva bishopric(s)''

Rue de la Croix-d'Or, one of the main streets of Geneva, part of ''les Rues Basses''

''Geneva'' was the name of a settlement of the Celtic people of the Allobroges. The name of ''Genava'' (or ''Genua'') in Latin appeared for the first time in the writings of Julius Caesar in ''De Bello Gallico'', his comments on the Gallic Wars. Its name may be identical in origin to the name of the Ligurian city of ''Genua'' (modern Genoa), meaning "knee", that is, "angle", referring to its geographical position; though more likely is based on the root gen- 'birth' (Genawa is at the birth of the river from the womb of the lake; perhaps the name in full means 'birth-water'). After the Roman conquest it became part of the ''Provincia Romana'' (Gallia Narbonensis). In 58 BC, at Geneva, Caesar hemmed in the Helvetii on their westward march. In the 9th century it became the capital of Burgundy. Though Geneva was contested among Burgundians and Franks and the Holy Roman Emperors, in practice it was ruled by its Prince-bishops, until the Reformation, when Geneva became a republic.

St. Pierre Cathedral in Geneva's Old Town

Due to the work of reformers such as John Calvin, Geneva was sometimes dubbed ''the Protestant Rome''. In the 16th century Geneva was the center of Calvinism; the St. Pierre Cathedral in what is now called the Old Town was John Calvin's own church. During the time when England was ruled by the Catholic Queen Mary I Tudor, who persecuted Protestants, a number of Protestant scholars fled to Geneva. Among these scholars was William Whittingham who supervised the translation of the Geneva Bible in collaboration with Miles Coverdale, Christopher Goodman, Anthony Gilby, Thomas Sampson and William Cole. In addition, the social philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born and raised in Geneva's Old Town.
One of the most important events in Geneva's history is ''l'Escalade'' (literally: "the scaling of the wall"). For the people of Geneva, l'Escalade is the symbol of their independence. It marked the final attempt in a series of assaults mounted throughout the 16th century by Savoy, which wanted to annex Geneva as its capital north of the Alps. This last assault happened on the night of 11-12 December 1602 and is celebrated yearly in the Old Town with numerous demonstrations and a parade of horses, cannons and armed men in period costumes.
Geneva, or officially the ''Canton & Republic of Geneva'', became a canton of Switzerland in 1815.
The first of the Geneva Conventions was signed in 1864, to protect the sick and wounded in war time.

Geography

Satellite photo of the Geneva region. The Jura mountains can be seen at the top, and the Alps at the bottom.

Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09' East, at the south-western end of Lake Geneva, where the lake flows into the Rhône River. It is surrounded by two mountain chains, the Alps and the Jura.
The city of Geneva has an area of 15.86 km², while the area of the Canton of Geneva is 282 km², including the two small enclaves of Céligny in Vaud. The part of the lake that is attached to Geneva has an area of 38 km² and is sometimes referred to as ''Petit lac'' (''small lake''). The Canton has only a 4.5 km border with the rest of Switzerland; out of a total of 107.5 km of borders, the remaining 103 are shared with France, with the Départment de l'Ain to the North and the Département de la Haute-Savoie to the South.
The altitude of Geneva is 373.6 m, and corresponds to the altitude of the largest of the Pierres du Niton, two large rocks emerging from the lake which date from the last ice age. This rock was chosen by General Guillaume Henri Dufour as the reference point for all surveying in Switzerland.^[2]
The second main river of Geneva is the Arve River which flows into the Rhône River just west of the city centre.

Administrative Divisions

The city of Geneva is divided into 8 "quartiers" or districts, often made up of several conglomerated neighborhoods([1]). On the Left Bank (Rive Gauche) these include Jonction, Centre / Plainpalais / Acacias, Eaux-Vives and Champel while the Right Bank includes Saint-Jean / Charmilles, Servette / Petit-Saconnex, Grottes / Saint-Gervais and Paquis / Nations.

Demographic

As of 2005, the population of the Commune (city) of Geneva was 185,028, while 441,000 people lived in the Canton of Geneva; around 960,000 people live in the Geneva urban community, which extends into Vaud Canton and neighboring France.
The population of the Canton is split between 148,500 people originally from Geneva (33.7%), 122,400 Swiss from other cantons (27.6%) and 170,500 foreigners (38.7%), from 180 different countries.^[3] Including people holding multiple citizenship, 54.4% of people living in Geneva hold a foreign passport.^[4]
While Geneva is usually considered as a Protestant city, there are now more Roman Catholics (39.5%) than Protestants (17.4%) living in the Canton. 22% of the inhabitants indicate that they are not part of any religion, the rest being shared between Islam (4.4%), Judaism (1.1%), other religions and people who did not respond.^[5]

International organizations

UN European headquarters in Geneva.

Economy

Geneva's economy is mainly services oriented. The city has an important and old finance sector, which is specialized in private banking (managing assets of about 1 trillion USD) and financing of international trade. It is also an important centre of commodity trade.
Geneva hosts the international headquarters of companies like JT International (JTI), Mediterranean Shipping Company, Serono, SITA, Société Générale de Surveillance and STMicroelectronics. Many other multinational companies like DuPont, Electronic Arts, Hewlett-Packard, INVISTA, Procter & Gamble and Sun Microsystems have their European headquarters in the city too.
There is a long tradition of watchmaking (Baume et Mercier, Chopard, Franck Muller, Patek Philippe, Rolex, Raymond Weil, Omega, etc.). Two major international producers of flavours and fragrances, Firmenich and Givaudan, have their headquarters and main production facilities in Geneva.
Many people also work in the numerous offices of international organizations located in Geneva (about 24,000 in 2001).
Geneva Motor Show is one of the most important international auto-shows. The show is held at Palexpo, a giant convention center located next to the International Airport

Infrastructure

Transport

Tram in Geneva

The city is served by the Geneva Cointrin International Airport. It is connected to both the Swiss railway network SBB-CFF-FFS, and the French SNCF network, including direct connections to Paris, Marseille and Montpellier by TGV. Geneva is also connected to the motorway systems of both Switzerland (A1 motorway) and France.
Public transport by bus, trolleybus or tram is provided by ''Transports Publics Genevois'' (TPG). In addition to an extensive coverage of the city centre, the network covers most of the municipalities of the Canton, with a few lines extending into France. Public transport by boat is provided by the Mouettes Genevoises, which link the two banks of the lake within the city, and by the ''Compagnie Générale de Navigation sur le lac Léman'' (CGN) which serves more distant destinations such as Nyon, Yvoire, Thonon, Evian, Lausanne and Montreux using both modern diesel vessels and vintage paddle steamers.
Trains operated by SBB-CFF-FFS connect the airport to the main station of Cornavin in a mere six minutes, and carry on to towns such as Nyon, Lausanne, Fribourg, Montreux, Neuchâtel, Berne, Sion, Sierre, etc. Regional train services are being increasingly developed, towards Coppet and Bellegarde. At the city limits, two new stations have been created since 2002: Genève-Sécheron (close to the UN and the Botanical Gardens) and Lancy-Pont-Rouge.
In 2005, work started on the CEVA (Cornavin - Eaux-Vives - Annemasse) project, first planned in 1884, which will connect Cornavin with the Cantonal hospital, the Eaux-Vives station and Annemasse, in France. The link between the main station and the classification yard of La Praille already exists; from there, the line will go mostly underground to the Hospital and the Eaux-Vives, where it will link up to the existing line to France. Support for this project was obtained from all parties in the local parliament. [3]
Taxis in Geneva can be difficult to find, and may need to be booked in advance especially in the early morning or at peak hours. In addition, which may be surprising in a modern country like Switzerland, taxis often refuse to take babies and children.
^[6]

Utilities

Water, natural gas and electricity are provided to the municipalities of the Canton of Geneva by the state-owned Services Industriels de Genève (or SIG). Most of the drinkable water (80%) is extracted from the lake; the remaining 20% is provided by groundwater originally formed by infiltration from the Arve River. 30% of the Canton's needs in electricity are locally produced, mainly by three hydroelectric dams on the Rhone River (Seujet, Verbois and Chancy-Pougny). In addition, 13% of the electricity produced in the Canton is made from the heat induced by the burning of waste at the waste incineration facility of Les Cheneviers. The remaining needs (57%) are covered by imports from other cantons in Switzerland or other European countries; SIG buys only electricity produced by renewable methods, and in particular does not use electricity produced using nuclear reactors or fossil fuels.
Natural gas is available in the City of Geneva, as well as in about two-thirds of the municipalities of the canton, and is imported from western Europe by the Swiss company Gaznat. SIG also provides telecommunication facilities to carriers, service providers and large enterprises. From 2003 to 2005 "Voisin, voisine" a Fibre to the Home pilot project with a Triple play offering was launched to test the end-user market in the Charmilles district.

Education

Geneva is home to the University of Geneva, founded by John Calvin in 1559. Also, the oldest international school in the world is located in Geneva, the International School of Geneva, founded in 1924 along with the League of Nations.
Webster University, an accredited American university, has a campus in Geneva. It is considered the most prestigious school that has classes in English in Switzerland.
The city is also home to one of the most prestigious graduate schools of international relations, the Graduate Institute of International Studies.
Other international schools include the International School of Geneva and Institut International de Lancy (founded in 1903).
The Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations is a private university located on the grounds of the Château de Penthes, an old manor with a park and view of Lac Leman.
The Canton of Geneva's public school system has "écoles primaires" (4-12), "cycles d'orientation" (12-15), and the post-obligatory "collèges" (15-19), the oldest of which is the Collège Calvin. It is housed in the ancient buildings of the University of Geneva, and could be considered one of the oldest public schools in the world. [4]
Geneva also has a wide choice of reputed private schools. (see Geneva Association of Private Schools)

Culture

Landmarks and sights

Notable sights in Geneva include the Reformation Wall, the ''Flower Clock'', the ''Jet d'Eau'' and the Palais des Nations, which serves as the European headquarters of the United Nations.
One of the city's most visited monuments is the ''Saint-Pierre Cathedral'', located at Cour Saint-Pierre, a noteworthy space of unique spiritual and cultural importance. The Cathedral explores the origins of Christianity in its ''archaeological site'', is now complemented by the International Museum of the Reformation, on the ground floor of the Maison Mallet. An underground passage, reopened when the Museum was created, connects the two buildings and a pass is now available for visitors to enjoy all three areas.
Another popular area for visitors is the old town (vielle ville) of Geneva. This refined part of town (an apartment there can cost more than the equivalent of a million American dollars) preserves the environment of a typical European town in the 18th century. Many notable people have resided in this part of Geneva in the past, such as Franz Liszt.
The city's most noted landmark is a fountain: the Jet d'Eau (''water-jet''), situated in Lake Geneva. Its 140-metre-high water column is visible from many parts of the city.
In 2000, Geneva was awarded the Wakker Prize for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage.

Museums and cultural life

The city of Geneva hosts many museums, most of them offering free entrance. Geneva spends close to 20% of its annual budget through its cultural department, an unmatched percentage in Europe.

★ Grand Théâtre ★ Institut et musée Voltaire ★ Maison Tavel ★ Musée de l'Ariana ★ Musée d'art et d'histoire ★ Musée d'Art moderne et contemporain	★ Musée d'ethnographie ★ Musée d'histoire des sciences ★ Musée de l'horlogerie ★ Musée Patek Philippe ★ International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum	★ International Museum of the Reformation ★ Musée Rath ★ Muséum d'histoire naturelle ★ Orchestre de la Suisse Romande ★ Victoria Hall

Media

Jet d'Eau in Geneva

The city's main newspaper is the Tribune de Genève, a daily newspaper founded on 1 February 1879 by James T. Bates, with a readership of about 187,000.
Le Courrier, founded in 1868, was originally supported by the Roman Catholic Church, but has been completely independent since 1996. Mainly focused on Geneva, Le Courrier is trying to expand into other cantons in Romandy. Both Le Temps (headquartered in Geneva) and Le Matin are widely read in Geneva, but both journals actually cover the whole of Romandy.
Geneva is covered by the various French language radio networks of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, in particular the Radio Suisse Romande. While these networks cover the whole of Romandy, special programs related to Geneva are sometimes broadcast on some of the local frequencies in the case of special events such as elections. Other local station broadcast from the city, including RadioLac (FM 91.8 MHz), Radio Cité (Non-commercial radio, FM 92.2 MHz), OneFM (FM 107.0 MHz, also broadcast in Vaud), and World Radio Geneva (FM 88.4 MHz), Switzerland's only English-language radio station.
The main television channel covering Geneva is the Télévision Suisse Romande; while its headquarters are located in Geneva, the programs cover the whole of Romandy and are not specific to Geneva. Léman Bleu is a local TV channel, founded in 1996 and distributed by cable.

Theatre

Within this multicultural society, English theatre flourishes, the key groups include Geneva English Drama Society (GEDS), Geneva Amateur Operatic Society (GAOS), Howard Productions and Simply Theatre.

Restaurants

Geneva offers a vast culinary scene, with restaurants from virtually all types of cuisine^[7] - not only numberless Italian, Japanese, or Mexican restaurants, but also Afghan, Peruvian and Ethiopian ones.

Health

Oddly, smoking is allowed in most public places in Geneva, which contrasts sharply with the current non-smoking ban trends of most European countries and many other parts of Switzerland (such as Canton Ticino). Smoking has only been banned on trains in 2005, and is allowed in restaurants and bars. Very few restaurants, at their owner's discretion, are non-smoking or offer a non-smoking section.

Sport

The main sport team in Geneva is Servette FC, a football club founded in 1890 and named after a borough on the right bank of the Rhône River. Servette was the only club to have remained in the top league in Switzerland since its creation in the 1930s; however, in 2005, management problems caused the bankruptcy of the club's parent company, causing the club to be demoted two divisions lower. It is now playing in second division. Geneva is also home of the Genève-Servette Hockey Club, who play in the Swiss Nationalliga A.

Traditions and customs

Since 1818, a particular chestnut tree is used as the official "herald of the spring" in Geneva. The ''sautier'' (secretary of the Parliament of the Canton of Geneva) observes the tree and notes the day of arrival of the first bud. While this event has no practical impact, the sautier issues a formal press release and the local newspaper will usually mention the news.
In 2007, the first bud appeared on 2 March.
Geneva celebrates Jeune genevois on the first Thursday following a Sunday in September. By local tradition, this commemorates when the news of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of Huguenots reached Geneva. The Genevois joke that the federal equivalent holiday, Jeune fédéral, is celebrated two weeks later on account of the rest of the country being a bit slow on the uptake.

Communities

As the Geneva authorities say, the history of the city is closely related to that of the foreign communities. Ever since the migration of foreigners to Geneva, these communities have found refuge, bringing their know-how, their customs and hope of a new life. They have widely participated in the international influence of Geneva, to its economic prosperity, and also to the spreading of views and of science.

Religious communities

There are quite many communities in Geneva. Religious communities are very diverse. Even if Geneva is supposed to be the Protestant Rome, many religions meet in Geneva. The Plymouth Brethren have a thriving assembly there, established since the days of John Nelson Darby. Beside the Protestants, the Catholics have been more and more numerous thanks to immigration from Latin countries. The Jewish community is one of the oldest of Switzerland, and the more recent Muslim community is emerging in this city which respects all communities.

Foreign communities

Even though Geneva is not a very large metropolis on the world scale, foreign communities are extremely diverse and numerous due to the fact that Geneva has throughout history welcomed immigrants from the rest of Europe (mainly France, Italy, Spain, Portugal), and that many UN agencies and NGOs are based in Geneva. Basically every nationality is represented in Geneva. Expatriates, including short-term ones, play an important part in the city's social life.

LGBT community

Many other communities or minorities are also very well represented in Geneva, including sexual minorities, with no less than three organizations: Dialogai, a gay organization; Lestime, a lesbian organization; and association 360, an LGBT organization. The Gay International Group (Geneva, Switzerland) is a good resource for gay foreigners, tourists or expatriates. Also, a new LGBT group has debuted within the University of Geneva itself, called "Think Out". This group addresses students and Professers linked directly or indirectly with the matter of sexual diversity.

Famous literature involving Geneva

★ ''Belle du Seigneur'' by Albert Cohen, ISBN 2070404021

★ ''Eleven Minutes'' by Paulo Coelho

★ ''Frankenstein'' by Mary Shelley

★ ''Geneva Nights'' by Clint Borgen, ISBN 0595273017

★ ''Politics and the Arts'' by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
;Comic books

★ ''Asterix in Switzerland'' by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo

★ ''The Calculus Affair'' by Hergé
;Film and television

★ The final part of Krzysztof Kieślowski's film trilogy, ''Three Colors'' called '' (1994), is set in Geneva

★ The sequence ''The Ozerov Inheritance'' (1972) of the television series ''The Persuaders!'' is set in Geneva

★ In 2005 Academy Award-winning Syriana (2005) Matt Damon plays an energy analyst based in Geneva.

★ In the television series Babylon 5, the capital of the Earth Alliance is located in Geneva.

★ The final scene of the movie F/X takes place in Geneva as the characters played by Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy go there to recover a fortune from a bank.

★ In the television series ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'', the original Red, Yellow, and Black Rangers (Jason, Trini, and Zack) were sent to a peace conference in Geneva when their actors left the show mid-season.

★ Scenes from Sean Connery's James Bond Film Goldfinger (1964) are set in Geneva

References

1. Mercer Human Resource Consulting World-wide quality of living survey. London, 10 April 2006. Last accessed 1 February 2007
2. Swisstopo, Height reference for Switzerland. Last accessed on 1 February 2007.
3. Population of Geneva, on the website of ''Statistique Genève''. Last accessed 1 February 2007.
4. OCSTAT. Les binationaux dans le canton de Genève. Résultats du recensement fédéral de la population 2000. Communications statistiques n° 24, Geneva, December 2005.
5. Inhabitants of the Canton of Geneva according to their religion, on the website of ''Statistique Genève''. Last accessed 1 February 2007.
6. 20 Minutes: Bebés et enfants ne sont pas bienvenus dans les taxis (French)
7. All restaurants in Geneva

★

★ Jean de Senarclens, "''Geneva: Historic Guide''", Editions du Tricorne, 1995. ISBN 2-8293-0144-7

External links

;Official

★ Geneva - Welcome to Networld

★ Official website of the City of Geneva

★ Official website of the Canton of Geneva

★ The official Chestnut Tree, on the website of the Canton of Geneva

★ Geneva Palexpo, exhibitions and congresses center, owned by the State of Geneva.

★ International Geneva Motor-Show.
;Tourism

★ Geneva Tourism

★ Geneva public transport

★ Geneva Maps and Interactive Blogs for every street of the city

★ International Geneva Welcome Centre

★ Brief history of Geneva

★

★ Geneva information
;Organisations

★ Geneva Genealogical Society, featuring a genealogical tree of more than 170'000 people (all linked together), a forum, and much more
;Study

★ Student Blog Geneva

★ University of Geneva

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