1.
Canton of Geneva
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The Republic and Canton of Geneva is the French-speaking westernmost canton or state of Switzerland, surrounded on almost all sides by France. As is the case in several other Swiss cantons, this canton is referred to as a republic within the Swiss Confederation, the canton of Geneva is located in the southwestern corner of Switzerland, and is considered one of the most cosmopolitan areas of the country. As a center of the Calvinist Reformation, the city of Geneva has had a influence on the canton. The Republic of Geneva was proclaimed in 1541, under John Calvin, the Republic of Geneva reinforced its alliance to the Protestant cantons of the Swiss Confederacy, becoming an everlasting ally in 1584. The French Revolution reached Geneva in 1792, and in February 1794, after the death of Robespierre in July of the same year, there was a counter-revolution, which gained the upper hand by 1796. This prompted the French invasion of 1798, and the annexation of Geneva as part of the French département du Léman, Geneva finally joined the Swiss Confederation in 1815 as the 22nd canton, having been enlarged by French and Savoyard territories at the Vienna Congress. The area of the canton of Geneva is 282 square kilometers, the canton is surrounded on almost all sides by France and bordered by the Swiss canton of Vaud on northeast. The adjoining French départements are Ain and Haute-Savoie, the current boundaries of the canton were established in 1815. There are 45 municipalities in the canton, Geneva does not have any administrative districts. There are 10 cities with a population of over 10,000 as of 2007, Genève, Vernier, Lancy, Meyrin, Carouge, Onex, Thônex, Versoix, Grand-Saconnex, Chêne-Bougeries. The constitution of the canton was established in 1847, and has, the cantonal government has seven members who are elected for four years. The legislature, the Grand Council, has 100 seats, with deputies elected for four years at a time, the last elecation was held on 7 October 2013. In a similar way to what happens at the Federal level, in addition, any law can be subject to a referendum if it is demanded by 7,000 persons entitled to vote, and 10,000 persons may also propose a new law. The republique and canton of Geneva has 11 seats in the National Council, on 18 October 2015, in the federal election the most popular party was the The Liberals which received three seats with 20. 5% of the votes. In the federal election, a total of 106,852 votes were cast, and she is part of the Council of States since 2007. Councilor Robert Cramer, member of the Green Party, was re-elected in the round with a majority of 42,075 votes. He is part of the Council of States since 2007, ^a FDP before 2009, FDP. The Liberals after 2009 ^b * indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton. ^c Part of the FDP for this election ^d Part of the SD for this election The population of the canton is 484,736, as of 2013, the population included 194,623 foreigners from 187 different nations, or about 40. 1% of the total population
2.
Swiss Federal Railways
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Swiss Federal Railways is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usually referred to by the initials of its German, French and Italian names, either concatenated as SBB CFF FFS, the Romansh version of its name, Viafiers federalas svizras, is not officially used. The company is headquartered in Bern and it used to be a government institution, but since 1999 it has been a special stock corporation whose shares are held by the Swiss Confederation or the Swiss cantons. Swiss Federal Railways is divided into three divisions and two groups, Passenger traffic Freight traffic Infrastructure Real estate Core services The corporation is led in an entrepreneurial manner, a performance agreement between Swiss Federal Railways and the Swiss Confederation defines the requirements and is updated every four years. At the same time the rates per train and track-kilometre are defined. Subsidiary SBB GmbH is responsible for traffic in Germany. It operates the Wiesentalbahn and the Seehas services, further subsidiaries are Thurbo, RegionAlps, AlpTransit Gotthard AG, Cisalpino AG and TiLo. The Swiss Federal Railways hold significant shares of the Zentralbahn and Lyria SAS, to maintain heritage, the Stiftung Historisches Erbe der SBB was founded in 2002. This foundation takes care of the rolling stock and runs a technical library in Bern, document and photographic archives. The metre gauge Brünigbahn was SBBs only non-standard gauge line, until it was out-sourced and merged with the Luzern-Stans-Engelberg-Bahn to form the Zentralbahn, SBB is often known as the worlds most on time type of transportation In the 19th century, all Swiss railways were owned by private ventures. The economic and political interests of companies led to lines being built in parallel. On 20 February 1898 the Swiss people agreed in a referendum to the creation of a railway company. In the meantime, the trains were run by the Swiss Confederation on behalf of the private companies, on 1 January 1999 the Swiss Federal Railway has been excluded from the Federal Administration and became a fully state-owned limited company regulated by public law. First class compartments were discontinued on 3 June 1956, and second and third class accommodation was reclassified as first and second class, in 1982 SBB introduced the Taktfahrplan, with trains for certain destinations leaving every 60 minutes, greatly simplifying the timetable. On December 12,2004 the first phase of Bahn2000, a programme to improve the companys services, was put into effect. The core element was the Zurich-Bern-Basel triangle, where travel times between the cities was reduced to one hour, resulting in good connections from these stations for most trains. Some connections between cities got two trains in each direction per hour or more, and the S-Bahn services were intensified to four or more trains per hour, because of these changes 90% of the timetable was changed, 12% more trains were scheduled and travel times generally improved. It was the greatest timetable change since the introduction of the Taktfahrplan, on 22 June 2005 a short circuit on a long distance power transmission line in central Switzerland led to a chain reaction
3.
Geneva Airport
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Geneva Airport, formerly and still unofficially known as Cointrin Airport, is the international airport of Geneva, the second most populous city in Switzerland. It is located 4 km northwest of the city centre and it reached 15 million passengers for the first time in December 2014 and serves as a hub for Swiss International Air Lines, easyJet Switzerland and Etihad Regional. Its northern limit runs along the Swiss–French border and the airport can be accessed from both countries, the freight operations are also accessible from both countries, making Geneva a European Union freight hub although Switzerland is not a member of the EU. The airport is partially in the commune of Meyrin and partially in the commune of Le Grand-Saconnex, Geneva airport was created in 1919 as a simple field in Cointrin, near the city of Geneva covering an area of 54 hectares. From 1926 to 1931, the sheds were replaced by three concrete ones. At the time, there was an amount of air traffic, with Lufthansa flying from Berlin to Barcelona via Halle, Leipzig, Geneva. Swissair also flew the Geneva–Lyon–Paris route in a codeshare with Air Union, in 1930 there were six airlines that flew to Geneva Airport, flying seven different routes. 1937 saw construction of the first concrete runway, it measured 405 by 21 metres, in 1938 eight airlines were flying to Geneva, Swissair, KLM, Lufthansa, Air France, Malert, AB Aerotransport, Alpar and Imperial Airways. A further 200 metres of runway was added near the end of the war as well as provision for expansion to a length of 2,500 metres. As part of the Federal Governments post-war planning for the nations airports, Cointrin was noted as being well suited for extension and did not require a triangular runway arrangement as the prevailing winds are very regularly along a single axis. In 1947 the first service to New York started with a Swissair Douglas DC-4, on July 17,1959, the first jet aircraft landed in Geneva, an SAS Caravelle, and it was followed,11 years later, by a TWA Boeing 747 which landed in 1970. To provide for jet traffic, in 1960 the runway was extended to its current length of 3,900 m and this is unusually long for an airport of this size, and could only be built after some territory was exchanged between France and Switzerland. The northeastern end of the 1946 runway had also been the frontier between Geneva and the neighbouring French commune of Ferney-Voltaire, in this way, Switzerland remained exactly the same size, and its neutrality remained unsullied. In the process, the old hamlet of La Limite disappeared, in 1968 the construction of a second runway and a mid-field round terminal were proposed, but ultimately the concept was never realised. On May 7,1968, Geneva Main Terminal was inaugurated and this number was reached in 1985. Despite there never being a regular Concorde service in Switzerland, the aircraft twice landed in Geneva. On August 31,1976, more than 5000 people came to see the Concorde land, in 1987, Geneva airport was linked to the Swiss rail system, with a new station built close to the main terminal. Since then, a number of changes have been made, two of the three in-field terminals have been upgraded with jet bridges, and a new terminal has been built in front of the main terminal with 12 jet bridges, plus two ground floor gates
4.
Train station
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A train station, railway station, railroad station, or depot is a railway facility where trains regularly stop to load or unload passengers or freight. It generally consists of at least one platform and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales. If a station is on a line, it often has a passing loop to facilitate traffic movements. The smallest stations are most often referred to as stops or, in parts of the world. Stations may be at level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other modes such as buses. In British usage, the station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise qualified. In the United States, the most common term in contemporary usage is train station, Railway station and railroad station are less frequent. Outside North America, a depot is place where buses, trains, or other vehicles are housed and maintained and from which they are dispatched for service. The two-storey Mount Clare station in Baltimore, Maryland, which survives as a museum, first saw service as the terminus of the horse-drawn Baltimore. The oldest terminal station in the world was Crown Street railway station in Liverpool, built in 1830, as the first train on the Liverpool-Manchester line left Liverpool, the station is slightly older than the Manchester terminal at Liverpool Road. The station was the first to incorporate a train shed, the station was demolished in 1836 as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station. Crown Street station was converted to a goods station terminal, the first stations had little in the way of buildings or amenities. The first stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, manchesters Liverpool Road Station, the second oldest terminal station in the world, is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses, dual-purpose stations can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. In rural and remote communities across Canada and the United States, such stations were known as flag stops or flag stations. Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the architecture of the time. Countries where railways arrived later may still have such architecture, as later stations often imitated 19th-century styles, various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of stations, from those boasting grand, intricate, Baroque- or Gothic-style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles
5.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
6.
Basel
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Basel is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel is Switzerlands third-most-populous city with about 175,000 inhabitants, located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany. In 2014, the Basel agglomeration was the third largest in Switzerland with a population of 537,100 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland, the official language of Basel is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. Basel has been the seat of a Prince-Bishopric since the 11th century, the city has been a commercial hub and important cultural centre since the Renaissance, and has emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry in the 20th century. It hosts the oldest university of the Swiss Confederation, There are settlement traces on the Rhine knee from the early La Tène period. The unfortified settlement was abandoned in the 1st century BC in favour of an Oppidum on the site of Basel Minster, probably in reaction to the Roman invasion of Gaul. In Roman Gaul, Augusta Raurica was established some 20 km from Basel as the administrative centre. The city of Basel eventually grew around the castle, the name of Basel is derived from the Roman-era toponym Basilia, first recorded in the 3rd century. It is presumably derived from the personal name Basilius, the Old French form Basle was adopted into English, and developed into the modern French Bâle. The Icelandic name Buslaraborg goes back to the 12th century Leiðarvísir og borgarskipan, Basel was incorporated into Germania Superior in AD83. Roman control over the area deteriorated in 3rd century, and Basel became an outpost of the Provincia Maxima Sequanorum formed by Diocletian, the Alamanni attempted to cross the Rhine several times in the 4th century, but were repelled. In a great invasion of AD406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine river a final time, conquering and then settling what is today Alsace, from this time, Basel has been an Alemannic settlement. The Duchy of Alemannia fell under Frankish rule in the 6th century, and by the 7th century, based on the evidence of a third solidus with the inscription Basilia fit, Basel seems to have minted its own coins in the 7th century. Under bishop Haito, the first cathedral was built on the site of the Roman castle, at the partition of the Carolingian Empire, Basel was first given to West Francia, but passed to East Francia with the treaty of Meerssen of 870. The city was plundered and destroyed by a Magyar invasion of 917, the rebuilt city became part of Upper Burgundy, and as such was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. Since the donation by Rudolph III of Burgundy of the Moutier-Grandval Abbey and all its possessions to Bishop Adalbero II in 999 till the Reformation, in 1019, the construction of the cathedral of Basel began under German Emperor Heinrich II. In 1225–1226, the Bridge over the Rhine was constructed by Bishop Heinrich von Thun, the bridge was largely funded by Basels Jewish community which had settled there a century earlier. For many centuries to come Basel possessed the only permanent bridge over the river between Lake Constance and the sea, the Bishop also allowed the furriers to found a guild in 1226
7.
St. Gallen
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St. Gallen or traditionally St Gall, in German sometimes Sankt Gallen is the capital of the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. It evolved from the hermitage of Saint Gall, founded in the 7th century, today, it is a large urban agglomeration and represents the center of eastern Switzerland. Its economy consists mainly of the service sector, the main tourist attraction is the Abbey of Saint Gall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Abbeys renowned library contains books from the 9th century, the official language of St. Gallen is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. The city has good links to the rest of the country and to neighbouring Germany. It also functions as the gate to the Appenzell Alps, St. Gallen is situated in the northeastern part of Switzerland in a valley about 700 meters above sea level. It is one of the highest cities in Switzerland and thus receives abundant winter snow, the city lies between Lake Constance and the mountains of the Appenzell Alps. It therefore offers excellent recreation areas nearby, as the city center is built on an unstable turf ground, all buildings on the valley floor must be built on piles. For example, the foundation of the train station and its plaza are based on hundreds of piles. St. Gallen has an area, as of 2006, of 39.3 km2, of this area,31. 1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28. 9% is forested. Of the rest of the land,38. 4% is settled, the founding of St. Gallen is attributed to the Irish monk Gallus, who built a hermitage by the river Steinach in 612 AD. Around 720, one hundred years after Galluss death, the Alemannian priest Othmar built a monastery, in 719, its first abbot Otmar extended it to an abbey. In 926 Hungarian raiders attacked the abbey and surrounding town, Saint Wiborada, the first woman formally canonized by the Vatican, reportedly saw a vision of the impending attack and warned the monks and citizens to flee. While the monks and the abbey treasure escaped, Wiborada chose to stay behind and was killed by the raiders, between 924 and 933 the Magyars threatened the abbey, and its books were removed for safekeeping to Reichenau. Not all the books were returned, on 26 April 937 a fire consumed much of the abbey, spreading to the adjoining settlement. About 954 a protective wall was raised around the abbey, by 975 abbot Notker finished the wall, in 1207, Abbot Ulrich von Sax was granted the rank of Imperial Prince by Philip of Swabia, King of the Germans. As an ecclesiastical principality, the Abbey of St. Gallen was to constitute an important territorial state, however, in 1803 it lost its independence and was incorporated into the new Canton of St. Gallen. The city of St. Gallen proper progressively freed itself from the rule of the abbot, acquiring Imperial immediacy, by about 1353 the guilds, headed by the cloth-weavers guild, had gained control of the civic government
8.
Pennine Alps
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The Pennine Alps, also known as the Valais Alps, and formerly called Alpes Poeninae, are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in Switzerland and Italy, the Italian side is drained by the rivers Dora Baltea, Sesia and Toce, tributaries of the Po. The Swiss side is drained by the Rhône, the Great St Bernard Tunnel, under the Great St Bernard Pass, leads from Martigny, Switzerland to Aosta. The main chain runs from west to east on the border between Italy and Switzerland, from Mont Vélan, the first high summit east of St Bernard Pass, the chain rarely goes below 3000 metres and contains many four-thousanders such as Matterhorn or Monte Rosa. Unlike many other ranges, the higher peaks are often located outside the main chain
9.
Brig
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A brig is a sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts. During the Age of Sail, brigs were seen as fast and they were especially popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Brigs fell out of use with the arrival of the ship because they required a relatively large crew for their small size and were difficult to sail into the wind. They are not to be confused with a brigantine, which has different rigging, in sailing, a full-rigged brig is a vessel with two square rigged masts. The main mast of a brig is the aft one, to improve maneuverability, the mainmast carries a small fore-and-aft sail. Behind the main sail there is a small fore-and-aft sail called the spanker or boom mainsail, on the foremast is a similar sail, called the trysail. Attached to the yards of square-rigged ships are smaller spars. These are called studding sails, and are used with fair, the wings are named after the sails to which they are fastened, i. e. the main studding sails, main top studding sails, and the main top gallant studding sails, etc. The brig’s foremast is smaller than the main mast, the fore mast holds a fore sail, fore top sail, fore top gallant sail, and fore royal. Between the fore mast and the bowsprit are the fore staysail, jib, all the yards are manipulated by a complicated arrangement of cordage named the running rigging. This is opposed to the rigging which is fixed, and keeps mast. A brig is generally built on a scale than a schooner. Brigs vary in length between 75 and 165 ft with tonnages up to 480, a notable exception being the famous designer Colin Mudies Little Brigs, which are only 10m long and weigh only 8 tonnes. Historically, most brigs were made of wood, although some later brigs were built with hulls, a brig made of pine in the 19th century was designed to last for about twenty years. The word brig has been used in the past as an abbreviation of brigantine, the brig actually developed as a variant of the brigantine. Re-rigging a brigantine with two square-rigged masts instead of one gave it greater sailing power, the square-rigged brigs advantage over the fore-and-aft rigged brigantine was that the sails, being smaller and more numerous, are more easily managed, and require fewer men or hands to work them. The variant was so popular that the term came to exclusively signify a ship with this type of rigging. By the 17th century the British Royal Navy defined brig as having two square rigged masts, Brigs were used as small warships carrying about 10 to 18 guns
10.
Basel SBB railway station
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Basel SBB railway station is the central railway station in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Opened in 1854, and completely rebuilt in 1900–1907, it is Europes busiest international border station, as its name suggests, Basel SBB is owned by the Swiss Federal Railways. The other major station in Basel is Basel Badischer Bahnhof. Additionally, the station is served by three lines of the Basel S-Bahn, the 1907 neo-baroque station building is a heritage site of national significance. It also contains Bâle SNCF, which is located through a crossing and is used by other trains to. Directly outside the building is the Centralbahnplatz, which is a major hub of the Basel tramway network. The station area is situated at the side of the city centre. The borders of four of Basels districts come together at the station area, the Elisabethenanlage in front of the Centralbahnplatz belongs to Vorstädte, while the Markthalle opposite Basel SNCF is part of the Am Ring district. The first railway to reach Basel, the Chemin de fer Strasbourg Bâle, the following year,1845, the Elsässerbahn built the first station in the Basel metropolitan area, within the city walls. Basel thereby became the first Swiss city to be connected to the new means of transport, after the arrival of the railway, there was a passionate debate in Basel about the pros and cons of the railway and its possible continuation into the Swiss Plateau and the Gotthard. Meanwhile, the Rheintalbahn from Mannheim and Karlsruhe also approached Basel from the north, in 1851 it reached Haltingen, in 1853, the Schweizerische Centralbahn railway company was founded in Basel. The Viaduktstrasse in Basel – including the Birsig Viaduct, which is adjacent to the Zoo Basel parking lot – was also the formation of the Elsässerbahn until 1902. Today, the viaduct serves tram lines 1 and 8, as well as vehicle traffic. In 1854, construction began on the future Hauenstein railway line, right up until the opening of the first section of the route from Basel to Liestal, the controversial question of the site and design of the Basel railway station remained unresolved. By the opening day, all of the station buildings had been completed. This modest provisional station, equipped with facilities, was made up of individual detached buildings and was used only for just under six years. The station site consisted of the building, a goods shed, a carriage and locomotive shed. As the station building stood on the side of the station, alongside the station yard
Media related to Genève-Aéroport train station at Wikimedia Commons
