Bern | |
|---|---|
Location of Bern  | |
  Bern  Bern | |
| Coordinates: 46°56′53″N 7°26′51″E / 46.94806°N 7.44750°E | |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Canton | Bern |
| District | Bern-Mittelland administrative district |
| Government | |
| • Executive | Gemeinderat with 5 members |
| • Mayor | Stadtpräsident (list) Alec von Graffenried GFL (as of January 2021) |
| • Parliament | Stadtrat with 80 members |
| Area | |
| • Total | 51.62 km2 (19.93 sq mi) |
| Elevation (Bahnhofplatz) | 540 m (1,770 ft) |
| Highest elevation (Könizberg) | 674 m (2,211 ft) |
| Lowest elevation (Aare near to Eymatt) | 481 m (1,578 ft) |
| Population (31 December 2018)[2] | |
| • Total | 133,883 |
| • Density | 2,600/km2 (6,700/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | English: Bernese German: Berner(in) French: Bernois(e) Italian: Bernese |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (Central European Time) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time) |
| Postal code(s) | 3000–3030 |
| SFOS number | 0351 |
| ISO 3166 code | CH-BE |
| Localities | Altenberg, Aaregg, Bümpliz, Bethlehem, Beundenfeld, Bottigen, Breitenrain, Breitfeld, Brunnadern, Dählhölzli, Engeried, Gäbelbach, Grosser Bremgartenwald, Gryphenhübeli, Felsenau, Holligen, Innere Stadt, Kirchenfeld, Könizbergwald, Länggasse, Lorraine, Muesmatt, Murifeld, Neufeld, Sandrain, Schosshalde, Spitalacker, Stöckacker, Tiefenau, Wankdorf, Weissenbühl, Weissenstein |
| Surrounded by | Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen |
| Website | www SFSO statistics |
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Bern (Swiss Standard German: [bɛrn] ), or Berne (French: [bɛʁn] ),[note 1] is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".[note 2][3] With a population of about 133,000 (as of 2022[update]), Bern is the fifth-most populous city in Switzerland, behind Zürich, Geneva, Basel and Lausanne.[4] The Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014.[5] The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000.[6]
Bern is also the capital of the canton of Bern, the second-most populous of Switzerland's cantons. The official language is German,[note 3] but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect, Bernese German. In 1983, the historic old town (in German: Altstadt) in the centre of Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[7] It is notably surrounded by the Aare, a major river of the Swiss Plateau.
Although fortified settlements were established since antiquity, the medieval city proper was founded by the Zähringer ruling family, probably in 1191 by Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen. Bern was made a free imperial city in 1218 and, in 1353, it joined the Swiss Confederacy, becoming one of its eight early cantons. Since then, Bern became a large city-state and a prominent actor of Swiss history by pursuing a policy of sovereign territorial expansion. Since the 15th century, the city was progressively rebuilt and acquired its current characteristics. Bern was made the Federal City in 1848. From about 5,000 inhabitants in the 15th century, the city passed the 100,000 mark in the 1920s.
- ^ a b "Arealstatistik Standard - Gemeinden nach 4 Hauptbereichen". Federal Statistical Office. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
- ^ . Federal Statistical Office https://www.pxweb.bfs.admin.ch/pxweb/de/. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Holenstein, André (2012), Die Hauptstadt existiert nicht [The capital does not exist], UniPress (in German), Bern: University of Bern, pp. 16–19, doi:10.7892/boris.41280, S2CID 178237847,
Als 1848 ein politisch-administratives Zentrum für den neuen Bundesstaat zu bestimmen war, verzichteten die Verfassungsväter darauf, eine Hauptstadt der Schweiz zu bezeichnen und formulierten stattdessen in Artikel 108: «Alles, was sich auf den Sitz der Bundesbehörden bezieht, ist Gegenstand der Bundesgesetzgebung.» Die Bundesstadt ist also nicht mehr und nicht weniger als der Sitz der Bundesbehörden.
- ^ "Bern in Zahlen: Aktuelles" (official site) (in German and French). Bern, Switzerland: City of Bern. Archived from the original on 11 January 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ "Population size and population composition – Data, indicators – Agglomerations: Permanent resident population in urban and rural areas" (Statistics). Federal Statistical Office, Neuchâtel, Swiss Federal Administration. 2015. Archived from the original on 4 May 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ "Office fédéral du développement territorial ARE – B3: Les aires métropolitaines" (in French, German, and Italian). Federal Office for Spatial Development ARE. 7 June 2006. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
- ^ "Old City of Berne". UNESCO World Heritage List. UNESCO. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
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