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Central location, mild climate
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The canton of Basel-Stadt lies on the Upper Rhine, in the triangle formed by neighbouring France to the west and Germany to the north. Basel is the main city of Switzerland's northwestern region and forms the bridgehead from German-speaking Switzerland to the European Union.
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Basel is topographically the lowest-lying of all Swiss cities north of the Alps. At the Dreiländereck (the triangle formed by three countries Switzerland, France, and Germany ) it is 244 metres above sea level. The city covers an area of 37 square kilometres, and with its two rural parishes lies on both sides of the Rhine, embedded in the triangle between the Swiss Jura, Black Forest (Germany), and Vosges (France). As it passes through Basel, the Rhine bends sharply northward and, beyond the Rhine bend, becomes much wider as it flows into the Upper Rhine Plain.
Basel is a traditional traffic junction. The city lies at the crossroads of the north-south and east-west rail systems; its EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg provides connections to the European and international airline network.
Above-average sunshine
Its position in the Rhine valley gives Basel an exceptionally mild climate, influenced as it is by Mediterranean air currents that flow up from the Rhone valley through the Belfort Gap. As a result, compared with the Swiss midlands, Basel enjoys an above-average amount of sunshine and only rarely disappears in autumn fog.
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