Basel

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Basel (British English traditionally: Basle [bɑːl] and more recently Basel ['ba:zəl][1][2], German: Basel ['ba:zəl], French: Bâle [bɑl], Italian: Basilea [bazi'lɛːa]) is Switzerland's third most populous city (165,529 inhabitants (2006); 731,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area stretching across the immediate cantonal and national boundaries made Basel Switzerland's second-largest urban area as of 2004[3]).

Located in north-west Switzerland on the river Rhine, Basel functions as a major industrial centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The city borders both Germany and France. The Basel region, culturally extending into German Baden and French Alsace, reflects the heritage of its three states in the modern Latin name: "Regio TriRhena". It has the oldest university of the Swiss Confederation (1460).