City and Canton of Geneva

Geneva is located on the right bank of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) and is encircled by France. The city lies between the Alps and the Jura mountains, with the rivers Rhône and Arve passing right through it.

Geneva is also known as the city of peace and lies on the cross-roads of Western Europe. From this location one is only a few hours away flight from Paris, Milan, London, Rome and Madrid. The name of the city comes from Latin, Genua, and was mentioned for the first time by Julius Caesar in De Bello Gallico, Ceasars work on the Gallic Wars.

The population of the city is approximately 180,000 while of the Canton 430,000. Geneva is also the city with the highest number of foreigners in Switzerland, with up to 40% of its inhabitants non-Swiss and coming from more than 180 nationalities.

As an international city and the European seat of the United Nations, Geneva is home of 20 international organisations, 170 non-governmental organisations, and 150 permanent missions.