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Zürich

City in SwitzerlandAt the north-western tip of Lake Zürich, where the Limmat River flows out of the lake, lies Zürich, in north-central Switzerland, about 30 km north of the Alps.

What it's known for

Zürich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is one of Europe's main centres for banking and insurance, and the Zurich Stock Exchange was founded here in 1877.

Fun facts

  1. In Roman times there was a customs post here called Turicum, where taxes were collected on goods carried along the Limmat.
  2. Huldrych Zwingli started the Swiss Reformation while he was the main preacher at the Grossmünster church in Zürich, from 1519.
  3. Albert Einstein studied at ETH Zurich, a technical university founded in the city in 1854.

Finding it on the globe

Aim at northern Switzerland, about 95 km north-east of Bern, at the north-west end of Lake Zürich, a long and narrow lake.

Easy to mix up

Zürich is the biggest Swiss city, but the federal government sits in Bern. The constitution names no official capital, and Bern is called the 'federal city'.

Sources: Wikipedia: Zürich, Wikipedia: Bern, Wikipedia: ETH Zurich