Geneva (, , , , ) is the second biggest city in Switzerland. Only Zürich is bigger. Geneva is the biggest city in Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland).
Geneva is the capital of the Republic and Canton of Geneva. It is situated where the Rhône River leaves Lake Geneva (called in French Lac Léman).
Geneva is a very important financial and diplomatic center. There are many international organizations in Geneva, including the United Nations and the Red Cross. A 2009 survey states that Geneva has the third highest quality of living in the world (narrowly outranked by Zürich).
Internationally, Geneva is strongly associated with the Geneva Conventions.
History
Geneva was first written about as a border town, set up to protect the Roman Empire against the Helvetii. The Romans took the city in 120 B.C. In A.D. 443 it was taken by Burgundy, and with the latter fell to the Franks in 534. In 888 the town was part of the new Kingdom of Burgundy, and with it was taken over in 1033 by the German Emperor.
From 1154 the bishops of Geneva had the status of prince of the Holy Roman Empire, but the counts of Geneva and later the counts of Savoy were "guardians", always ready to take over from the bishops. In 1290 the counts of Savoy got the right to appoint a deputy ruler (vice-dominus) of the diocese, the title of Vidame of Geneva was granted to the family of count François de Candie of Chambéry-Le-Vieux a Chatellaine of the Savoy. The vidominus or Curia Viscount of Geneva, had legal and financial powers over the town, under the control of the Bishop and the Duchy of Savoy.
In 1387 Bishop Adhémar Fabry granted the town its great charter, the basis of its communal self-government, which every bishop on his accession was expected to confirm. The last Count of Geneva died in 1394, and the House of Savoy took over their land. In 1416 the counts became dukes, and kept trying to bring the city of Geneva under their control, often by making members of their own family to Bishops of Geneva. The city protected itself by joining the Swiss Federation (Eidgenossenschaft), uniting itself in 1426 with Berne and Fribourg.
In the Protestant Reformation Bern favoured the new Protestant teaching and demanded liberty of preaching for the Reformers Guillaume Farel and Antoine Froment, but Catholic Fribourg renounced in its union with Geneva in 1511. Later the Protestant leader John Calvin was based in Geneva from 1536 to his death in 1564.
At the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) the territory of Geneva was enlarged to cover 15 Savoyard and 6 French parishes, with more than 16,000 Catholics; at the same time it became a part of the Swiss Confederation. The treaty said that Catholic religion was to be protected, and that no changes were to be made without agreement with the Holy See. Later, Pope Pius VII made the cities of Geneva and Lausanne a new diocese of and part of Geneva diocese that was in France part of the French diocese of Annecy.
The Protestant and Old Catholic churches got money from the city taxes, but the Roman Catholics did not. On 30 June 1907, most of the Catholics of Geneva voted for the separation of Church and State.
Geography
Geneva is located at 46°12' North, 6°09' East, at the south-western end of Lake Geneva, where the lake meets the Rhône River. It is surrounded by two mountain chains, the Alps and the Jura.
The city of Geneva has an area of . The area of the Canton of Geneva is .
The altitude of Geneva is 373.6 m. This is the altitude of the largest of the Pierres du Niton, two large rocks in the lake that are used as a reference point for surveying in Switzerland. The second main river of Geneva is the Arve River which flows into the Rhône River just west of the city centre.