About the area:
Basel is Switzerland's third most populous city (166,209 inhabitants ). With 731,000 inhabitants in the tri-national metropolitan area (as of 2004), Basel is Switzerland's third-largest urban area.
Located in northwest 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-Württemberg 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).