Geneva Flights. Cheap Flights to Geneva - Switzerland

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Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich), and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French-speaking part of Switzerland).

It is situated where Lake Geneva (French Lac Léman) flows into the Rhône River, and is the capital of the Canton of Geneva. The population within the city limits is 185,526 (2004) and that of the metropolitan area — which extends into France and Vaud — is about 700,000. Geneva is widely regarded as a global city, mainly due to the presence of numerous international organisations, including the European headquarters of the United Nations

Geneva was the name of a settlement of the Celtic people of the Allobroges. The name of Genava (or Genua) in Latin appeared for the first time in the writings of Julius Caesar in De Bello Gallico, his comments on the Gallic Wars. Its name may be identical in origin to the name of the Ligurian city of Genua (modern Genoa), meaning "knee"; that is, "angle", referring to its geographical position; though more likely is based on the root gen- 'birth' (Genawa is at the birth of the river from the womb of the lake; perhaps the name in full means 'birth-water').

After the Roman conquest it became part of the Provincia Romana (Gallia Narbonensis). In 58 BC, at Geneva, Caesar hemmed in the Helvetii on their westward march. In the 9th century it became the capital of Burgundy. Though Geneva was contested among Burgundians and Franks and the Holy Roman Emperors, in practice it was ruled by its bishops, until the Reformation, when Geneva became a republic.

Due to the work of reformers such as John Calvin, Geneva was sometimes dubbed the Protestant Rome. In the 16th century Geneva was the center of Calvinism; the St. Pierre Cathedral in what is now called the Old Town was John Calvin's own church. During the time when England was ruled by Queen Mary I, who persecuted Protestants, a number of Protestant scholars fled to Geneva. Among these scholars was William Whittingham who supervised the translation of the Geneva Bible in collaboration with Miles Coverdale, Christopher Goodman, Anthony Gilby, Thomas Sampson, and William Cole.

One of the most important events in Geneva's history is l'Escalade (literally: "the scaling of the wall"). For the people of Geneva, l'Escalade is the symbol of their independence. It marked the final attempt in a series of assaults mounted throughout the 16th century by Savoy, which wanted to annex Geneva as its capital north of the Alps. This last assault happened on the night of 11-12 December 1602 and is celebrated yearly in the Old Town with numerous demonstrations and a parade of horses, cannons and armed men in period costumes.

Geneva, or officially the Canton & Republic of Geneva, became a canton of Switzerland in 1815. The first of the Geneva Conventions was signed in 1864, to protect the sick and wounded in war time.
Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09' East, at the south-western end of Lake Geneva, where the lake flows into the Rhône River. It is surrounded by two mountain chains, the Alps and the Jura.

The city of Geneva has an area of 15.86 km², while the area of the Canton of Geneva is 282 km², including the two small enclaves of Céligny in Vaud. The part of the Lake that is attached to Geneva has an area of 38 km² and is sometimes referred to as Petit lac (small lake). The Canton has only a 4.5 km border with the rest of Switzerland; out of a total of 107.5 km of borders, the remaining 103 are shared with France, with the Départment de l'Ain to the North and the Département de la Haute-Savoie to the South.

The altitude of Geneva is 373.6 m, and corresponds to the altitude of the largest of the Pierres du Niton, two large rocks emerging from the lake which date from the last ice age. This rock was chosen by General Guillaume Henri Dufour as the reference point for all surveying in Switzerland [1].

The second main river of Geneva is the Arve River which flows into the Rhône River just west of the city centre.
Geneva is the seat of many international organisations, including the European headquarters of the United Nations and several other international bodies, such as the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Telecommunication Union, the World Meteorological Organization, the World Trade Organization and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

Geneva also hosts the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, the International Organization for Standardization, the International Baccalaureate program, the World Council of Churches, the World Wide Web Virtual Library, the World Economic Forum, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International AIDS Society.

Geneva was the seat of the League of Nations between 1919 and the league's dissolution in 1946. It was first housed in the Palais Wilson, and then in the Palais des Nations, which now hosts the United Nations.

Geneva's economy is mainly services oriented. The city has an important and old finance sector, which is specialized in private banking (managing assets of about 1 trillion USD) and financing of international trade. It is also an important centre of commodity trade.

Geneva is the international headquarter of companies like Serono, STMicroelectronics, Société Générale de Surveillance, Mediterranean Shipping Company and SITA. Many other multinational companies like Procter & Gamble, DuPont, INVISTA, Hewlett-Packard, Reuters, JT International (JTI), Electronic Arts and Sun Microsystems have their European headquarters in the city too.

There is a long tradition of Watchmaking (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Baume et Mercier, Franck Muller). Two major international producers of flavours and fragrances, Firmenich and Givaudan, have their headquarters and main production facilities in Geneva.

Many people also work in the numerous offices of international organizations located in Geneva (about 24000 in 2001).

Notable sights in Geneva include the International Museum of the Reformation, the Flower Clock, the Art and History Museum, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum and the Palais des Nations, the European headquarters of the United Nations.

The city's most visited monument is the Saint-Pierre Cathedral, located at Cour Saint-Pierre, a noteworthy space of unique spiritual and cultural importance. The Cathedral and towers, which both embody the high point of the Reformed tradition and explores the origins of Christianity in its archaeological site, is now complemented by the International Museum of the Reformation, on the ground floor of the Maison Mallet. An underground passage, reopened when the Museum was created, connects the two buildings and a pass is now available for visitors to enjoy all three areas.

The city's most noted landmark is a fountain: the Jet d'Eau (water-jet), situated in Lake Geneva. Its 140-metre-high water column is visible from many parts of the city.