词条 | Basel |
释义 | Basel Switzerland also spelled Basle, French Bâle, capital of the Halbkanton (demicanton) of Basel-Stadt (with which it is virtually coextensive), northern Switzerland. It lies along the Rhine River, at the mouths of the Birs and Wiese rivers, where the French, German, and Swiss borders meet, at the entrance to the Swiss Rhineland. It was originally a Celtic settlement of the Rauraci tribe. The name Basilia seems first to have been applied to a Roman fortification mentioned in AD 374. At the beginning of the 5th century, the bishop of Augusta Raurica moved his see there. The city's university, the first in Switzerland, was founded in 1460 by Pope Pius II, who had been in Basel for the celebrated Ecumenical Council (1431–49). In 1501 Basel was admitted into the Swiss Confederation. With the Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus teaching at the university (1521–29), the city became a centre of humanism and of the Protestant Reformation in Switzerland. The Counter-Reformation brought skilled workmen as refugees from other parts of Europe, and by the 18th century political power was in the hands of the trade guilds. In 1831 the rural part of the canton revolted, proclaiming independence the following year; in 1833 it was organized into the demicanton of Basel-Landschaft, the city forming that of Basel-Stadt. ![]() Basel is an important distributing centre for foreign trade that produces one-third of the total Swiss Customs' revenue and is the site of the Bank for International Settlements (1930). The city is one of the nodal points of the railways of Europe and is an equally important river port. Regular air services operate from the international airport at Saint-Louis, in French territory 8 miles (13 km) northwest. Also a major industrial city, Basel is the centre of the Swiss chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Banking and the manufacture of machinery are also important. The population is mainly German speaking. A large portion of the population has no religious affiliation; the remainder is more or less evenly divided between Protestants and Roman Catholics, with a significant Eastern Orthodox minority. . Pop. (2007 est.) 163,081. |
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