Geneva has long been Switzerland’s most cosmopolitan city. It sits at the southwestern end of Lac Léman (the country’s largest lake), astride the River Rhône, with foreground hills rising against a magnificent backdrop of mountains.

The river bisects the city, with the north side as the right bank (Rive Droite) and the south as the left bank (Rive Gauche). The main railway station and the suburbs are to the north of the river and the Old Town to the south of the river.

Geneva was settled since Neolithic times and became an imperial city in 1032, before achieving independence in 1530 and joining the Swiss Confederation in 1814. Its reputation for religious tolerance during the Reformation proved to be a major influence on its subsequent development.

For centuries, exiles from religious or political persecution chose the city as their refuge, from 17th-century English regicides to Lenin in the early 20th century. John Calvin, the Protestant theologian, made his home here in the 1530s from where he led the Reformation in Switzerland.

Switzerland’s famed neutrality has long enticed international organisations to locate their headquarters in Geneva. There are currently around 200, raising the foreign community to 45% of the population. The League of Nations, predecessor of the United Nations, was established here in 1919. Although the UN moved to New York in 1945, Geneva has kept its European office here.

Other important organisations include the International Committee of the Red Cross (founded by the Swiss Henri Dunant in 1863) and the World Health Organisation.

The city is also a major banking centre (described by British actor Robert Morley as a ‘city of wealth by stealth’) and plays a significant role in the manufacture of watches, scientific instruments, jewellery and foodstuffs.

Geneva is an expensive city, but clean, efficient and a pleasure to visit with its beautiful Old Town, fine museums and an excellent public transport system. The city enjoys a mild climate with relatively low rainfall. The super-rich community of international civil servants and tax exiles demand good food, top hotels and entertainment and Geneva provides it all. Beneath the stereotypical veneer of diamonds and watches, however, one finds a tolerant and safe society with the Genevois strangely similar to the British - reserved but courteous.

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