 Capital of the Geneva Canton since 1814. The city has 180,000 inhabitants, is surrounded by 45 communes and together forms the Canton of Geneva with 430,000 inhabitants. A delight for those who like historyPicturesque squares and narrow lanes with quaint names such as “Purgatory” or “Chicken steps”, a cathedral (12th and 14th century) which hides an amazing archaeological history in its cellars, Geneva’s Old Town will satisfy the most passionate historian and fascinate the curiosity of others. Beyond the wallsThe United Nations building lies on the outskirts of the city. This gigantic complex was completed in 1936 for the League of Nations and has a surface area as large as that of the Chateau de Versailles. The city houses some extraordinary buildings like that of the World Meteorological Organisation, known locally as the “Titanic” for its ship-like form or at another level, the amusing Strumpf (Smurf) apartment block in the Grottes quarter with its oddly shaped windows and crazy balconies, a design midway between Hundertwasser and Gaudi. A living cultureCulturally, Geneva buzzes: opera, theatres, art galleries, shows, concerts, 36 museums (most of them free-of-charge). In summer, the city organises more than 200 concerts, many of them in the parks where the lucky ones take over the few available chairs and others sit on the lawns or perch on the branches of ancient trees. And moreGeneva is a mine of creativity with, among other things: - The oldest watch manufacturer in the world, Vacheron Constantin;
- Rodolphe Topffer, considered the inventor of the comic strip: in 1827 he used this technique, pictures and a narrative, to recount the adventures of Mr. Vieux-Bois;
- The CERN, sited at the city limits, the European Nuclear Research Centre where in the eighties, Tim Berner-Lee, a young research scientist at the time, invented the worldwide web.
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Switzerland, french part 
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