Zurich metropolitan area

Zurich metropolitan area
Metropolregion Zürich
Metropolitan area
View over Zürich and the lake
Coordinates: 47°22′N 8°33′E / 47.367°N 8.550°E / 47.367; 8.550Coordinates: 47°22′N 8°33′E / 47.367°N 8.550°E / 47.367; 8.550
Country   Switzerland
Cantons  Zurich
 Aargau
 Schaffhausen
 Schwyz
 St. Gallen
 Thurgau
 Zug
Districts Several
Principal municipalities Total: 221
Core Citys:
Zurich
Winterthur
Baden
Zug
Schaffhausen
Rapperswil
Wetzikon
Lachen
Frauenfeld
Lenzburg
Wohlen
Einsiedeln
Area
  Total 2,103 km2 (812 sq mi)
Population
  Total 1,660,000
  Density 790/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal codes 5xxx, 6xxx, 8xxxx, 9xxxx
Location within Switzerland

The European Metropolitan Region of Zurich (EMRZ), also Greater Zurich Area (GZA, German Zürcher Wirtschaftsraum, Metropolregion Zürich), the metropolitan area surrounding Zurich, is one of Europe’s economically strongest areas and Switzerland’s economic centre. It comprises the area that can be reached within a roughly 80-minute drive from Zurich Airport. Home to many international companies, it includes most of the Canton of Zurich, and stretches as far as the Aargau and Solothurn in the west, Thurgau, St. Gallen and parts of Grisons in the east, Schaffhausen in the north and Zug and parts of Schwyz and Glarus in the south. Roughly three million people live in the area.

The Swiss federal office for statistics defines an unofficial metropolitan area as including all areas where more than one twelfth workforce commutes to the core area. According to the 2000 Swiss census, this includes a total of 220 municipalities in seven cantons: 127 in the canton of Zurich, 58 in Aargau, 11 in Schwyz, 10 in Zug, 9 in Schaffhausen, 3 in Thurgau and 2 in St. Gallen. The area covered by these municipalities is 2103 km² (excluding Lake Zurich and Greifensee), inhabited by a population of 3.8 million.

Numerous Swiss and international corporations are based in the area, profiting from benefits such as

The Greater Zurich Area AG, a nonprofit organization, is the marketing association for the Greater Zurich Area business region. It recruits international companies abroad and assists them with setting up companies and making investments in the Greater Zurich Area. Its sponsor is the Stiftung Greater Zurich Area Standortmarketing, a public-private partnership that was established in November 1998. Since that time, its membership has grown to include the cantons of Glarus, Grisons, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Solothurn, Uri, Zug and Zurich, the cities of Zurich and Winterthur, and several businesses.

Important Industries:

See also

References

  • Greater Zurich Area AG
  • Ralph Etter, Appenzell als Teil der "Greater Zurich Area" – Chancen, Risiken und Handlungsansätze (2003)
  • Zürcher Wirtschaftsförderung unter der Lupe, Neue Zürcher Zeitung 26 October 2006.
  • Patrick Dümmler, Alain Thierstein, The European metropolitan region of Zurich : a cluster of economic clusters?, ETH Zurich, Institute for National, Regional and Local Planning, Chair of Spatial Development, 2002
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