Geneva Facts

1. Geneva is a city and a canton which was created in 1815. However, Switzerland was not a confederation until 1848.

2. The canton comprises 15,264 sq miles located on the shore of the largest lake of Europe, called Lake Geneva in the English-speaking world. This is an interesting fact because the official name of the lake is Lac Leman.

3. Visitors to Geneva are prone to ask: "Where are the Swiss?" Out of the population of about 460,000 nearly 40% are foreigners and you're more likely to hear English than the official regional language, French.

4. One reason for English usage is the proliferation of so many international organizations in Geneva such as the United Nations, The International Red Cross, The World Health Organization, The World Trade Organization, The World Economic Forum, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the World Wide Web Virtual Library.

5. Tim Berners Lee was living in Geneva working at CERN laboratories when he created the World Wide Web.

6. Just a random fact is that you can't turn right at a red light after stopping in Geneva.

7. The wristwatch was invented in Geneva by Patek Philippe in 1868.

8. Prostitution is legal in Calvinist Geneva. However, it's highly regulated.

9. A middle manager with a bachelor's degree and 10 years of experience earns about $10,460 a month in Geneva.
10. Being a landlocked country, it is a weird fact that Geneva's yacht club won the America's Cup in 2007.

11. Some fun facts concern Geneva's current celebrity residents which include Phil Collins, singer; Yoko Ono, pacifist and artist; Nana Mouskouri, singer; and Isabelle Adjani, actor.

12. Some of Geneva's former celebrity residents include Jean-Jacques Rousseau , 18th century philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, 19th century philosopher, Mary Shelley, 19th century author of 'Frankenstein', Peter Tchaikovsky, 19th century composer, Lord George Byron, early 19th century poet, William Wordsworth, early 19th century writer, and Scott Fitzgerald, 20th century writer.