Lugano - idyll at Lago di Lugano

View of the old city and the Ticino Alps

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Discover Lugano by webcam

A cross-roads between North and South Europe, Lugano is the place where Swiss civilization meets Italian joie de vivre; the two merge to form one of the most popular tourist districts in Switzerland. Lugano boasts the country’s third most important financial centre and plays host to conference centres, banks and businesses. But there is more to Lugano than business. It is also a city of parks, gardens and flowers, villas and churches, combining all the advantages of a world city with the character of a small town.

Ticino, Switzerland's southernmost Canton, is a land of many contrasts: in its environment, its history, its art and its culture. In a radius of just a few kilometres in fact, it offers the mild climate of lakeside towns with palm trees, mountains that reach up to over 3000 metres and even glaciers. Historical architecture co-exists in perfect harmony with more avant-garde buildings. Internationally important events alternate all year round with parties in squares, markets and food and wine exhibitions. In this corner of Switzerland where gastronomy ranges from traditional cuisine to the most refined and sophisticated of cooking, Italian vitality - La Dolce Vita - is the perfect partner for the proverbial Swiss efficiency.

A second earthTV camera in Ticino is installed in Ascona.

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Capital:

Bern

Population:

7,489,370

Religion:

Roman Catholic 46.1%, Protestant 40%, other 5%, none 8.9%

Area:

41,290 km² (106,935 miles²)

Coast Line:

0 km (0 miles)

Lowest:

Lake Maggiore 195 m (640 feet)

Highest:

Dufourspitze 4,634 m (15,203 feet)

Geographic Information

The Swiss landscape is characterised by the Alps, a high mountain range running across the central-south of the country. Among the high peaks of the Swiss Alps are countless valleys, some with glaciers. From there, the headwaters of several major European rivers such as the Rhine, the Rhône, the Inn, the Aare or the Ticino, flow down into lakes such as Lake Geneva, Lake Zürich, Lake Neuchâtel, Lake Constance and farther down. The northern, more populous part of the country is more open, but can still be fairly mountainous because of the Jura Mountains, a smaller range in the northwest.

Key aspects of tourism
Alpine sports are quite popular in Switzerland because of the mountainous landscape. Walking, bycicling and mountainbiking are especially popular with the active vacationers coming to Switzerland.