Quality of life in Zurich

Zurich (German: Zürich, Swiss German: Züri) is the largest city in Switzerland, with a population of some 400,000 in the city proper and 1.2 million in the agglomeration area. Zurich is on Lake Zurich, where the lake meets the Limmat River, in the north of Switzerland. Contrary to what some believe, Zurich is not the capital of Switzerland — that honour falls to Berne.

Zurich is the largest city of Switzerland by land area and population. It is the financial centre of Switzerland and houses the stock exchange and the headquarters of a large number of national and international companies. National and international media agencies as well as most of the national TV channel companies are also located here. As the central node of the Swiss-wide train network and also runs the biggest and busiest international airport in the country, Zurich is often the first place where tourists arrive. Due to the city's proximity to tourist resorts in the Swiss Alps and its mountainous scenery, it is often referred to as the "portal to the Alps".

Zurich has long been known for being clean and efficient. Due to this, it has been continuously ranked as the city with the highest living standard world-wide for many years. However, only for the last ten years has it truly become a fascinating and worthwhile travel destination. This is mostly thanks to the liberalization of the cultural, party and gastronomy sectors. An increasingly cosmopolitan population has helped, as well, while more buttoned-down Geneva remains Switzerland's most culturally heterogeneous city.