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121-495: The association was founded in 1973 and has its head office in Geneva , Switzerland , and its operations centre in Brussels , Belgium . As of October 2022, its membership includes seven multinational companies (known as 'Regular Members') and 23 national associations. There are twelve 'Supporting Members' from countries where and IFRA does not have a national association. IFRA is led by

242-421: A "realm of 100,000 steeples". Parishes lacked the municipal structures of post-Revolution communes. Usually, one contained only a building committee ( conseil de fabrique ), made up of villagers, which managed the buildings of the parish church, the churchyard, and the other numerous church estates and properties, and sometimes also provided help for the poor, or even administered parish hospitals or schools. Since

363-417: A 4.5 km-long (2.8 mi) border with the rest of Switzerland. Of 107.5 km (66.8 mi) of the border, 103 are shared with France, the department of Ain to the north and west and the department of Haute-Savoie to the south and east. Of the land in the city, 0.24 km (0.093 sq mi), or 1.5%, is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.5 km (0.19 sq mi), or 3.1%,

484-562: A better sense of the size of a typical mainland France commune than the average area since the average includes some very large communes. In Italy , the median area of communes ( comuni ) is 22 km (8.5 sq mi); in Belgium it is 40 km (15 sq mi); in Spain it is 35 km (14 sq mi); and in Germany , the majority of Länder have communes ( Gemeinden ) with

605-445: A category currently being phased out), made up of 33,327 communes (91.1 percent of all the communes of metropolitan France), and 52.86 million inhabitants, i.e., 86.7 percent of the population of metropolitan France. These impressive results however may hide a murkier reality. In rural areas, many communes have entered a community of communes only to benefit from government funds. Often the local syndicate has been turned officially into

726-526: A child or children. There were 1,852 households that were made up of unrelated people and 3,038 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing. In 2000 , there were 743 single family homes (or 10.6% of the total) out of a total of 6,990 inhabited buildings. There were 2,758 multi-family buildings (39.5%), along with 2,886 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (41.3%) and 603 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (8.6%). Of

847-537: A community of communes, the new community of communes in fact managing only the services previously managed by the syndicate, contrary to the spirit of the law which has established the new intercommunal structures to carry out a much broader range of activities than that undertaken by the old syndicates. Some say that, should government money transfers be stopped, many of these communities of communes would revert to their former status of syndicate, or simply completely disappear in places where there were no syndicates prior to

968-431: A county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions: Furthermore, two regions without permanent habitation have no communes: In metropolitan France , the average area of a commune in 2004 was 14.88 square kilometres (5.75 sq mi). The median area of metropolitan France's communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, at 10.73 square kilometres (4.14 sq mi). The median area gives

1089-574: A density of communes as France, and even there an extensive merger movement has started in the last 10 years. To better grasp the staggering number of communes in France, two comparisons can be made: First, of the original 15 member states of the European Union there are approximately 75,000 communes; France alone, which comprises 16 percent of the population of the EU-15, had nearly half of its communes. Second,

1210-454: A favourable Franco-Swiss tax regime for French residents working in Switzerland. The official language of Geneva (both the city and the canton) is French . English is also common due to a high number of Anglophone residents working in international institutions and the bank sector. In 2000 there were 128,622 residents, or 72.3% of the population, who spoke French as a first language. English

1331-415: A handful of inhabitants. Communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes ( "lieu dit" or "bourg" ), the difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondissements of its largest cities, the communes are

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1452-543: A large number of residents were members of neither group. Geneva forms part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg . Communes of France#Intercommunality The commune ( French pronunciation: [kɔmyn] ) is a level of administrative division in the French Republic . French communes are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in

1573-509: A lowest price per square metre (11 sq ft) of 4,874 Swiss francs (CHF), and a maximum price of 21,966 Swiss francs (CHF). William Monter calculates that the city's total population was 12,000–13,000 in 1550, doubling to over 25,000 by 1560. The historical population is given in the following chart: The 2000 census recorded 66,491 residents (37.4% of the population) as Catholic, while 41,289 people (23.20%) belonged to no church or were agnostic or atheist , 24,105 (13.5%) belonged to

1694-756: A massive merger of communes, including by such distinguished voices as the president of the Cour des Comptes (the central auditing administrative body in France). In 1971 the Marcellin law offered support and money from the government to entice the communes to merge freely with each other, but the law had only a limited effect (only about 1,300 communes agreed to merge with others). Many rural communes with few residents struggle to maintain and manage basic services such as running water, garbage collection, or properly paved communal roads. Mergers, however, are not easy to achieve. One problem

1815-697: A median area above 15 km (5.8 sq mi). Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany were the only places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of France's overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards. They usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them. In Réunion, demographic expansion and sprawling urbanization have resulted in

1936-686: A member of the Municipal Council. The Council holds its meetings in the Town Hall ( Hôtel de Ville ), in the old city. The last election of the Municipal Council was held on 15   March 2020 for the term 2020–2025. Currently, the Municipal Council consists of: 19 members of the Social Democratic Party (PS), 18 Green Party (PES), 14 Les Libéraux-Radicaux (PLR), 8 Christian Democratic People's Party ; (PDC) 7 Geneva Citizens' Movement (MCG), 7 Ensemble à Gauche (an alliance of

2057-461: A one-room apartment was 641.60 CHF (US$ 510, £290, €410), a two-room apartment was about 874.46 CHF (US$ 700, £390, €560), a three-room apartment was about 1126.37 CHF (US$ 900, £510, €720) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 2691.07 CHF (US$ 2150, £1210, €1720). The average apartment price in Geneva was 104.2% of the national average of 1116 CHF. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010 ,

2178-546: A population nine times larger and a land area four times larger than Alsace, is divided into just 390 municipalities ( gemeenten ). Most of the communes in Alsace, along with those in other regions of France, have rejected the central government's calls for mergers and rationalization. By way of contrast, in the German states bordering Alsace, the geo-political and administrative areas have been subject to various re-organizations from

2299-500: A population of 1,046,168 in Jan. 2021 (Swiss estimates and French census), 58.3% of them living on Swiss territory, and 41.7% on French territory. Geneva does not have any sister relationships with other cities. It declares itself related to the entire world. The city of Geneva ( ville de Genève ) had a population 203,856 in 2021 (Jan. estimate) within its small municipal territory of 16 km (6 sq mi). The city of Geneva

2420-603: A population of 203,856 in January 2021 within its municipal territory of 16 km (6 sq mi). The Geneva metropolitan area as officially defined by Eurostat , including suburbs and exurbs in Vaud and the French departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie , extends over 2,292 km (885 sq mi) and had a population of 1,053,436 in 2021. Since 2013, the Canton of Geneva,

2541-534: A president, Alexander Mohr PhD, and by a Board headed by its chairman, Paul Andersson. In 2020, in response to the ongoing and increasing focus on sustainability in the beauty and fragrance sectors, IFRA, in association with the International Organization of the Flavor Industry (IOFI), launched the "IFRA-IOFI Sustainability Charter." IFRA is the official self-regulatory representative body of

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2662-459: A total of 85,330 apartments (83.8% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 13,644 apartments (13.4%) were seasonally occupied and 2,820 apartments (2.8%) were empty. As of 2009 , the construction rate of new housing units was 1.3 new units per 1000 residents. As of 2003 , the average price to rent an average apartment in Geneva was 1163.30 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$ 930, £520, €740 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for

2783-594: Is at the centre of the Geneva metropolitan area , a Functional Urban Area (as per Eurostat methodology) which extends over Swiss territory (entire Canton of Geneva and part of the canton of Vaud ) and French territory (parts of the departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie ). The Geneva Functional Urban Area covers a land area of 2,292 km (885 sq mi) (24.2% in Switzerland, 75.8% in France) and had 1,053,436 inhabitants in Jan. 2021 (Swiss estimates and French census), 57.8% of them on Swiss territory and 42.2% on French territory. The Geneva metropolitan area

2904-442: Is forested. The rest of the land, 14.63 km (5.65 sq mi), or 91.8%, is built up (buildings or roads), 0.49 km (0.19 sq mi), or 3.1%, is either rivers or lakes and 0.02 km (4.9 acres), or 0.1%, is wasteland. Of the built-up area, industrial buildings made up 3.4%, housing and buildings made up 46.2% and transportation infrastructure 25.8%, while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 15.7%. Of

3025-660: Is made up of the Canton of Geneva , the Nyon District (in the canton of Vaud), and the Pôle métropolitain du Genevois français    [ fr ] (literally 'Metropolitan hub of the French Genevan territory'), this last one a federation of eight French intercommunal councils in Ain and Haute-Savoie . The Grand Genève GLCT extends over 1,996 km (771 sq mi) and had

3146-511: Is one of the fastest growing in Europe. Its population rose from 906,603 in Jan. 2010 to 1,053,436 in Jan. 2021, which means the metropolitan area registered a population growth rate of +1.39% per year during those 11 years. Growth is higher in the French part of the metropolitan area (+1.80% per year between 2010 and 2021) than in the Swiss part (+1.10% per year between 2010 and 2021), as Geneva attracts many French commuters due to high Swiss salaries and

3267-402: Is that mergers reduce the number of available elected positions, and thus are not popular with local politicians. Moreover, citizens from one village may be unwilling to have their local services run by an executive located in another village, whom they may consider unaware of or inattentive to their local needs. In December 2010 the law n° 2010-1563 regarding reform of territorial collectivities

3388-649: Is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich ) and the most populous in the French-speaking Romandy . Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva , it is the capital of the Republic and Canton of Geneva , and a centre for international diplomacy . Geneva hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. The city of Geneva ( Ville de Genève ) had

3509-665: The Genevois province of Savoy (albeit not extending to the city proper, until the reformation of the seat of the Bishop of Geneva ). Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Roman Republic took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire , and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to

3630-478: The Bains des Pâquis . The city, in certain years, receives snow during colder months. The nearby mountains are subject to substantial snowfall and are suitable for skiing. Many world-renowned ski resorts such as Verbier and Crans-Montana are less than three hours away by car. Mont Salève (1,379 m (4,524 ft)), just across the border in France, dominates the southerly view from the city centre, and Mont Blanc ,

3751-686: The Bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages , Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, when it was granted a charter giving it a high degree of self-governance. Around this time, the House of Savoy came to at least nominally dominate the city. In the 15th century, an oligarchic republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council . In

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3872-548: The Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT) which replaced the Code des communes (except for personnel matters) with the passage of the law of 21 February 1996 for legislation and decree number 2000-318 of 7 April 2000 for regulations. From 1794 to 1977 — except for a few months in 1848 and 1870-1871 — Paris had no mayor and was thus directly controlled by the departmental prefect. This meant that Paris had less autonomy than certain towns or villages. Even after Paris regained

3993-484: The Global Financial Centres Index , second in Europe behind London. In 2019, Geneva was ranked among the ten most liveable cities in the world by Mercer , alongside Zürich and Basel, as well as the thirteenth most expensive city in the world. In a UBS ranking of global cities in 2018, Geneva was ranked first for gross earnings , second most expensive, and fourth in purchasing power . The city

4114-504: The Green Party (11.4%), the PDC (10.7%), and the solidaritéS (8.8%). In the federal election a total of 36,490 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 44.1%. The city centre of Geneva is located only 1.9 km (1.2 mi) from the border of France . As a result, the urban area and the metropolitan area largely extend across the border on French territory. Due to the small size of

4235-549: The National Assembly ( Assemblée Nationale ) passed a law creating the commune, designed to be the lowest level of administrative division in France, thus endorsing these independently created communes, but also creating communes of its own. In this area as in many others, the work of the National Assembly was, properly speaking, revolutionary: not content with transforming all the chartered cities and towns into communes,

4356-470: The Nyon District (in the canton of Vaud), and the Pôle métropolitain du Genevois français  [ fr ] ( lit.   ' Metropolitan hub of the French Genevan territory ' , a federation of eight French intercommunal councils), have formed Grand Genève ("Greater Geneva"), a Local Grouping of Transnational Cooperation  [ fr ] ( GLCT in French, a public entity under Swiss law) in charge of organizing cooperation within

4477-477: The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts of 1539 by Francis I , the priest in charge of the parish was also required to record baptisms, marriages, and burials. Except for these tasks, villages were left to handle other issues as they pleased. Typically, villagers would gather to decide over a special issue regarding the community, such as agricultural land usage, but there existed no permanent municipal body. In many places,

4598-659: The PdA / solidaritéS (10%, +1.3), the PDC (5.4%, -5.3), the pvl (5%, +2.9), and MCR (4.9%, -2.7). In the federal election a total of 34,319 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 39.6%. In the 2015 federal election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the PS which received 23.8% of the vote. The next five most popular parties were the PLR (17.6%), the UDC (16.3%),

4719-615: The Swiss Reformed Church , and 8,698 (4.89%) were Muslim . There were also 3,959 members of an Orthodox church (2.22%), 220 individuals (or about 0.12% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland , 2,422 (1.36%) who belonged to another Christian church, and 2,601 people (1.46%) who were Jewish. There were 707 individuals who were Buddhist, 474 who were Hindu and 423 who belonged to another church. 26,575 respondents (14.93%) did not answer

4840-671: The United States , with a territory fourteen times larger than that of the French Republic, and nearly five times its population, had 35,937 incorporated municipalities and townships at the 2002 Census of Governments, fewer than that of the French Republic. The number of barangays in the Philippines, villages of Indonesia, and muban in Thailand also have a higher number than the French communes. There have long been calls in France for

4961-479: The fragrance industry worldwide. Its main purpose is to ensure the safety of fragrance materials through a dedicated science program. IFRA publishes a list of usage standards for fragrance materials, limiting or prohibiting the use of ingredients, based on the findings of the Research Institute of Fragrance Materials , which gathers data regarding the safety of fragrance materials. The most recent iteration of

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5082-444: The mairies . These abrupt changes profoundly alienated devout Catholics, and France soon was plunged into the throes of civil war , with the fervently religious regions of western France at its center. It would take Napoleon I to re-establish peace in France, stabilize the new administrative system, and make it generally accepted by the population. Napoleon also abolished the election of the municipal councils, which now were chosen by

5203-491: The overseas departments , and 83 in the overseas collectivities and New Caledonia . This is a considerably higher total than that of any other European country , because French communes still largely reflect the division of France into villages or parishes at the time of the French Revolution . (1) Within the current limits of metropolitan France, which existed between 1860 and 1871 and from 1919 to today. (2) Within

5324-702: The prefect , the local representative of the central government. Today, French communes are still very much the same in their general principles as those that were established at the beginning of the Revolution. The biggest changes occurred in 1831, when the French Parliament re-established the principle of the election of municipal councils, and in 1837 when French communes were given legal "personality", being now considered legal entities with legal capacity. The Jacobin revolutionaries were afraid of independent local powers, which they saw as conservative and opposed to

5445-544: The 18th century, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, which inspired the failed Geneva Revolution of 1782 , an attempt to win representation in the government for men of modest means. In 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars , on 1   June 1814, Geneva

5566-523: The 1960s onward. In the state of Baden-Württemberg , the number of Gemeinden or communities was reduced from 3,378 in 1968 to 1,108 in September 2007. In comparison, the number of communes in Alsace was only reduced from 946 in 1971 (just before the Marcellin law aimed at encouraging French communes to merge with each other was passed, see Current debate section below) to 904 in January 2007. Consequently,

5687-500: The Administrative Council and the administration. The delegates are selected by means of a system of proportional representation with a seven percent threshold. The sessions of the Municipal Council are public. Unlike members of the Administrative Council, members of the Municipal Council are not politicians by profession, and they are paid a fee based on their attendance. Any resident of Geneva allowed to vote can be elected as

5808-408: The Alsace region—despite having a land area only one-fifth the size and a total population only one-sixth of that of its neighbor Baden-Württemberg—has almost as many municipalities. The small Alsace region has more than double the number of municipalities compared to the large and populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (396 Gemeinden in September 2007). Despite differences in population, each of

5929-549: The CRFG created in 1973. Finally in 2012 the Projet d’agglomération franco-valdo-genevois was renamed Grand Genève ('Greater Geneva'), and the following year it was transformed into a Local Grouping of Transnational Cooperation  [ fr ] ( GLCT ), a public entity under Swiss law, which now serves as the executive body of the Grand Genève . The Grand Genève GLCT

6050-467: The CRFG defined for the first time a planning territory called agglomération franco-valdo-genevoise ('Franco- Vaud -Genevan urban area'). 2001 saw the creation of a Comité stratégique de développement des transports publics régionaux ('Strategic Committee for the Development of Regional Public Transports', DTPR ), a committee which adopted in 2003 a 'Charter for Public Transports', first step in

6171-516: The French population live in 57 percent of its communes, whilst 92 percent are concentrated in the remaining 43 percent. Alsace , with an area of 8,280 km (3,200 sq mi), and now part of the Région Grand Est, used to be the smallest of the regions of metropolitan France , and still has no fewer than 904 communes. This high number is typical of metropolitan France but is atypical when compared with other European countries. It shows

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6292-489: The IFRA standards was published in January 2022, integrating all foregoing standards up to and including the "50th Amendment." Within the standards, included ingredients are prohibited (disallowed as a fragrance ingredient), restricted (allowed as fragrance ingredient only in prescribed quantities), or have accompanying specifications regarding their use (such ingredients are only allowed if they comply with specific criteria outlined in

6413-619: The Jura main range lies north-westward, the Vuache southward, and the Salève south-eastward. The city covers an area of 15.93 km (6.2 sq mi), while the area of the canton is 282 km (108.9 sq mi), including the two small exclaves of Céligny in Vaud . The part of the lake that is attached to Geneva has an area of 38 km (14.7 sq mi) and is sometimes referred to as petit lac ('small lake'). The canton has only

6534-412: The Municipal Council are carried out by the Administrative Council. Elections for the Administrative Council are held every five years. The current term of office is from 1   June 2020 to 31   May 2025. The delegates take office due to a winner-takes-all election ( French : scrutin majoritaire , Swiss Standard German : Majorzwahl or Majorz ). The mayor and vice change each year, while

6655-558: The National Assembly also decided to turn all the village parishes into full-status communes. The Revolutionaries were inspired by Cartesian ideas as well as by the philosophy of the Enlightenment . They wanted to do away with all the peculiarities of the past and establish a perfect society, in which all and everything should be equal and set up according to reason, rather than by tradition or conservatism. Thus, they set out to establish administrative divisions that would be uniform across

6776-711: The PLM Law of 1982, three French communes also have a special status in that they are further divided into municipal arrondissements : these are Paris, Marseille , and Lyon . The municipal arrondissement is the only administrative unit below the commune in the French Republic but exists only in these three communes. These municipal arrondissements are not to be confused with the arrondissements that are subdivisions of French départements : French communes are considered legal entities , whereas municipal arrondissements, by contrast, have no official capacity and no budget of their own. The rights and obligations of communes are governed by

6897-834: The Standard). IFRA's day-to-day operations are led by its president. Since 2024, this role has been occupied by Alexander Mohr, heading a team of more than ten staff members based principally in Brussels. IFRA's main decision-making body is its Board, headed by the IFRA Chairman, Paul Andersson. The Board has twelve voting members: eight representing the Regular Members, and four regional representatives of national associations. Geneva Geneva ( / dʒ ə ˈ n iː v ə / jə- NEE -və ; Arpitan : [dzəˈnɛva] ; French: Genève [ʒənɛv] )

7018-464: The UN ), Basel ( Bank for International Settlements ), and Strasbourg ( Council of Europe ) as a city which serves as the headquarters of at least one critical international organization without being the capital of a country. The city has been referred to as the world's most compact metropolis and the "Peace Capital". In 2023, Geneva was ranked as the world's tenth most important financial centre by

7139-705: The United States and Canada, Gemeinden in Germany, comuni in Italy, or municipios in Spain. The UK equivalent are civil parishes . Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage the populations and land of the geographic area covered. The communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. Communes vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris , to small hamlets with only

7260-570: The administrative splitting of some communes . The median population of metropolitan France's communes at the 1999 census was 380 inhabitants. Again this is a very small number, and here France stands absolutely apart in Europe, with the lowest communes' median population of all the European countries (communes in Switzerland or Rhineland-Palatinate may cover a smaller area, as mentioned above, but they are more populated). This small median population of French communes can be compared with Italy, where

7381-464: The agricultural land, 0.3% is used for growing crops. Of the water in the municipality, 0.2% is composed of lakes and 2.9% is rivers and streams. The altitude of Geneva is 373.6 m (1,225.7 ft) and corresponds to the altitude of the largest of the Pierres du Niton , two large rocks emerging from the lake which date from the last ice age . This rock was chosen by General Guillaume Henri Dufour as

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7502-452: The benefit of poorer suburbs. Moreover, intercommunal structures in many urban areas are still new, and fragile: Tensions exist between communes; the city at the center of the urban area often is suspected of wishing to dominate the suburban communes; communes from opposing political sides also may be suspicious of each other. Two famous examples of this are Toulouse and Paris. In Toulouse, on top of there being six intercommunal structures,

7623-410: The chartered cities) suddenly became legal entities for the first time in their history. This is still the case today. During the revolution, approximately 41,000 communes were created, on territory corresponding to the limits of modern-day France (the 41,000 figure includes the communes of the departments of Savoie , Haute-Savoie and Alpes-Maritimes which were annexed in 1795, but does not include

7744-527: The city of Toulouse chartered by the counts of Toulouse). These cities were made up of several parishes (up to c. 50 parishes in the case of Paris), and they were usually enclosed by a defensive wall . They had been emancipated from the power of feudal lords in the 12th and 13th centuries, had municipal bodies which administered the city, and bore some resemblance with the communes that the French Revolution would establish except for two key points: In

7865-420: The communes of the French Republic possesses a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ), which jointly manage the commune from the municipal hall ( mairie ), with exactly the same powers no matter the size of the commune. This uniformity of status is a legacy of the French Revolution, which wanted to do away with the local idiosyncrasies and tremendous differences in status that existed in

7986-544: The country: the whole of France would be divided into départements , themselves divided into arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons, themselves divided into communes, no exceptions. All of these communes would have equal status, they would all have a mayor at their head and a municipal council elected by the inhabitants of the commune. This was a real revolution for the thousands of villages that never had experienced organized municipal life before. A communal house had to be built in each of these villages, which would house

8107-414: The cross-border metropolitan area of Geneva (in particular metropolitan transports). The Grand Genève GLCT extends over 1,996 km (771 sq mi) and had a population of 1,046,168 in Jan. 2021 (Swiss estimates and French census), 58.3% of them living on Swiss territory, and 41.7% on French territory. Geneva is a global city , a financial centre , and a worldwide centre for diplomacy due to

8228-404: The current extent of overseas France, which has remained unchanged since the independence of the New Hebrides in 1980. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes; even uninhabited mountains or rain forests are dependent on a commune for their administration. This is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by

8349-427: The day. Summers are relatively warm. Precipitation is adequate and is relatively well-distributed throughout the year, although autumn is slightly wetter than other seasons. Ice storms near Lac Léman are normal in the winter: Geneva can be affected by the Bise , a north-easterly wind. This can lead to severe icing in winter. In summer, many people swim in the lake and patronise public beaches such as Genève Plage and

8470-413: The departments of modern-day Belgium and Germany west of the Rhine , which were part of France between 1795 and 1815). This was fewer than the 60,000 parishes that existed before the revolution (in cities and towns, parishes were merged into one single commune; in the countryside, some very small parishes were merged with bigger ones), but 41,000 was still a considerable number, without any comparison in

8591-419: The development of a metropolitan, cross-border commuter rail network (see Léman Express ). In 2004, a public transnational body called Projet d’agglomération franco-valdo-genevois ('Franco-Vaud-Genevan urban area project') was created to serve as the main body of metropolitan cooperation for the planning territory defined in 1997, with more local French councils taking part in this new public body than in

8712-486: The distinctive nature of the French commune as a geo-political or administrative entity. With its 904 communes, Alsace has three times as many municipalities as Sweden , which has a much larger territory covering 449,964 km (173,732 sq mi) and yet is divided into only 290 municipalities ( kommuner ). Alsace has more than double the total number of municipalities of the Netherlands which, in spite of having

8833-532: The end of the afternoon, following the storming of the Bastille , the provost of the merchants of Paris, Jacques de Flesselles was shot by the crowd on the steps of Paris City Hall. Although in the Middle Ages the provosts of the merchants symbolized the independence of Paris and even had openly rebelled against King Charles V , their office had been suppressed by the king, then reinstated but with strict control from

8954-513: The executive government of the city of Geneva and operates as a collegiate authority. It is composed of five councilors ( Conseiller administratif / Conseillère administrative ), each presiding over a department. The president of the executive department acts as mayor ( la maire/le maire ). In the governmental year 2021–2022, the Administrative Council is presided over by Madame la maire de Genève Frédérique Perler . Departmental tasks, coordination measures and implementation of laws decreed by

9075-585: The first half of the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation reached the city, causing religious strife, during which Savoy rule was thrown off and Geneva allied itself with the Swiss Confederacy . In 1541, with Protestantism on the rise, John Calvin , the Protestant Reformer and proponent of Calvinism , became the spiritual leader of the city and established the Republic of Geneva . By

9196-514: The five seats and, for the first time in history, a female majority in the election held on 15   March / 5   April 2020. Except for the mayor, all other councillors have been elected for the first time. Le Conseil municipal of Geneva for the mandate period of 2020–2025 The Municipal Council ( French : Conseil municipal ) holds legislative power . It is made up of 80 members, with elections held every five years. The Municipal Council makes regulations and by-laws that are executed by

9317-558: The form of a law on 22 March 1890, which provided for the establishment of single-purpose intercommunal associations. French lawmakers having long been aware of the inadequacy of the communal structure inherited from the French Revolution for dealing with a number of practical matters, the so-called Chevènement law of 12 July 1999 is the most recent and most thoroughgoing measure aimed at strengthening and simplifying this principle. In recent years it has become increasingly common for communes to band together in intercommunal consortia for

9438-585: The heads of the other departments are assigned by the collegiate. The executive body holds its meetings in the Palais Eynard, near the Parc des Bastions . As of 2020, Geneva's Administrative Council is made up of two representatives each of the Social Democratic Party (PS) and the Green Party (PES), and one member of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC). This gives the left-wing parties four out of

9559-503: The highest of the Alpine range, is visible from most of the city, towering high above Chamonix , which, along with Morzine, Le Grand Bornand, La Clusaz, and resorts of the Grand Massif such as Samoens, Morillon, and Flaine, are the closest French skiing destinations to Geneva. During the years 2000–2009, the mean yearly temperature was 11 °C and the mean number of sunshine-hours per year

9680-548: The king, and so they had ended up being viewed by the people as yet another representative of the king, no longer the embodiment of a free municipality. Following that event, a "commune" of Paris was immediately set up to replace the old medieval chartered city of Paris, and a municipal guard was established to protect Paris against any attempt made by King Louis XVI to quell the ongoing revolution. Several other cities of France quickly followed suit, and communes arose everywhere, each with their municipal guard. On 14 December 1789,

9801-421: The kingdom of France. French law makes allowances for the vast differences in commune size in a number of areas of administrative law. The size of the municipal council, the method of electing the municipal council, the maximum allowable pay of the mayor and deputy mayors, and municipal campaign finance limits (among other features) all depend on the population echelon into which a particular commune falls. Since

9922-437: The kingdom. A parish was essentially a church, the houses around it (known as the village), and the cultivated land around the village. France was the most populous country in Europe at this time, with a population of approximately 25 million inhabitants in the late 18th century ( England in contrast had only 6 million inhabitants), which accounts for the large number of parishes. French kings often prided themselves on ruling over

10043-653: The law. In urban areas, the new intercommunal structures are much more a reality, being created by local decision-makers out of genuine belief in the worth of working together. However, in many places, local feuds have arisen, and it was not possible to set up an intercommunal structure for the whole of the urban area: some communes refusing to take part in it, or even creating their own structure. In some urban areas like Marseille there exist four distinct intercommunal structures! In many areas, rich communes have joined with other rich communes and have refused to let in poorer communes, for fear that their citizens would be overtaxed to

10164-552: The least money per inhabitant, whereas urban communities are given the most money per inhabitant, thus pushing communes to form more integrated communities where they have fewer powers, which they might otherwise have been loath to do if it were not for government money. The Chevènement law has been extremely successful in the sense that a majority of French communes now have joined the new intercommunal structures. On 1 January 2007, there were 2,573 such communities in metropolitan France (including five syndicats d'agglomération nouvelle ,

10285-406: The left parties PST-POP ( Parti Suisse du Travail – Parti Ouvrier et Populaire ) and solidaritéS ), 6 Swiss People's Party (UDC). In the 2019 federal election for the Swiss National Council the most popular party was the Green Party which received 26% (+14.6) of the vote. The next seven most popular parties were the PS (17.9%, -5.9), PLR (15.1%, -2.4), the UDC (12.6%, -3.7),

10406-414: The local feudal lord ( seigneur ) still had a major influence in the village's affairs, collecting taxes from tenant-villagers and ordering them to work the corvée , controlling which fields were to be used and when, and how much of the harvest should be given to him. Additionally, some cities had obtained charters during the Middle Ages, either from the king himself or from local counts or dukes (such as

10527-541: The lowest level of administrative division in France and are governed by elected officials including a mayor ( maire ) and a municipal council ( conseil municipal ). They have extensive autonomous powers to implement national policy. A commune is the smallest and oldest administrative division in France . " Commune " in English has a historical association with socialist and collectivist political movements and philosophies. This association arises in part from

10648-480: The main community of Toulouse and its suburbs is only a community of agglomeration, although Toulouse is large enough to create an Urban Community according to the law. This is because the suburban communes refused an urban community for fear of losing too much power, and opted for a community of agglomeration, despite the fact that a community of agglomeration receives less government funds than an urban community. As for Paris, no intercommunal structure has emerged there,

10769-486: The mayors. Civil marriages were established and started to be performed in the mairie with a ceremony not unlike the traditional one, with the mayor replacing the priest, and the name of the law replacing the name of God (" Au nom de la loi, je vous déclare unis par les liens du mariage. " – "In the name of the law, I declare you united by the bonds of marriage."). Priests were forced to surrender their centuries-old baptism, marriage, and burial books, which were deposited in

10890-429: The median population of communes in 2001 was 2,343 inhabitants, Belgium (11,265 inhabitants), or even Spain (564 inhabitants). The median population given here should not hide the fact that there are pronounced differences in size between French communes. As mentioned in the introduction, a commune can be a city of 2 million inhabitants such as Paris, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, or just a hamlet of 10 inhabitants. What

11011-427: The median population tells us is that the vast majority of the French communes only have a few hundred inhabitants, but there are also a small number of communes with much higher populations. In metropolitan France 57 percent of the 36,683 communes have fewer than 500 inhabitants and, with 4,638,000 inhabitants, these smaller communes constitute just 7.7 percent of the total population. In other words, just 8 percent of

11132-425: The meetings of the municipal council as well as the administration of the commune. Some in the National Assembly were opposed to such a fragmentation of France into thousands of communes, but eventually Mirabeau and his ideas of one commune for each parish prevailed. On 20 September 1792, the recording of births, marriages, and deaths also was withdrawn as a responsibility of the priests of the parishes and handed to

11253-496: The municipality of Geneva (16 km (6 sq mi)) and extension of the urban area over an international border, official bodies of transnational cooperation were developed as early as the 1970s to manage the cross-border Greater Geneva area at a metropolitan level. In 1973, a Franco-Swiss agreement created the Comité régional franco-genevois ('Franco-Genevan Regional Committee', CRFG ). In 1997 an 'Urban planning charter' of

11374-498: The municipality, and an average of 1.9 persons per household. There were 44,373 households that consist of only one person and 2,549 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 89,269 households that answered this question, 49.7% were households made up of just one person and there were 471 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 17,429 married couples without children, 16,607 married couples with children. There were 5,499 single parents with

11495-521: The north, cities tended to be administered by échevins (from an old Germanic word meaning judge), while in the south, cities tended to be administered by consuls (in a clear reference to Roman antiquity), but Bordeaux was administered by jurats (etymologically meaning "sworn men") and Toulouse by capitouls ("men of the chapter"). Usually, there was no mayor in the modern sense; all the échevins or consuls were on equal footing, and rendered decisions collegially. However, for certain purposes, there

11616-518: The number of communes in the process – the Gemeinden of West Germany were decreased from 24,400 to 8,400 in the space of a few years – France only carried out mergers at the margin, and those were mostly carried out during the 19th century. From 41,000 communes at the time of the French Revolution, the number decreased to 37,963 in 1921, to 36,569 in 2008 (in metropolitan France). Thus, in Europe, only Switzerland has as high

11737-625: The only partially successful statute enacted in 1966 and enabling urban communes to form urban communities or the more marked failure of the Marcellin law of 1971, the Chevènement law met with a large measure of success, so that a majority of French communes are now involved in intercommunal structures. There are two types of these structures: In exchange for the creation of a community, the government allocates money to them based on their population, thus providing an incentive for communes to team up and form communities. Communities of communes are given

11858-403: The place of the former communes, which are represented by a delegated mayor and a delegated council. Between 2012 and 2021, about 820 communes nouvelles have been established, replacing about 2,550 old communes. The expression "intercommunality" ( intercommunalité ) denotes several forms of cooperation between communes. Such cooperation first made its appearance at the end of the 19th century in

11979-433: The population has changed at a rate of 7.2%; a rate of 3.4% due to migration and at a rate of 3.4% due to births and deaths. As of 2008 , the gender distribution of the population was 47.8% male and 52.2% female. The population was made up of 46,284 Swiss men (24.2% of the population) and 45,127 (23.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 56,091 Swiss women (29.3%) and 43,735 (22.9%) non-Swiss women. As of 2000 approximately 24.3% of

12100-401: The population of Swiss citizens increased by 33, while the foreign population increased by 619. There were 465 Swiss men and 498 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 2933 non-Swiss men and 2662 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders)

12221-511: The population of the municipality were born in Geneva and lived there in 2000 – 43,296. A further 11,757 or 6.6% who were born in the same canton, while 27,359 or 15.4% were born elsewhere in Switzerland, and 77,893 or 43.8% were born outside of Switzerland. In 2008 , there were 1,147 live births to Swiss citizens and 893 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in the same time span there were 1,114 deaths of Swiss citizens and 274 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration,

12342-690: The presence of numerous international organizations , including the headquarters of many agencies of the United Nations and the ICRC and IFRC of the Red Cross . In the aftermath of World War I , it hosted the League of Nations . It was where the Geneva Conventions on humanitarian treatment in war were signed. It shares a unique distinction with municipalities such as New York City ( global headquarters of

12463-495: The provision of such services as refuse collection and water supply. Suburban communes often team up with the city at the core of their urban area to form a community charged with managing public transport or even administering the collection of local taxes. The Chevènement law tidied up all these practices, abolishing some structures and creating new ones. In addition, it offered central government finance aimed at encouraging further communes to join in intercommunal structures. Unlike

12584-469: The question. According to 2012 statistics by Swiss Bundesamt für Statistik 49.2% of the population were Christian , (34.2% Catholic , 8.8% Swiss Reformed (organized in the Protestant Church of Geneva ) and 6.2% other Christians, mostly other Protestants ), 38% of Genevans were non-religious , 6.1% were Muslim and 1.6% were Jews. Geneva has historically been considered a Protestant city and

12705-491: The reference point for surveying in Switzerland. The second main river of Geneva is the Arve , which flows into the Rhône just west of the city centre. Mont Blanc can be seen from Geneva and is an hour's drive from the city. The climate of Geneva is a temperate climate , more specifically an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification : Cfb ). Winters are cool, usually with light frosts at night and thawing conditions during

12826-489: The revolution, and so they favored a powerful central state. Therefore, when they created the communes, they deprived them of any legal "personality" (as they did with the départements ), with only the central state having legal "personality." By 1837 that situation was judged impractical, as mayors and municipal councils could not be parties in courts. The consequence of the change, however, was that tens of thousands of villages which had never had legal "personality" (contrary to

12947-465: The right to elect its own mayor in 1977, the central government retained control of the Paris police. In all other French communes, the municipal police are under the mayor's supervision. French communes were created at the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789–1790. Before the revolution, France's lowest level of administrative division was the parish ( paroisse ), and there were up to 60,000 of them in

13068-712: The rising of the Paris Commune (1871) which could have more felicitously been called, in English, "the rising of the City of Paris". There is nothing intrinsically different between "town" in English and commune in French. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia , for a large gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis , 'things held in common'. As of January 2021, there were 35,083 communes in France , of which 34,836 were in metropolitan France , 129 in

13189-406: The same as those designed at the time of the French Revolution more than 200 years ago, with the same limits. Countless rural communes that had hundreds of inhabitants at the time of the French Revolution now have only a hundred inhabitants or fewer. On the other hand, cities and towns have grown so much that their urbanized area is now extending far beyond the limits of their commune which were set at

13310-422: The single family homes, 197 were built before 1919, while 20 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (277) were built between 1919 and 1945. In 2000 , there were 101,794 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 27,084. There were 21,889 single room apartments and 11,166 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments,

13431-609: The time of the revolution. The most extreme example of this is Paris, where the urbanized area sprawls over 396 communes. Paris in fact was one of the very few communes of France whose limits were extended to take into account the expansion of the urbanized area. The new, larger, commune of Paris was set up under the oversight of Emperor Napoléon III in 1859, but after 1859 the limits of Paris rigidified. Unlike most other European countries, which stringently merged their communes to better reflect modern-day densities of population (such as Germany and Italy around 1970), dramatically decreasing

13552-571: The world at the time, except in the empire of China (but there, only county level and above had any permanent administration). Since then, tremendous changes have affected France, as they have the rest of Europe: the Industrial Revolution , two world wars , and the rural exodus have all depopulated the countryside and increased the size of cities. French administrative divisions, however, have remained extremely rigid and unchanged. Today about 90 percent of communes and departments are exactly

13673-464: Was 0.25%. In June 2011, the average price of an apartment in and around Geneva was 13,681 CHF per square metre (11 sq ft). The average can be as high as 17,589 Swiss francs (CHF) per square metre (11 sq ft) for a luxury apartment and as low as 9,847 Swiss francs (CHF) for an older or basic apartment. For houses in and around Geneva, the average price was 11,595 Swiss francs (CHF) per square metre (11 sq ft) (June 2011), with

13794-801: Was 2003. The highest temperature recorded in Genève–Cointrin was 39.7 °C (103.5 °F) in July 2015, and the lowest temperature recorded was −20.0 °C (−4.0 °F) in February 1956. The city is divided into eight quartiers , or districts, sometimes composed of several neighbourhoods. On the left bank are: (1) Jonction, (2) Centre, Plainpalais , and Acacias; (3) Eaux-Vives; and (4) Champel . The right bank includes: (1) Saint-Jean and Charmilles; (2) Servette and Petit-Saconnex; (3) Grottes and Saint-Gervais; and (4) Paquis and Nations. The Administrative Council ( French : Conseil administratif ) constitutes

13915-506: Was admitted to the Swiss Confederation . In 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of many international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12' North, 6°09' East, at the south-western end of Lake Geneva , where the Rhône flows out. It is surrounded by three mountain chains, each belonging to the Jura :

14036-428: Was adopted, which created the legal framework for the communes nouvelles (lit. "new communes"). A commune nouvelle can be created by merger of a number of communes at the request of the municipal councils of all the communes or at the initiative of the state representative in the department (the prefect ). The municipal council of the new commune can decide to create communes déléguées (lit. "delegated communes") in

14157-566: Was an increase of 135 and the non-Swiss population increased by 3181 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.8%. As of 2000 , children and teenagers (0–19 years old) made up 18.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) made up 65.8% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16%. As of 2000 , there were 78,666 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 74,205 married individuals, 10,006 widows or widowers and 15,087 individuals who are divorced. As of 2000 , there were 86,231 private households in

14278-475: Was known as the Protestant Rome due to it being the base of John Calvin , William Farel , Theodore Beza and other Protestant reformers . Over the past century, substantial immigration from France and other predominantly Catholic countries, as well as general secularization, has changed its religious landscape. As a result, three times as many Roman Catholics as Protestants lived in the city in 2000, while

14399-689: Was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar , with the spelling Genava , probably from the Celtic * genawa- from the stem * genu- ("mouth"), in the sense of an estuary , an etymology shared with the Italian port city of Genoa (in Italian Genova ). The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis (also Gebennensis ). After 1400 it became

14520-1013: Was one échevin or consul ranking above the others, a sort of mayor, although not with the same authority and executive powers as a modern mayor. This "mayor" was called provost of the merchants ( prévôt des marchands ) in Paris and Lyon; maire in Marseille, Bordeaux, Rouen , Orléans , Bayonne and many other cities and towns; mayeur in Lille ; premier capitoul in Toulouse; viguier in Montpellier ; premier consul in many towns of southern France; prêteur royal in Strasbourg ; maître échevin in Metz ; maire royal in Nancy ; or prévôt in Valenciennes . On 14 July 1789, at

14641-410: Was the second most common (7,853 or 4.4%), followed by Spanish (7,462 or 4.2%), Italian (7,320 or 4.1%), and German (7,050 or 4.0%); 113 spoke Romansh , an official language in Switzerland. In the city of Geneva, as of 2013 , 48% of the population are resident foreign nationals. For a list of the largest groups of foreign residents see the cantonal overview . Over the last 10 years (1999–2009),

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