Brief Portrait

Canton Basel-Landschaft has over 290,000 inhabitants, a quarter of which are citizens of other countries. The canton covers 518 km^2, 5 districts (Bezirke), and 86 communities (Gemeinden). The capital is Liestal. The official language is German. The canton borders Germany and France, as well as neighbouring cantons Basel-Stadt, Aargau, Solothurn, and Jura.

Canton Basel-Landschaft was founded in 1832 after separation from Basel-Stadt. The early period of the young canton was characterised by political disputes and economic turbulence. Basel-Landschaft quickly became a place of refuge for people from all across Europe, especially Germany. After the Second World War, the economic region of Basel experienced unprecedented growth. Canton Basel-Landschaft recorded the highest growth rates in Switzerland and quickly expanded its infrastructure. Today, Canton Basel-Landschaft is still rather rural, but also has an industry with international corporations and many smaller and medium-sized enterprises (KMU) that are global leaders in the field of life sciences.

Despite areas of substantial industrialisation and urbanisation, Canton Basel-Landschaft still has rich and lively customs. The local people passionately look after their traditions and appreciate it when you become familiar with these festivals and customs. Besides the carnival (Fasnacht), which is hugely important to the whole region and takes place in February or March, "Eierläset" on Easter and "Banntag" on Ascension Day are examples of traditional cantonal events.