Location

geneva, switzerland

Geneva is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The municipality (ville de Genève) has a population of over 200,000, and the Canton (essentially the city and its inner-ring suburbs) has half a million residents.

Geneva is a global city, a financial centre, and a worldwide centre for diplomacy due to the presence of numerous international organizations, including the headquarters of many agencies of the United Nations and the Red Cross. Geneva hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also where the Geneva Conventions were signed, which chiefly concern the treatment of wartime non-combatants and prisoners of war. Together with, for instance, New York City (global headquarters of the UN), Basel (Bank for International Settlements), and Strasbourg (Council of Europe), Geneva is a city serving as the headquarters of one of the most important international organizations, without being the capital of a country.

Geneva is the home for:

• 177 States represented by a Permanent Mission
• 39 International Organizations (IOs)
• 432 Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)

A total of 35,079 persons are employed in IOs, NGOs and permanent missions.