- Geneva is the second largest city in Switzerland with a population of 198,979 in 2016.
- The city is located on the banks of Lake Geneva, which has a surface area of 580.03 km2 (224 sq mi) and an average depth of 154.4 metres (507 feet). The lake is partly in Switzerland and partly in France. About 345 square kilometers (134 square miles ) of the lake is Swiss, and 235 square kilometers (90 square miles) is French.
- One of Geneva's best known landmarks is the Jet d'Eau (Water Jet), a huge fountain which can be seen from aeroplanes flying over the city at 10 kilometres (33,000 ft). Originally a safety valve for a hydraulic power network, people came to recognise it was beautiful in its own right. Five hundred litres of water are pumped out per second at 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph) to an altitude of 140 metres (460 ft). At any given moment, there are about 7,000 litres of water in the air. Except when it is switched off. While it operates all year round during the day, it is turned off at night and when the weather is particularly cold or windy.
- The first recorded mentions of the city date back to Roman times in texts written by Caesar. He spelled it Genava. The name probably comes from the Celtic word genawa meaning bend or knee, relating to a bend in a river or estuary.
- There are several international organisations based in Geneva - the European headquarters of the United Nations, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
- There is a tradition in Geneva whereby a chestnut tree located outside the government offices, is used to determine the arrival of spring. The day the first leaf blooms is officially the first day of spring. This is usually in March but it can be as early as December, or even, on rare occasions, October.
- The world's largest flower clock is here, in the English Garden. The clock's face measures 5 metres in diameter and consists of 6,500 live flowers. The flowers grow and bloom at different times of year, so the clock changes colour depending on the season.
- In 2017, Geneva was ranked as the seventh most expensive city in the world, but on the plus side, it has the lowest commuting time.
- Geneva has three official languages: Italian, German and French. English is also widely spoken.
- Famous people who have lived in the city include Ian Fleming, author of James Bond, who studied psychology briefly at the University of Geneva; Vladmir Lenin, who lived there while in exile from the Russian Empire; Voltaire, and Jean Piaget, Swiss clinical psychologist.
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