8th SWISS EXPERIMENTAL SURGERY SYMPOSIUM (SESS 2012)
GENERAL INFO ABOUT GENEVA
GEOGRAPHY:
Geneva is located between the Alps and the Jura mountains, at the extreme south-west of Switzerland and the Lake Geneva. The Rhône and the Arve are the main rivers crossing Geneva. The elevation of the City is 373 meters.
It is the central cross-roads of Western Europe. Geneva holds a privileged geographical position and it is only one hour far from Paris or Milan by plane and less than two hours from London, Rome or Madrid.
AREA:
The area of the Geneva district is small : 282 km2 . It is a piece of enclosed land encircled by France. It lies south of the Department of the Ain, and north of the Department of the Haute-Savoie. The frontier is 107.5 km long of which 103 is with France and only 4.5 with the Swiss Confederation. The border with Switzerland is made up of a small area of land linking Geneva to the Canton of Vaud on the right bank of Lake Geneva (Lac Léman). Two little enclaves of Celigny in the Canton of Vaud belong to Geneva. Part of Lake Geneva is under the jurisdiction of the Geneva District and it represents 38 km2. It is called the « Little lake ».
POPULATION:
The City of Geneva today claims around 185.000 residents. As for the Canton of Geneva, it is very close to 440.000 residents. In Switzerland, Geneva comes first with the number of foreign people within its population : around 45% representing nearly 180 nationalities.
JET D’EAU (WATER FOUNTAIN):
In 1886, a company located at the end of the lake used to pump and distribute water under pressure to provide the craftsmen’s machines in former times. At night-fall the need was decreasing and in order to diminish the pressure inside the canalizations, a litlle hole existed at the extremity of this pumping factory installed at La Coulouvrenière resulting in a water fountain of a few meters.
In 1891, the City of Geneva decided to install the Jet d’eau (Water Fountain) where it is today, on the Rade, together with electric lighting. But it is only since 1930 that it was permanently lit.
To project half a cubic meter of water per second up to 140 meters high requires two powerful groups of motorpumps representing a global weight of over 16 tons and a total power of close to 1000 kilowatts, fed by an electric tension of 2400 volts. The water is drawn in a circular water-sump and is directed towards an exit pipe where the speed reaches 200 km/h (130 miles per hour).