Query for Locations

The spatial query within Switzerland is organised according to current administrative units, i.e. those associated with modern municipalities. Municipalities are always sub-categories of the cantons concerned. The size of communes has changed as a result of communal mergers. The names of many historical communes can therefore only be found as parts of current communes.

In order to gain an overview of a particular area, a reference point and an associated radius can be selected. If, for example, Zurich and a radius of 25 km are selected, all selected topics within 25km of Zurich are displayed.

The spelling of place names corresponds to the selected language. For example, if French is selected, "Genève" should be chosen for Geneva, "Ginevra" for Italian and "Geneva" for English.

Regions, valleys, rivers, lakes, glaciers, mountain peaks, passes and forests can also be queried. Regions are not clearly defined; their scope changes over time. No municipalities are therefore assigned to them. Similarly, valleys, rivers, lakes, glaciers, mountain peaks, passes and forests cannot yet be queried via the administrative units.

It is also possible to search for administrative divisions and specific locations, as well as landscapes, rivers, lakes and other geographical units at European level. In addition, a radius query (e.g. 25 or 50 km) often helps to increase the number of hits. Administrative units were selected whose size is likely to remain unchanged in the long term and which ideally exist far back into history. Thus, the Départements, which have remained largely unchanged since 1790, were chosen as the administrative unit for France. On the other hand, the structure of the Régions has undergone repeated changes in recent years as a result of mergers, so they are not shown separately on Euro-Climhist. The designation of administrative units appears  in the translation into the four query languages and in the designation in the national language, e.g. "Region (Kraj)" for the Czech Republic.