Affoltern am Albis

Affoltern am Albis is a municipality in the district of Affoltern in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. It is the smallest city of Switzerland. In Switzerland a city is defined as having at least 10,000 inhabitants.

History

Affoltern is first mentioned in 1190 as Afiltre.

Geography

Affoltern has an area of 10.6 km² (4.1 sq mi). Of this area, 45.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 25% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (0.5%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

The municipality is located west of the Albis hills in the moraine landscape around the Reuss. It was created in the 19th Century through the merger of Ober- and Unteraffoltern, Zwillikon and Loo-Fehrenbach.

Demographics

Affoltern has a population (as of 31 December 2014) of 11,540.As of 2007, 25.5% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has grown at a rate of 9.8%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (82.5%), with Italian being second most common ( 5.0%) and Serbo-Croatian being third ( 3.7%).

Albis

Coordinates: 47°17′N 8°30′E / 47.283°N 8.500°E / 47.283; 8.500

The Albis is a chain of hills in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, stretching for some 19 km from Sihlbrugg in the south to Waldegg near Zurich in the north. The chain forms, among others, the border between the Affoltern and Horgen districts. The best known point is Uetliberg at 870 m, overlooking the city of Zurich. Other points of interest include the Albishorn (909m.) the Bürglen (also known as Bürglenstutz, the highest peak, 914.6m.), the Schnabelburg, an observation tower, the Albis Pass, the small town of Buechenegg, and the extensive woods (known as the Sihlwald forest) on both sides of the river Sihl. The Sihl Valley borders the Albis chain on its entire east side. On the west side, the Albis is bordered by various streams (including the Reppisch) and one lake, the Türlersee.

The chain is mostly wooded, but also has extensive fields, often reaching to the summit, some cultivated, some used as pastures for cows or sheep. Being very near Zurich, the area is heavily visited, especially near its northern end, and includes a large number of restaurants along the summit (from Uetliberg to Albishorn), well-maintained trails and dirt roads, a railroad (the Uetlibergbahn) from Zurich, and a cable car (Felseneggbahn) from Adliswil to Felsenegg.

Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft

The Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft or Lake Zürich Navigation Company (commonly abbreviated to ZSG) is a public Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Zürich.

The company operates services connecting lake-side towns between Zürich and Rapperswil, as well as more tourist oriented cruises and boat services on the Limmat through the centre of the city of Zürich. It is a member of the Zürich Public Transport Network (ZVV) and transports over 1,5 million passengers every year.

The ZSG is a joint stock company with a share capital of 11 million Swiss Francs (CHF). The share capital – one third is in private hands – is divided into 110,000 bearer shares, each with a nominal value of CHF 100.

History

Steam navigation started on Lake Zürich in 1834, when Franz Carl Caspar and Johann Jakob Lämmlin founded a new company (Caspar und Lämmlin, Unternehmer der Dampfschiffahrt auf dem Zürcher- und Walensee) and ordered their first ship from William Fairbairn of Manchester, England. The Minerva entered service the following year. When the cuty fortifications were abolished, the then called Bauschänzli bastion remained intact, and served from 1835 to 1883 as the landing site for the first steamboats on the lake, later provided by the Zürichsee-Schifffahrtsgesellschaft.

Albis (store)

Albis (アルビス株式会社, Arubisu Kabushiki Kaisha) is a retail and wholesale company headquartered in Imizu, Toyama Prefecture, Japan. It is listed on the second tier of the Nagoya Stock Exchange (code 7475). The name stands for "Active Leader with Best Information and Strategy".

History

In June 1966, with the assistance of the Tōkai Dry Goods Company (東海乾物株式会社, Tōkai Hoshimono Kabushiki Kaisha), the Tulip Chain retailers' cooperative was formed. In December 1968, 10 managers of supermarkets within Toyama Prefecture came together to establish the Hokuriku Tulip Chain (チューリップチェーン株式会社, Chūrippu Chēn Kabushiki Kaisha) and to set up the headquarters for the cooperative. The company subsequently changed its name to Tulip (株式会社チューリップ, Kabushiki Kaisha Tulip) in August 1971.

Due to expansion, the company established an international headquarters as well as district headquarters in September 1977. The company again changed its name in July 1978 to Toyamaken Prefectural District Super(market) Headquarters (富山県地区スパー本部株式会社, Toyama Kenchiku Sūpā Honbu Kabushiki Kaisha), and then to Hokuriku Super(market)Headquarters (北陸スパー本部株式会社, Hokuriku Sūpā Honbu Kabushiki Kaisha) in July 1985. The company then merged with Hokuriku Hotspar in November that same year.