Bern

The city of Bern or Berne (German: Bern, pronounced [bɛrn]; French: Berne [bɛʁn]; Italian: Berna [ˈbɛrna]; Romansh: Berna  [ˈbɛrnɐ] ; Bernese German: Bärn [b̥æːrn]) is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to by the Swiss as their (e.g. in German) Bundesstadt, or "federal city". With a population of 140,634 (November 2015), Bern is the fifth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000. Bern is also the capital of the Canton of Bern, the second most populous of Switzerland's cantons.

The official language of Bern is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the Alemannic Swiss German dialect called Bernese German.

In 1983 the historic old town in the centre of Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bern is ranked among the world’s top ten cities for the best quality of life (2010).

Etymology

The etymology of the name Bern is uncertain. According to the local legend, based on folk etymology, Berchtold V, Duke of Zähringen, the founder of the city of Bern, vowed to name the city after the first animal he met on the hunt, and this turned out to be a bear. It has long been considered likely that the city was named after the Italian city of Verona, which at the time was known as Bern in Middle High German. As a result of the find of the Bern zinc tablet in the 1980s, it is now more common to assume that the city was named after a pre-existing toponym of Celtic origin, possibly *berna "cleft". The bear was the heraldic animal of the seal and coat of arms of Bern from at least the 1220s. The earliest reference to the keeping of live bears in the Bärengraben dates to the 1440s.

Berné

Berné (Berne in Breton) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in northwestern France.

Population

Inhabitants of Berné are called Bernéens.

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Bern, Netherlands

Bern (formerly sometimes "Beern", "Berne", or "Beerne") is a hamlet in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Zaltbommel, about 10 km south of the town Zaltbommel.

Bern used to lie south of the Meuse River, in the municipality of Herpt en Bern. The river was dammed close to Bern around 1900 (see Afgedamde Maas), and a new channel was dug south of the village, the Bergsche Maas. In 1958, the administrative borders were changed to account for this new situation, and Bern moved from the province of North Brabant to Gelderland, and to the municipality of Kerkwijk.

According to the 19th-century historian A.J. van der Aa, there used to be a castle in Bern, with a large tower and surrounded by walls. One of its owners, Fulco of Bern, made the castle into an abbey of the Premonstratensian order in 1134. It was inaugurated by the 25th bishop of Utrecht, Andreas of Cuyk. The abbey suffered during the Iconoclasm in 1566, and was almost completely burnt down in 1589 during the siege of Heusden by the Spanish army. It was never rebuilt, and in the middle of the 19th century, little remained of the Abbey of Bern.

Laxå

Laxå is a locality and the seat of Laxå Municipality, Örebro County, Sweden with 3,064 inhabitants in 2010.

History

The town was founded in the mid-19th century when the main line railway between Gothenburg and Stockholm (Västra Stambanan) was built in 1883. Laxå is situated exactly 226 km from both those cities.

In the vicinity of the town Laxå lies the Porla Well. It iron rich water made it a popular spa between 1724 until 1939. Although not a spa, its water is sold in bottles with the brand "Porlavatten" and have been distributed nationwide since the 1920s.

On August 17, 2012, it was reported in Dagens Nyheter that Laxå is Sweden's poorest municipality and the only one in the country with a net debt.

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LAX (disambiguation)

LAX is the airport identifier code for Los Angeles International Airport.

LAX or Lax may also refer to:

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Lax, Switzerland

Lax is a municipality in the district of Goms in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.

History

Lax is first mentioned in 1295 as Lacx. Lax is next documented as a community named Zend Goms Lax in 1308. The first division of irrigation was in 1347; the current system feeds seven farms around the small town. The first local regulations date from 1436.

Geography

Lax has an area, as of 2011, of 5 square kilometers (1.9 sq mi). Of this area, 37.1% is used for agricultural purposes, while 38.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 6.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and 17.6% is unproductive land.

The municipality is located above the Deisch valley on a small plateau on the right bank of the Rhone.

Coat of arms

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure, a mountain fesswise Argent, in chief three pine trees eradicated Vert trunked proper.

Demographics

Lax has a population (as of December 2014) of 296.As of 2008, 13.7% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -4.7%. It has changed at a rate of -9.7% due to migration and at a rate of 3.7% due to births and deaths.