Geneva is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated in the south west of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, and a centre for international diplomacy.
The city of Geneva (ville de Genève) had a population of 203,951 in 2020 within its small municipal territory of 16 km2 but the Canton of Geneva (the city and its closest Swiss suburbs and exurbs) had a population of 504,128 over 246 km2 and together with the suburbs and exurbs located in the canton of Vaud and in the French departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie the cross-border Geneva metropolitan area as officially defined by Eurostat,[7] which extends over 2,292 km2 (885 sq mi),[8] had a population of 1,044,766 in Jan. 2020.