Baden, Switzerland

Baden (German for "baths"), sometimes unofficially, to distinguish it from other Badens, called Baden bei Zürich ("Baden near Zürich") or Baden im Aargau ("Baden in the Aargau"), is a town and a municipality in Switzerland. It is the main town or seat of the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau. Located northwest of Zürich in the Limmat Valley (Limmattal) mainly on the western side of the river Limmat, its mineral hot springs have been famed since at least the Roman era. Its official language is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local Alemannic Swiss-German dialect. the town had a population of over 19,000. Downtown Baden is located on the left bank of the river Limmat in its eponymous valley. Its area is divided into the Kappelerhof, Allmend, Meierhof, and Chrüzliberg. In 1962, Baden also absorbed the adjacent village of Dättwil. On the right bank of the river is the village of Ennetbaden, formerly "Little Baden" (Kleine Bäder). Baden has an area, (as of the 2004/09 survey) of . Of this area, about 8.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 55.8% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 33.7% is settled (buildings or roads) and 1.8% is unproductive land. In the 2004/09 survey a total of or about 20.8% of the total area was covered with buildings, an increase of over the 1982 amount. Over the same time period, the amount of recreational space in the municipality increased by and is now about 3.18% of the total area. Of the agricultural land, is used for orchards and vineyards and is fields and grasslands. Since 1982 the amount of agricultural land has decreased by . Over the same time period the amount of forested land has decreased by . Rivers and lakes cover in the municipality. The hot sulfur springs, which given Baden its name, lie north of downtown and number about 20. They vary in temperature from . Baden is first attested in Roman sources as Aquae Helveticae ("Waters of the Helvetii").