The (almost) fog-free north-west of Switzerland.

Basel-Country is a canton with a very varied landscape. The Jura plateau in the north and the Jura mountain chain in the south are complemented by parts of the Sundgau hills, the upper Rhine valley and the Rhine basin.

The highest point of Basel-Country is Hinteri Egg in the commune of Waldenburg at 1169 metres above sea level. The lowest point is near the confluence of the river Birs at 246 metres.

Its profile rises from 246 metres to 1169 metres above sea level. The lower regions, with only 800 mm of precipitation a year are among the warmest and driest regions of Switzerland. In contrast, among the peaks of the Jura chain, up to 1300 mm of precipitation has been measured. The highest commune is Langenbruck and the lowest Birsfelden. The total length of the canton’s borders is 231.9 km. Basel-Country borders the neighbouring countries of France and Germany as well as the Swiss cantons, Basel-Town, Aargau, Solothurn and Jura. The average temperature for the year 2001 was 10.7 degrees. The lowest temperature measured was -12.5°C and the highest 34.2°C.Average rainfall across the canton was 1058 mm.There were 1767 hours of sunshine in 2001. Its rivers are of great importance to Basel-Country. The greater part of the upper Basel-Country is watered by the Ergolz and its tributaries. Most of the sources lie in the Jura chain. In the lower Basel-Country, the Birs flows through the Laufen valley and through the Blauen chain in the Angenstein gorge. The Birs carries an average of 15 tonnes of water a second near Münchenstein and the Ergolz 3.6 tonnes at Liestal.