Lausanne

Lausanne (French pronunciation: [loˈzan]) is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman). It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west. Lausanne is located 62 km (39 mi) northeast of Geneva.

Its population at the end of 2009 was 133,280, making it the fourth largest city of the country, with the entire agglomeration area having 320,000 inhabitants. The Metropolitan Area of Lausanne-Geneva is over 1.2 million inhabitants. The headquarters of the International Olympic Committee are located in Lausanne – the IOC officially recognises the city as the Capitale Olympique – as are the headquarters of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Philip Morris International, a tobacco company, has its international headquarters in Lausanne.

International Table Tennis Federation, an official international federation of the game of table tennis, has its headquarters here.

Lausanne is served by extensive local, national and international public transport. National and international passenger trains depart from Lausanne's CFF railway station, which is also the hub of the Réseau Express Vaudois commuter rail system, and a stop on the city's metro. The metro and local buses are operated by TL (French), with many routes run using trolleybuses. Additional commuter trains are run by LEB (French) from Lausanne-Flon station. Ships across Lake Geneva are provided by CGN (French).