Bellinzona - Geography

Geography

Bellinzona is situated in the valley of the Ticino river, at an altitude of 238 metres (781 ft). The city centre lies about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) east of the river, with the urban area confined to the bottom and lower slopes of the valley. However the city's boundaries extend up both sides of the valley, to altitudes of 1,850 metres (6,070 ft) to the west, and 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) to the east.

The city is located at a point at which the Ticino river, which has been flowing in a generally southerly direction, makes a turn to the east, to flow through Lake Maggiore to the Po Valley and Lombardy. Upstream the valley reaches into the high alps, with access to the passes of Nufenen, St. Gotthard and Lukmanier. The Mesolcina valley, which leads to the San Bernardino Pass, joins the Ticino on the northern boundary of the city. To the south the Monte Ceneri Pass crosses the Lugano Prealps to give access to Lake Lugano and an alternate route to Lombardy, whilst the San Jorio Pass provides a possible route east to Lake Como.

Bellinzona has an area, as of 1997, of 19.15 square kilometers (7.39 sq mi). Of this area, 4.21 km2 (1.63 sq mi) or 22.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 11.96 km2 (4.62 sq mi) or 62.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.55 km2 (1.76 sq mi) or 23.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.47 km2 (0.18 sq mi) or 2.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.09 km2 (22 acres) or 0.5% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 13.0%. Transportation infrastructure made up 5.8% while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 2.7%. Out of the forested land, 60.1% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.9% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.6% is used for growing crops, while 2.5% is used for orchards or vine crops and 13.0% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.