Interlaken - Geography

Geography

Interlaken is located between Lake Brienz to the east and Lake Thun to the west in the area called Bödeli. The town takes its name from its geographical position between the lakes (in Latin inter lacus). The Aare River flows through the town connecting the lakes.

Interlaken is located at 570 m (1,870 ft) above sea level.

Interlaken has an area of 4.3 km² (1.66 sq mi) . Of this area, 1.05 km2 (0.41 sq mi) or 24.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.97 km2 (0.37 sq mi) or 22.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.03 km2 (0.78 sq mi) or 47.2% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.3 km2 (0.12 sq mi) or 7.0% is either rivers or lakes and 0.01 km2 (2.5 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 5.3% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 21.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 16.0%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 4.0%. Out of the forested land, 20.9% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.6% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 6.5% is used for growing crops and 16.3% is pastures, while 1.6% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.