Geography
La Chaux-de-Fonds has an area, as of 2009, of 55.7 square kilometers (21.5 sq mi). Of this area, 30.46 km2 (11.76 sq mi) or 54.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 15.52 km2 (5.99 sq mi) or 27.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 9.28 km2 (3.58 sq mi) or 16.7% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.3 km2 (0.12 sq mi) or 0.5% is either rivers or lakes and 0.11 km2 (27 acres) or 0.2% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 1.6% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 8.4% and transportation infrastructure made up 4.6%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.1%. Out of the forested land, 24.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 3.7% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 0.4% is used for growing crops and 40.0% is pastures and 14.2% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.
The municipality is the capital of the district of the same name. It is located in the Jura Mountains near the French border at an elevation of about 1,000 m (3,300 ft).
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