This bilingual town (Biel in German, Bienne in French), with two-thirds of its inhabitants speaking German and one-third French, is the capital of the Swiss watchmaking industry. Several hundred small and medium-sized firms are engaged in the manufacture of watches and watch parts in the town, which
is also a place of considerable commercial activity. The residential districts are mainly on the lower slopes of the Jura hills, which here slope down to the lake. In recent years the town has also made a name for itself as a convention capital.
The town was founded about 1220 by the Prince-Abbot of Basle and remained under the rule of successive Prince-Abbots until 1792. From 1798 to 1815 it belonged to France; thereafter it was incorporated in the canton of Berne and is now the second largest town in the canton.
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