across the Mittelland to the
Bernese Alps The canton of Bern is mainly drained by the river
Aare and its tributaries. The area of the canton is commonly divided into six regions. The most populated area is the
Bernese Mittelland on the plateau north of the Alps, with the capital city of Bern. The northmost part of the canton is the
Bernese Jura bordering the
Canton of Jura. The
Bernese Oberland is the mountainous region which lies in the south of the canton. The area of the canton is . Of this area, 6.9% is occupied with houses, businesses or roads. 42.6% of the canton is agricultural land, and 31.3% is forested. Less than 19.2% is considered non-productive, which includes glaciers, cliffs and lakes.
Bernese Mittelland The Bernese Mittelland (Bernese Midlands) is made up of the valley of the rivers Aare, the
(Grosse) Emme, some of the foothills of the Bernese Alps, as well as the plain around the capital Bern, and has many small farms and hilly forested regions with small to mid-sized towns scattered throughout. It is perhaps best known by foreigners and visitors for the
Emmental. The classic Swiss cheese with holes
Emmentaler comes from this region's forests and pastures, of hilly and low mountainous countryside in the range.
Three Lakes Region and Bernese Jura In the north of the canton lies the predominantly French-speaking Three Lakes Region (
Seeland), concentrated around
Lake Biel,
Neuchâtel, and
Murten, which rises from the plain up to the northernmost Swiss mountain chain of the
Jura. This area, culminating at the
Chasseral, has more relaxed geography, although still some lower mountains and some waterfalls, and large lakes.
Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland () constitute the north side of the
Bernese Alps and the west side of the
Urner Alps within the canton of Bern. The highest mountain in the Bernese Alps is the
Finsteraarhorn at , but the best known mountains are
Eiger,
Mönch, and
Jungfrau. The well known hiking and ski resorts in the eastern Oberland are located around
Interlaken and the Jungfrau, such as car-free
Mürren and
Wengen in the
Lauterbrunnen valley, and
Grindelwald. Further east, in the
Haslital are the
Aareschlucht and the town of
Meiringen, famous for the fateful scene of
Sherlock Holmes's 'death' at the hands of
Professor Moriarty on the nearby
Reichenbach Falls. In the Western Bernese Oberland there are many other resorts and small villages catering to visitors. These are accessed from the lake town of
Thun, and the most notable of them are
Kandersteg with the
Oeschinensee and
Adelboden. Further west is the
Simmental with
Lenk and
Zweisimmen and the Saanenland with the famous resorts
Gstaad and
Saanen. The whole area is very mountainous, with steep cliffs, many glaciers, and countless waterfalls. It is renowned for its scenic beauty and the charm of the small Swiss villages that dot the area. As a result of this, tourism is one of the main sources of income in the Bernese Oberland. The region also has an extensive train network as well as many
cable cars and
funiculars, with the highest train station in Europe at the
Jungfraujoch and the longest
gondola cableway in the world from Grindelwald to the
Männlichen. Mountains in the Bernese Oberland include: , painting by
Joseph Anton Koch, 1824 ==Government==