Birsfelden

Birsfelden is a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland.HistoryBirsfelden is first mentioned in 1274 as minor Rinvelden. Around 1500 it was first mentioned as Birsfeld.GeographyBirsfelden has an area, of 2.52km2. Of this area 0.04km2 or 1.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.04km2 or 81.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.46km2 or 18.3% is either rivers or lakes.Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 21.0% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 26.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 13.9%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 4.0% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 15.5%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 0.0% is used for growing crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.The municipality is located in the Arlesheim district, and is one of the suburbs of Basel. It is south of the Rhine River and on the right bank of the Birs River. It consists of the linear village of Birsfelden with a harbor and power plant on the Rhine. Until 1874, it was part of the municipality of Muttenz.Coat of armsThe blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules, three Mullets of Six Or, in chief a Barullet wavy Argent.