The city of Bern or Berne is the Bundesstadt (federal city, de facto capital) of Switzerland, and, with (as of December 2009) a population of 131'000, the fourth most populous city in Switzerland. The Bern agglomeration, which includes 43 municipalities, has a population of 349,000. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000. Bern is also the capital of the Canton of Bern, the second most populous of Switzerland's cantons.
The official language of Bern is German, but the main spoken language is the Alemannic dialect called Bernese German; most residents of the city speak both. English and French are fairly widely spoken, but to a lesser extent. In 1983 the historic old town in the center of Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and Bern is ranked among the world's top ten cities for the best quality of life.
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