Basel-Stadt is Switzerland's seventh-largest economic centre[4] and has the highest GDP per capita in the country, ahead of the cantons of Zug and Geneva (in 2018).

With production facilities located in the neighbouring Schweizerhalle, Basel accounts for 20% of Swiss exports.

The two half-cantons agreed in principle to reunite, but in 1969, and again in September 2014, the people of Basel-Landschaft voted against this proposal in favour of retaining their independence.

Bettingen, Riehen and a part of Basel city lie on the east bank of the Rhine, bordered on three sides by the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

Small and middle-sized businesses employ a significant number of people, both in the city as the two municipalities.

Economically, the neighbouring lands in Germany and France are not separated from the area of the canton of Basel-Stadt.

The fact that three nation-states come together in one spot near Basel (Dreiländereck) helps attract tourists.

Of those in the tertiary sector, health care, education and retail sales made up about a quarter.

Some of the other major tertiary fields included job placement (5.1%), management and business consulting (4.1%), public administration (3.9%), architectural and engineering offices (3.7%) and financial services (3.5%).

[19] There is an international airport at Basel-Mulhouse, actually located 4 km (2.5 mi) inside French territory but with customs-free access from the city.

The canton is well connected by both trains and motorways to the rest of Switzerland and the neighbouring areas in France and Germany.

Basel is a major railway station of Switzerland, connected to Paris and Berlin with direct fast trains.

This port is of great significance to landlocked Switzerland, as it offers the country's only direct connection to the sea.

The carnival is one of the biggest in Switzerland and attracts large crowds, despite the fact that many of its central traditions are played out in the early morning starting at 4am (Morgestraich) and followed by a continuous run of festivities for 72 hours.

The Basler Läckerli is a hard biscuit made of honey, almonds, candied peel and Kirsch, and is enjoyed as a speciality all year round.