It is nestled in a valley, on a plateau, and on two hills overlooking the city of Basel.

[3] Various versions of the name Binningen appear in records dating from between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, such as "Binnengin" and "Biningin".

Binningen has an area, as of 2009[update], of 4.43 square kilometers (1.71 sq mi).

while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 7.2%.

[4] The municipality is located in the Arlesheim district, along the Birsig river.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Argent a sable pale, charged with three six-rayed argent mullets[5] Said to be on a "silver backdrop with a black arrow and three silver stars".

Binningen's coat of arms has been slightly changed through the centuries.

The coat of arms, as it appears today, dates back to 1921.

[9] Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (11,709 or 83.8%), with Italian language being second most common (517 or 3.7%) and French being third (378 or 2.7%).

The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 71 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 120 people.

[8] The age distribution, as of 2010[update], in Binningen is; 934 children or 6.3% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 1,602 teenagers or 10.9% are between 7 and 19.

[9] The historical population is given in the following chart:[3][14] In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 27.44% of the vote.

In the federal election, a total of 5,240 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 52.7%.

[9] There were 6,997 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 45.6% of the workforce.

In the tertiary sector; 400 or 11.3% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 59 or 1.7% were in the movement and storage of goods, 117 or 3.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 23 or 0.6% were in the information industry, 276 or 7.8% were the insurance or financial industry, 258 or 7.3% were technical professionals or scientists, 140 or 3.9% were in education and 1,738 or 48.9% were in health care.

[9] From the 2000 census[update], 4,136 or 29.6% were Roman Catholic, while 5,230 or 37.4% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.