Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, administrative and educational centre on the cultural border between German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland.

The easily defended city helped the Dukes of Zähringen to strengthen and extend their power in the Swiss plateau in the area between the Aare and La Sarine.

They granted the city its former privileges and wrote the municipal laws in the so-called Handfeste in 1249, in which the legal, institutional and economic organizations were established.

In the early period, Fribourg consisted of four distinct inner city districts: Burg, Au, La Neuveville, and Spital.

In 1339, Fribourg participated alongside the Habsburgs and the County of Burgundy in the Battle of Laupen against Bern and its Swiss Confederacy allies.

In the 16th century, Fribourg continued to grow, first following the invasion of Pays de Vaud in 1536 with the help of Bern, and then in 1554 through the annexation of land formerly controlled by the Count of Gruyère.

Several prominent families developed as a result of the cloth and leather trade, beginning in the 14th century, including Gottrau, Lanthen, Affry, Diesbach (originally from Bern), von der Weid, Fegeli, and Weck.

Together with the local nobles (the Maggenberg, Düddingen/Velga, Montenach, Englisberg and Praroman families) they formed the 15th century patrician class.

This contributed to the decline of the cloth trade, however, as the families involved in the industry began to be more concerned with governing the city and its surrounding possessions.

Similarly, the Augustinian monastery was founded in the mid-13th century, and enjoyed the support of the noble Velga family for a long time.

This led to repeated conflicts over religion in border regions, and in areas controlled jointly by Fribourg and Bern.

[4] The strong patrician regime, consisting of no more than 60 families, filled all of the influential positions in the city and dominated all political, social, economic and cultural arenas of Fribourg.

Fribourg and the Sonderbund capitulated to Federalist forces under General Dufour on 14 November 1847 in what amounted to a brief and nearly bloodless Swiss civil war.

The area is cut through from south to north by the tightly wound Saane/La Sarine, which has eroded a valley, in some places, to a depth of 100 metres (330 ft) below the surrounding Plateau.

To the east, the municipality reaches up the slopes of Mount Schönberg, which, with an elevation of 702 metres (2,303 ft), is the highest point in Fribourg.

Fribourg borders on Düdingen and Tafers to the east, Pierrafortscha to the southeast, Marly to the south, Villars-sur-Glâne and Givisiez to the west, and Granges-Paccot to the north.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure a Castle embattled and towered on dexter issuant from a Semi Annulet all Argent.

In the mandate period 2021–2026 (la législature) the Municipal Council is presided by Monsieur le Syndic Thierry Steiert.

[12] The last regular election of the General Council was held on 7 March 2021 for the mandate period (la législature) from 1 June 2021 to 31 May 2026.

The growth of the agglomeration around Fribourg has fused the city proper with the neighboring towns of Villars-sur-Glâne, Givisiez, and Granges-Paccot.

[21] Few inhabitants in village of Basse-Ville speak Bolze, a mixed language created from the blend of French and Swiss German.

Another explanation is that in the local Alemannic German dialect, the city is called Frybùrg or Friburg (pronounced: [ˈfrib̥ʊrɡ]), from which the French name "Fribourg" was probably derived.

A gradual decline in cloth making in the second half of the 15th century occurred as local farmers replaced their sheep with cattle.

Other reasons for the collapse of the cloth industry in the 16th century include the fact that the guild refused to use new materials or modern styles, and that the social structure of the city changed with the rise of the patrician class.

Local industry includes food and luxury products, drinks (the breweries are owned by the Danish firm Carlsberg), metal and machine construction, electronics, and computer technology.

The town lies on the old main road from Bern to Vevey, and acts as an access point to Payerne, Morat and Thun.

Initially, the railway line from Bern to Fribourg opened on 2 July 1860 with a temporary terminal at Balliswil about 4 km north of the city, as the Grandfey Viaduct over the Sarine valley was not yet finished.

The current bus network is now operated by the Transports publics fribourgeois, with connections to Bulle, Avenches, Schmitten, Schwarzenburg and in the tourist region Schwarzsee.

These include the historic Old City with its Gothic Cathedral of Saint Nicholas renowned for its stained glass windows designed by Józef Mehoffer, and the museums.

The fortifications of Fribourg form the most important medieval military architecture of Switzerland: 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) of ramparts, 14 towers and one big bulwark.