Of the rest of the land, 10% is settled (buildings or roads) and the remainder (1.3%) is non-productive (rivers, glaciers or mountains).

[4] The municipality is located in the Zürcher Weinland (Zurich's vineyards) between the Thur and Rhine Rivers.

The municipality also includes the village of Ellikon am Rhein, and the hamlets of Niedermarthalen and Radhof.

Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (95.6%), with French (0.6%) and Italian being third (0.6%) most common languages.

[4] The historical population is given in the following table:[3] Marthalen railway station is a stop of the S-Bahn Zürich on the line S33.